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81-420: Once a mid-sized coastal village, Nouakchott was selected as the capital for the nascent nation of Mauritania, with construction beginning in 1958. It was originally designed to accommodate a population of 15,000, but experienced significant population growth in the 1970s when many Mauritanians fled their home villages due to drought and increasing desertification . Many of the newcomers settled in slum areas of

162-468: A 450% projected increase in electricity demand between 2010 and 2030, Nouakchott's Sheikh Zayed solar power plant was completed in 2012 and is considered the largest solar power plant in Africa. The desert climate causes dust accumulation, which negatively impacts the performance of photovoltaic solar panels. Nouakchott is divided into three administrative regions ( wilayat ) led by governors appointed by

243-525: A better life. The official censuses showed 134,000 residents in 1977 and 393,325 in 1988, although both figures were probably smaller than reality. The population is now estimated to consist of at least one third of the country's population of 3.3 million, and the 2013 census showed a population of 958,399. Located on the Atlantic coast of the Sahara Desert, it lies on the west coast of Africa. With

324-446: A decrease below the minimum leading to direct danger for amphibian life), increased pollution of surface water , the drying out of wetlands , more and larger wildfires , higher deflation intensity, loss of biodiversity , worse health of trees and the appearance of pests and dendroid diseases. Drought-induced mortality of trees lacks in most climate models in their representation of forests as land carbon sink . Economic losses as

405-491: A diverse climate, ranging from hot, dry regions to cooler, wetter highland regions. The region has considerable variability in seasonal rainfall and a very complex topography. In the northern parts of the region within the Nile basin (Ethiopia, Sudan), the rainfall is characterized by an unimodal cycle with a wet season from July to September. The rest of the region has a bimodal annual cycle, featuring long rains from March to May and

486-434: A factor which increases the gap between developed and developing countries . Effects vary according to vulnerability. For example, subsistence farmers are more likely to migrate during drought because they do not have alternative food-sources. Areas with populations that depend on water sources as a major food-source are more vulnerable to famine. Further examples of social and health consequences include: Wind erosion

567-498: A high level of reflected sunlight and above average prevalence of high pressure systems , winds carrying continental, rather than oceanic air masses, and ridges of high pressure areas aloft can prevent or restrict the developing of thunderstorm activity or rainfall over one certain region. Once a region is within drought, feedback mechanisms such as local arid air, hot conditions which can promote warm core ridging, and minimal evapotranspiration can worsen drought conditions. Within

648-434: A longer duration. Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water, liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice. Droughts occur mainly in areas where normal levels of rainfall are, in themselves, low. If these factors do not support precipitation volumes sufficiently to reach the surface over a sufficient time, the result is a drought. Drought can be triggered by

729-465: A multi-agency partnership, drought is generally defined as "a deficiency of precipitation over an extended period of time (usually a season or more), resulting in a water shortage". The National Weather Service office of the NOAA defines drought as "a deficiency of moisture that results in adverse impacts on people, animals, or vegetation over a sizeable area". Drought is a complex phenomenon − relating to

810-606: A result of droughts include lower agricultural, forests, game and fishing output, higher food-production costs, lower energy-production levels in hydro plants, losses caused by depleted water tourism and transport revenue, problems with water supply for the energy sector and for technological processes in metallurgy, mining, the chemical, paper, wood, foodstuff industries etc., disruption of water supplies for municipal economies. Further examples of common environmental and economic consequences of drought include: Droughts can cause land degradation and loss of soil moisture, resulting in

891-549: A result. This means even regions where overall rainfall is expected to remain relatively stable will experience these impacts. These regions include central and northern Europe. Without climate change mitigation, around one third of land areas are likely to experience moderate or more severe drought by 2100. Due to global warming droughts are more frequent and intense than in the past. Human activity can directly trigger exacerbating factors such as over-farming, excessive irrigation , deforestation , and erosion adversely impact

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972-663: A significant role in drought. ENSO comprises two patterns of temperature anomalies in the central Pacific Ocean , known as La Niña and El Niño . La Niña events are generally associated with drier and hotter conditions and further exacerbation of drought in California and the Southwestern United States , and to some extent the U.S. Southeast . Meteorological scientists have observed that La Niñas have become more frequent over time. Conversely, during El Niño events, drier and hotter weather occurs in parts of

