Some places around the world facing dry soil and lack of rain. Why is that?! Let’s learn five daring droughts facts for kids.
Droughts are times when there is not enough rain and the land is drier than it usually is. Droughts can be caused by lack of rain, global warming, and deforestation. They can last a very long time, sometimes they last just a few weeks but they can last for years.
Animals have evolved to live in loads of different places. Animals that live in places that have droughts a lot also change how they behave to help them survive.
The animals lower their metabolism and sleep for a while until the rain and moisture comes back. This is a process called estivation. Unlike hibernation which is a reaction to cold weather, estivation is a reaction to very warm weather that causes drought.
Salamanders even create cocoons around them to rest in while the drought is on so they can sleep until it’s over. Other animals that estivate are turtles, fish, snakes, and frogs.
One of the causes of drought is deforestation. Deforestation is when trees are cut down and removed without planting new trees. This causes drought as there are no trees to keep water in an area so it flows somewhere else.
Planting more trees can prevent droughts and can help the soil in times of drought. They do this through their roots and branches. The roots of trees go deep into the soil and bring up buried water, this water helps the soil around the roots too. Their branches and leaves also give shade which helps keep areas of the soil much cooler.
When we take care of the planet, it takes care of us.
In times of drought high winds and heat can cause dust storms called dust bowls. These storms are really bad for growing crops after the drought because they remove the top soil which has all the nutrients needed to grow food.
In American history the Dust Bowl refers to a time in the 1930’s which had really bad droughts and dust storms. It was a very tough time for the American people.
When drought happens grass loses moisture and dies which is no good for your garden but in 2018 it really helped archeologists in the UK. The grass that had grown over Roman settlements and buildings died before the rest of the grass in fields all over the UK and so we were able to see them from the air. Archeologists were able to fly in helicopters and see the outlines of buildings that had been lost for thousands of years that we never knew existed. What a cool find!
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about droughts as much as we loved teaching you about it. Now that you know how important to know more about droughts to help our planet Earth, you can move on to learn more about our environment like: Climate Change, Circular Economy and Landfill.
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