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Drought In MEDC’s And LEDC’s. Europe And Africa. Europe; 2003. Estimates for the death toll from the French heatwave in 2003 were as high as 30,000. Harvests were down by between 30% and 50% on 2002.
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Drought In MEDC’s And LEDC’s Europe And Africa
Europe; 2003 • Estimates for the death toll from the French heatwave in 2003 were as high as 30,000. • Harvests were down by between 30% and 50% on 2002. • France’s electricity grid was also affected, as demand for electricity soared as the population turned up air conditioning and fridges. • At the same time, nuclear power stations which generate around 75% of France’s electricity, were operating at a much reduced capacity because there was less water available for cooling.
Europe; 2003 • Portugal declared a state of emergency after the worst forest fires for 30 years. • Temperatures reached 43 degrees C in Lisbon in August 2003 to 15 degrees C hotter than the average for the month. • Over 1300 deaths occurred in the first half of August, and up to 35,000 ha of forest, farmland, and scrub were burned.
Europe; 2003 • Some fires were, in fact, deliberately started by arsonists seeking insurance or compensation money. • Over 70 people were arrested. • The prolonged heatwave left some countries facing their worst harvests since the end of the Second World War. • Some countries that usually export food were forced to import it for the first time in decades. • Across the EU, wheat and production was down 10 million tonnes, about 10%.
Africa; 2003 • In 2003, parts of Southern Ethiopia were experiencing the longest drought anyone had known. • The world’s largest emergency food aid programme was in operation, but it proved inadequate. • Because of a sixth poor rainy season in three years, 20 million people needed help. • The situation was now worse than the 1984 famine, when only 10 million people needed food.
Africa’s “At Risk” Population Plus around 7.3 million across Swaziland, Congo, Uganda, Congo-Brazzaville, Lesotho, and Mozambique.
Activity Using Essential AS Geography P218-219, answer the following questions… • What are the meteorological causes of drought? • What human factors contribute to water shortages in various areas? • How do the impacts on people and the environment differ in both MEDC’s and LEDC’s? • How could these impacts be reduced in both MEDC’s and LEDC’s?