1053-570: A single dataset can be limiting, as it may not capture the full spectrum of drought characteristics and impacts. Careful monitoring of moisture levels can also help predict increased risk for wildfires. Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective , stratiform , and orographic rainfall. Convective processes involve strong vertical motions that can cause the overturning of the atmosphere in that location within an hour and cause heavy precipitation, while stratiform processes involve weaker upward motions and less intense precipitation over

1134-666: A water supply crisis across much of the country. As a result, many desalination plants were built for the first time ( see list ). By far the largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid lands commonly known as the outback . A 2005 study by Australian and American researchers investigated the desertification of the interior, and suggested that one explanation was related to human settlers who arrived about 50,000 years ago. Regular burning by these settlers could have prevented monsoons from reaching interior Australia. In June 2008 it became known that an expert panel had warned of long term, maybe irreversible, severe ecological damage for

1215-496: A widespread blanket deposit that covers areas of hundreds of square kilometers and tens of meters thick. Loess often stands in either steep or vertical faces. Loess tends to develop into highly rich soils. Under appropriate climatic conditions, areas with loess are among the most agriculturally productive in the world. Loess deposits are geologically unstable by nature, and will erode very readily. Therefore, windbreaks (such as big trees and bushes) are often planted by farmers to reduce

1296-518: Is a historical district in a number of North African cities, often corresponding to an old walled city. The term comes from the Arabic word simply meaning "city" or "town". Prior to the rise and intrusion of European colonial rule in North Africa, the region was home to many major cities which had long been centres of culture, commerce, and political power over many centuries. In Algeria,

1377-519: Is a period of drier-than-normal conditions. A drought can last for days, months or years. Drought often has large impacts on the ecosystems and agriculture of affected regions, and causes harm to the local economy . Annual dry seasons in the tropics significantly increase the chances of a drought developing, with subsequent increased wildfire risks. Heat waves can significantly worsen drought conditions by increasing evapotranspiration . This dries out forests and other vegetation, and increases

1458-426: Is a similar concept to water scarcity . The different categories of droughts have different causes but similar effects: Several indices have been defined to quantify and monitor drought at different spatial and temporal scales. A key property of drought indices is their spatial comparability, and they must be statistically robust. Drought indices include: High-resolution drought information helps to better assess

1539-453: Is also negatively effected by drought stress, the reduction in crop yield results from a decrease in photosynthetic rate, changes in leaf development, and altered allocation of resources all due to drought stress. Crop plants exposed to drought stress suffer from reductions in leaf water potential and transpiration rate. Water-use efficiency increases in crops such as wheat while decreasing in others, such as potatoes. Plants need water for

1620-622: Is hotter than summer, with September and October being the hottest months) to 13 °C (55 °F) during the winter months. Minimum temperatures can be as low as 10 °C (50 °F) during winter nights in Nouakchott. Average rainfall in the city is 95 mm (3.7 in) a year. A 2019 paper published in PLOS One estimated that under Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 , a "moderate" scenario of climate change where global warming reaches ~2.5–3 °C (4.5–5.4 °F) by 2100,

1701-477: Is insufficient rainfall to support vegetation. Drought is one of the most complex and major natural hazards , and it has devastating impacts on the environment, economy, water resources, agriculture, and society worldwide. One can divide the impacts of droughts and water shortages into three groups: environmental, economic and social (including health). Environmental effects of droughts include: lower surface and subterranean water-levels, lower flow-levels (with

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1782-494: Is much more severe in arid areas and during times of drought. For example, in the Great Plains , it is estimated that soil loss due to wind erosion can be as much as 6100 times greater in drought years than in wet years. Loess is a homogeneous, typically nonstratified, porous, friable , slightly coherent, often calcareous, fine-grained, silty , pale yellow or buff, windblown ( Aeolian ) sediment . It generally occurs as

1863-410: Is related to low runoff, streamflow, and reservoir and groundwater storage. An agricultural or ecological drought is causing plant stress from a combination of evaporation and low soil moisture . Some organizations add another category: socioeconomic drought occurs when the demand for an economic good exceeds supply as a result of a weather-related shortfall in water supply. The socioeconomic drought

1944-493: Is the heterogeneous distribution of hydrologic extremes in space and time. For instance, El Niño can cause droughts in one part of the region and floods in the other. This is also a common situation within a country, e.g., in Ethiopia. The recent years with consecutive droughts followed by floods are a testament to the need to better forecast these kinds of events and their impacts. Approximately 2.4 billion people live in

2025-1084: The Amazon River Basin, Colombia , and Central America . Winters during the El Niño are warmer and drier than average conditions in the Northwest, northern Midwest, and northern Mideast United States, so those regions experience reduced snowfalls. Conditions are also drier than normal from December to February in south-central Africa, mainly in Zambia , Zimbabwe , Mozambique , and Botswana . Direct effects of El Niño resulting in drier conditions occur in parts of Southeast Asia and Northern Australia , increasing bush fires , worsening haze , and decreasing air quality dramatically. Drier-than-normal conditions are also in general observed in Queensland , inland Victoria , inland New South Wales , and eastern Tasmania from June to August. As warm water spreads from

2106-527: The Amazon basin , Australia , the Sahel region and India . For example, in 2005, parts of the Amazon basin experienced the worst drought in 100 years. Australia could experience more severe droughts and they could become more frequent in the future, a government-commissioned report said on July 6, 2008. The long Australian Millennial drought broke in 2010. The 2020–2022 Horn of Africa drought has surpassed

2187-613: The Arabs , Amazigh (Berbers) or Sub-Saharan Africans . Construction began in March 1958 to enlarge the village to house a population of 15,000, in 1959 Nouakchott started with its founding by indigenous people from the surrounding region, and the basics were completed by the time that the French granted independence on 28 November 1960. Nouakchott was planned with the expectation that commerce and other economic activities would not take place in

2268-738: The French conquest that began in 1830 and brought the country under colonial control resulted in significant destruction of the urban fabric of its historic cities. Colonial rule also led to the dismantling of many traditional urban institutions, the disruption of local culture, and even a certain level of depopulation over time. Fewer cities have preserved their pre-colonial urban fabric in Algeria by comparison with neighbouring countries, but significant remains have been preserved in historic cities such as Algiers , Tlemcen , Nedroma , and Constantine , as well as in many Saharan towns. In Algiers, most of

2349-761: The Marocaine market and the beaches . One beach is devoted to fishing boats where fish can be bought fresh at the Fish market . Nouakchott is a principal selling place of native Saharan meteorites . Among the places of worship , they are predominantly Muslim mosques like the Saudi Mosque and the Sudanese Embassy Mosque . There are also Christian churches and temples: Roman Catholic Diocese of Nouakchott ( Catholic Church ), Protestant churches , Evangelical Churches . Nouakchott hosts ten of

2430-522: The University of Nouakchott and several other more specialized institutions of higher learning. Not too long ago, Nouakchott was known for being a small fishing town, fortified fishing village ( ksar ) in pre-colonial times and under French rule . As Mauritania prepared for independence, it lacked a capital city. The area of present-day Nouakchott was chosen by Moktar Ould Daddah , the first President of Mauritania, and his advisors. Ould Daddah desired

2511-703: The University of Nouakchott Al Aasriya , the main university in Mauritania , opened in 1981. As of 1995, it had 70 professors and 2,800 students. There are also many international schools more specifically the american school tlc international school. Other higher education facilities include the Lebanese International University of Mauritania , the National School of Administration, the College of Science and Technology and

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2592-508: The drainage basin of the Himalayan rivers. India , China , Pakistan , Bangladesh , Nepal and Myanmar could experience floods followed by droughts in coming decades. More than 150 districts in India are drought vulnerable, mostly concentrated in the state of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and its adjoining Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, northern Karnataka and adjoining Maharashtra of

2673-635: The European districts. The most important preserved historic towns or medinas today include those of Tunis , Kairouan , Mahdia , Sfax , and Sousse . In Morocco, the Treaty of Fes established another French Protectorate over that country in 1912. The first French resident general in Morocco, Hubert Lyautey , appointed Henri Prost to oversee the urban development of cities under his control. One important colonial policy with long-term consequences

2754-911: The Higher Scientific Institute. There are many primary and secondary schools, among the most prominent are the American International School of Nouakchott, the Lycée Français Théodore Monod , and TLC International School. Attractions in Nouakchott include the National Museum of Mauritania , the National Library , the Port de Péche , and the National Archives . The city hosts several markets , including

2835-518: The Horn of Africa during the period 2020–2023 leading to the third longest and most widespread drought on record with dire implications for food security (see Horn of Africa drought (2020–present) ). Conversely, other parts experienced extreme floods, e.g., the 2020 East Africa floods in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi, and Uganda, and the 2022 floods in South Sudan. A key feature in the region

2916-467: The Nouakchott- Rosso leg was paved before independence. A 1,100-kilometre (680 mi) road ( Route de l'Espoir (Road of Hope)) connects the city with Néma via Boutilimit and Kiffa . In the city, there is a public transport and commuter system, with vehicles serving major boulevards. In July 2022 a tramway project was presented, without a scheduled opening date. The city is home to

2997-478: The ability of the land to capture and hold water. In arid climates, the main source of erosion is wind. Erosion can be the result of material movement by the wind. The wind can cause small particles to be lifted and therefore moved to another region (deflation). Suspended particles within the wind may impact on solid objects causing erosion by abrasion (ecological succession). Wind erosion generally occurs in areas with little or no vegetation, often in areas where there

3078-526: The absence of water − which is difficult to monitor and define. By the early 1980s, over 150 definitions of "drought" had already been published. The range of definitions reflects differences in regions, needs, and disciplinary approaches. There are three major categories of drought based on where in the water cycle the moisture deficit occurs: meteorological drought, hydrological drought, and agricultural or ecological drought. A meteorological drought occurs due to lack of precipitation . A hydrological drought

3159-764: The amount of fuel for wildfires. Drought is a recurring feature of the climate in most parts of the world, becoming more extreme and less predictable due to climate change , which dendrochronological studies date back to 1900. There are three kinds of drought effects, environmental, economic and social. Environmental effects include the drying of wetlands , more and larger wildfires, loss of biodiversity . Economic impacts of drought result due to negative disruptions to agriculture and livestock farming (causing food insecurity ), forestry, public water supplies , maritime navigation (due to e.g.: lower water levels), electric power supply (by affecting hydropower systems) and impacts on human health. Social and health costs include

3240-590: The central government, each of which contains three departments ( moughataa ): Separate from the wilayat , a directly elected regional council was established in Nouakchott in 2018, which took over the roles of promoting social and economic development from the Urban Community that it replaced. Fatimatou Abdel Malick was elected Council president in September 2018, and re-elected in May 2023. Nouakchott

3321-488: The city as of 1999 with 90% of the city's economic activity consisting of informal transactions. Some inhabitants have multiple addresses and maintain strong ties with their regions of origin, at times returning for labor. Nouakchott has a Chinese-built deepwater port that opened in 1986. It was designed for a capacity of 500,000 tons deadweight (DWT) of cargo a year, but has been handling 1,500,000 tons (DWT) by 2009. China agreed in 2009 to invest US$ 282 million in

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3402-478: The city that were poorly maintained and extremely overcrowded. By the mid-1980s, Nouakchott's population was estimated to be between 400,000 to 500,000. As of 2023, the city had a population of nearly 1.5 million people and serves as the hub of the Mauritanian economy. It is home to a deepwater port and Nouakchott–Oumtounsy International Airport , one of the country's two international airports. It also hosts

3483-461: The city's inhabitants lived in tents and shacks, which were used for residential as well as business purposes. The city is broken into nine arrondissements , sub-divided into alphabetized Îlots . These are Teyarett, Ksar, Tevragh-Zeïna, Toujounine, Sebkha, El Mina, Dar-Naïm, Arafat and Riad. The Sebkha (Cinquième) Arrondissement is home to a large shopping area. Nouakchott features a hot desert climate ( Köppen : BWh) with hot temperatures throughout

3564-406: The city. Nouakchott's central business district was planned with broad streets and a grid-like structure; the new Cinquième Quartier (Fifth District) was located close to this area and became the location of a large open-air market and residential area within a few years. During the 1960s, the city obtained its own local government. By the 1970s, these new areas had grown so much that they replaced

3645-466: The city. The process was scheduled to begin with the relocation of 9,000 families from the outskirts into the poor Arafat department neighborhood of "Kosovo", popularly named for its high crime rate and poor services. The government planned to begin moving families in June 2009, despite concerns from aid agencies that needed infrastructure could not be put in place in the receiving neighborhood. In 2013, it

3726-501: The climate of Nouakchott in the year 2050 would most closely resemble the current climate of Khartoum . The annual temperature would increase by 2.3 °C (4.1 °F), and the temperature of the warmest month by 2.8 °C (5.0 °F), while the temperature of the coldest month would decrease by 0.3 °C (0.54 °F). According to Climate Action Tracker , the current warming trajectory appears consistent with 2.7 °C (4.9 °F), which closely matches RCP 4.5. Responding to

3807-924: The country. Drought in India affecting the Ganges is of particular concern, as it provides drinking water and agricultural irrigation for more than 500 million people. The west coast of North America , which gets much of its water from glaciers in mountain ranges such as the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada , also would be affected. Medina quarter Features Types Types Features Clothing Genres Art music Folk Prose Islamic Poetry Genres Forms Arabic prosody National literatures of Arab States Concepts Texts Fictional Arab people South Arabian deities A medina (from Arabic : مدينة , romanized :  madīnah , lit.   'city')

3888-407: The desert. Other major streets are named (in French ) for notable Mauritanian or international figures of the 1960s: Avenue Gamal Abdel Nasser, Avenue Charles de Gaulle, Avenue Kennedy, and Avenue Lumumba, for example. The kebbe consists of cement buildings that are built overnight and made to look permanent to avoid destruction by the authorities. In 1999, it was estimated that more than half of

3969-448: The destruction of cropland productivity. This can result in diminished crop growth or yield productions and carrying capacity for livestock . Drought in combination with high levels of grazing pressure can function as the tipping point for an ecosystem, causing woody encroachment . Water stress affects plant development and quality in a variety of ways: firstly drought can cause poor germination and impaired seedling development. At

4050-479: The difficulty in estimating the city's population is that part of it is nomadic , setting up tents in suitable locations, then packing up when the need strikes. Some estimates put the 2008 population at over 2 million. The 2013 census gave the city's population as 958,399. In 2009, the government of Mauritania announced that it would begin a process of clearing the slum on the outskirts of Nouakchott, as 24,000 families would eventually be relocated to planned housing in

4131-495: The exception of Friendship Port and a small fishing port , the coastal strip is mostly left empty and allowed to flood. The coastline includes shifting sandbanks and sandy beaches. There are areas of quicksand close to the harbor. Nouakchott is largely flat, and some of the city lies below sea level. It is threatened by the sand dunes advancing from its eastern side which pose a daily problem. There have been efforts to save particular areas, including work by Jean Meunier. Owing to

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4212-497: The fourteen teams of the Mauritanian Super D1 as of the 2023-2024 season, including ACS Ksar , AS Douanes , AS Garde Nationale , ASAC Concorde , ASC Police , ASC Tidjikja , FC Gourel Sangue , FC Tevragh-Zeina , Kaedi FC , and Nouakchott Kings . There is also the stadium olympique next to bon prix which is a place with a lot of sport activities Nouakchott is twinned with: Drought A drought

4293-459: The health of people who are directly exposed to this phenomenon (excessive heat waves ). Droughts can also cause limitations of water supplies, increased water pollution levels, high food-costs, stress caused by failed harvests, water scarcity , etc. Reduced water quality can occur because lower water-flows reduce dilution of pollutants and increase contamination of remaining water sources. This explains why droughts and water scarcity operate as

4374-490: The historic lower town was demolished and remodeled along European lines after the French conquest. The only part of the old city that remained relatively untouched was the upper town, which contained the citadel ( qasaba ) and the former residence of the rulers, and thus became known as the "Casbah" of Algiers . The fate of traditional walled cities in Tunisia and Morocco, which also came under French colonial rule over

4455-419: The horrific drought in 2010–2011 in both duration and severity. More than 150 districts in India are drought vulnerable, mostly concentrated in the state of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and its adjoining Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, northern Karnataka and adjoining Maharashtra of the country. Throughout history, humans have usually viewed droughts as disasters due to the impact on food availability and

4536-474: The indigenous population predominantly resided in the old districts, resulting in a certain level of racial segregation during the colonial period. Some French assimilationist policies, as witnessed in Algeria, were also implemented in Tunisia. In Tunis , the old city was preserved but it was physically linked with the European town, making it easier to police, while its traditional economic and administrative systems were marginalized, rendering it dependent on

4617-507: The lack of water in the plants, bushfires are common. Since water vapor becomes more energetic with increasing temperature, more water vapor is required to increase relative humidity values to 100% at higher temperatures (or to get the temperature to fall to the dew point). Periods of warmth quicken the pace of fruit and vegetable production, increase evaporation and transpiration from plants, and worsen drought conditions. The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon can sometimes play

4698-415: The negative effect on the health of people directly exposed to this phenomenon (excessive heat waves), high food costs, stress caused by failed harvests, water scarcity , etc. Drought can also lead to increased air pollution due to increased dust concentrations and wildfires . Prolonged droughts have caused mass migrations and humanitarian crisis . Examples for regions with increased drought risks are

4779-412: The new capital to symbolize modernity and national unity, which ruled out existing cities or towns in the interior. The village was selected as the capital city for its central location between Saint-Louis, Senegal , the city from which the colony of Mauritania was governed, and Nouadhibou . Its location also meant that it avoided the sensitive issue of whether the capital was built in an area dominated by

4860-499: The next hundred years, was quite different. The French conquest of Tunisia took place in 1881 and resulted in the establishment of a French "Protectorate" , while nominally retaining the existing Tunisian monarchy . In Tunisia the French generally built new planned cities (the Villes Nouvelles ) outside the established historic cities. These new planned towns were almost exclusively inhabited by European colonists while

4941-515: The occurrence of droughts has increased as a result of the increase in temperature and atmospheric evaporative demand . In addition, increased climate variability has increased the frequency and severity of drought events. Moreover, the occurrence and impact of droughts are aggravated by anthropogenic activities such as land use change and water management and demand. The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report also pointed out that "Warming over land drives an increase in atmospheric evaporative demand and in

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5022-611: The old ksar in terms of importance, as they also hosted the governmental buildings and state enterprises. The city was attacked twice in 1976 by the Polisario Front during the Western Sahara conflict , but the guerrillas caused little damage. The city has had massive and unconstrained growth, driven by the North African drought , since the beginning of the 1970s; hundreds of thousands moved there in search of

5103-482: The port, aiming to extend the main quay by over 900 m (3,000 ft). As of 2011, the World Bank was investigating funding a new shipping container facility at the port. Air service is provided by Nouakchott–Oumtounsy International Airport , which replaced the previous Nouakchott International Airport in June 2016. The Cairo–Dakar Highway leg from Nouakchott to Nouadhibou was paved in 2004, although

5184-543: The rainforest towards a " tipping point " where it would irreversibly start to die. It concludes that the rainforest is on the brink of being turned into savanna or desert , with catastrophic consequences for the world's climate. According to the WWF , the combination of climate change and deforestation increases the drying effect of dead trees that fuels forest fires. The 1997–2009 Millennium Drought in Australia led to

5265-445: The rapid build-up, the city is quite spread out, with few tall buildings. Most buildings are one-story. Nouakchott is built around a large tree-lined street, Avenue Gamal Abdel Nasser, which runs northeast through the city centre from the airport. It divides the city into two, with the residential areas in the north and the medina quarter , along with the kebbe , a shanty town formed due to the displacement of people from other areas by

5346-543: The reduction in plant growth and yields. Another factor influencing reduced plant growth and yields include the allocation of resources; following drought stress plants will allocate more resources to roots to aid in water uptake increasing root growth and reducing the growth of other plant parts while decreasing yields. The most negative impacts of drought for humans include crop failure , food crisis , famine, malnutrition, and poverty , which lead to loss of life and mass migration of people. There are negative effects on

5427-451: The rest of society. People have viewed drought as a natural disaster or as something influenced by human activity , or as a result of supernatural forces. The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report defines a drought simply as "drier than normal conditions". This means that a drought is "a moisture deficit relative to the average water availability at a given location and season". According to National Integrated Drought Information System ,

5508-564: The same time plant growth relies on cellular division, cell enlargement, and differentiation. Drought stress impairs mitosis and cell elongation via loss of turgor pressure which results in poor growth. Development of leaves is also dependent upon turgor pressure, concentration of nutrients, and carbon assimilates all of which are reduced by drought conditions, thus drought stress lead to a decrease in leaf size and number. Plant height, biomass, leaf size and stem girth has been shown to decrease in maize under water limiting conditions. Crop yield

5589-464: The severity of drought events" and "Increased atmospheric evaporative demand increases plant water stress, leading to agricultural and ecological drought". There is a rise of compound warm-season droughts in Europe that are concurrent with an increase in potential evapotranspiration . Higher temperatures increase evaporation. This dries the soil and increases plant stress . Agriculture suffers as

5670-466: The short rains from October to December. The frequent occurrence of hydrological extremes, like droughts and floods , harms the already vulnerable population suffering from severe poverty and economic turmoil. Droughts prompted food shortages for example in 1984–85 , 2006 and 2011 . The Eastern African region experiences the impacts of climate change in different forms. For instance, below-average rainfall occurred for six consecutive rainy seasons in

5751-450: The spatial and temporal changes and variability in drought duration, severity, and magnitude at a much finer scale. This supports the development of site-specific adaptation measures. The application of multiple indices using different datasets helps to better manage and monitor droughts than using a single dataset, This is particularly the case in regions of the world where not enough data is available such as Africa and South America. Using

5832-584: The tropics, distinct, wet and dry seasons emerge due to the movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone or Monsoon trough . The dry season greatly increases drought occurrence, and is characterized by its low humidity, with watering holes and rivers drying up. Because of the lack of these watering holes, many grazing animals are forced to migrate due to the lack of water in search of more fertile lands. Examples of such animals are zebras , elephants , and wildebeest . Because of

5913-414: The uptake of nutrients from the soil, and for the transport of nutrients throughout the plant: drought conditions limit these functions leading to stunted growth. Drought stress also causes a decrease in photosynthetic activity in plants due to the reduction of photosynthetic tissues, stomatal closure, and reduced performance of photosynthetic machinery. This reduction in photosynthetic activity contributes to

5994-465: The west Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the east Pacific, it causes extensive drought in the western Pacific. Singapore experienced the driest February in 2014 since records began in 1869, with only 6.3 mm of rain falling in the month and temperatures hitting as high as 35 °C on 26 February. The years 1968 and 2005 had the next driest Februaries, when 8.4 mm of rain fell. Globally,

6075-725: The whole Murray-Darling basin if it did not receive sufficient water by October 2008. Australia could experience more severe droughts and they could become more frequent in the future, a government-commissioned report said on July 6, 2008. Australian environmentalist Tim Flannery , predicted that unless it made drastic changes, Perth in Western Australia could become the world's first ghost metropolis , an abandoned city with no more water to sustain its population. The long Australian Millennial drought broke in 2010. East Africa , including for example Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, has

6156-513: The wind erosion of loess. In 2005, parts of the Amazon basin experienced the worst drought in 100 years. A 2006 article reported results showing that the forest in its present form could survive only three years of drought. Scientists at the Brazilian National Institute of Amazonian Research argue in the article that this drought response, coupled with the effects of deforestation on regional climate, are pushing

6237-403: The year but cool winter night temperatures. Due to the city's oceanside location, Nouakchott is generally not quite as hot as other cities with this climate. Still, the city can experience sweltering days. While average high temperatures are relatively constant at around 33 °C (91 °F), average low temperatures can range from 25 °C (77 °F) during the fall months (in this city fall

6318-432: Was also consistent with one of the trends in European ideas about urban planning at the time which argued for the preservation of historic cities in Europe – ideas which Lyautey himself favored. Scholar Janet Abu-Lughod has argued that French urban policies and regulations created a kind of urban "apartheid" between the indigenous Moroccan urban areas – which were forced to remain stagnant in terms of urban development – and

6399-413: Was initially divided into four departments in 1973. In 1986 the current nine departments were created. Formerly a district, in 1990 Nouakchott became a region of Mauritania. On 25 November 2014, it was split into the three current regions, with the previous governor of Nouakchott Mahi Ould Hamed becoming the first governor of Nouakchott-Nord. For comparison, its population was only 20,000 in 1969. Part of

6480-409: Was reported that "slums have been replaced by social dwellings for the poorest", with the World Bank reporting that the plan met with substantial success, resulting in access to improved services for 181,035 people in the slum areas. Now in 2023 the population is approximately 1.5M people. Nouakchott is the center of the Mauritanian economy, with three-quarters of service sector enterprises located in

6561-601: Was the decision to largely forego development of existing historic cities and to deliberately preserve them as sites of historic heritage, the "medinas". The French administration again built new planned cities outside the old walled cities, where European settlers largely resided with modern Western-style amenities. This was part of a larger "policy of association" adopted by Lyautey which favoured various forms of indirect colonial rule by preserving local institutions and elites, in contrast with other French colonial policies favouring assimilation. The desire to preserve historic cities

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