Editing Drought (section)

=== Environmental and economic impacts ===
[[File:Mixed Douglas-fir - Western Redcedar forest, with some Western Redcedar dying from drought; Arlington, Washington, 2018 (29721380337).jpg| thumb|right | Western red cedar dying from drought, US, 2018]]
Environmental effects of droughts include: lower surface and subterranean water-levels, lower flow-levels (with a decrease below the minimum leading to direct danger for amphibian life), increased [[Water pollution|pollution of surface water]], the drying out of [[wetland]]s, more and larger [[wildfire]]s, higher deflation intensity, [[Biodiversity loss|loss of biodiversity]], worse health of trees and the appearance of pests and dendroid diseases.<ref name="Zimmer">{{cite journal|last1=Zimmer|first1=Katarina|title=Dead trees around the world are shocking scientists|journal=Knowable Magazine|date=17 August 2023|doi=10.1146/knowable-081723-2|doi-access=free|url=https://knowablemagazine.org/article/food-environment/2023/dead-trees-shocking-scientists}}</ref><ref name="Hartmann">{{cite journal|last1=Hartmann|first1=Henrik|last2=Bastos|first2=Ana|last3=Das|first3=Adrian J.|last4=Esquivel-Muelbert|first4=Adriane|last5=Hammond|first5=William M.|last6=Martínez-Vilalta|first6=Jordi|last7=McDowell|first7=Nate G.|last8=Powers|first8=Jennifer S.|last9=Pugh|first9=Thomas A.M. |last10=Ruthrof |first10=Katinka X.|last11=Allen|first11=Craig D.|title=Climate Change Risks to Global Forest Health: Emergence of Unexpected Events of Elevated Tree Mortality Worldwide|journal=Annual Review of Plant Biology|date=20 May 2022|volume=73|issue=1|pages=673–702|doi=10.1146/annurev-arplant-102820-012804|doi-access=free|pmid=35231182|bibcode=2022ARPB...73..673H|issn=1543-5008}}</ref> Drought-induced mortality of trees lacks in most [[climate model]]s in their representation of forests as [[Carbon sink|land carbon sink]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Greenfield|first=Patrick|date=2024-10-14|title=Trees and land absorbed almost no CO2 last year. Is nature's carbon sink failing?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/14/nature-carbon-sink-collapse-global-heating-models-emissions-targets-evidence-aoe|access-date=2024-11-02|work=The Guardian|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Economic losses as 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 industry|energy sector]] and for technological processes in metallurgy, mining, the chemical, paper, wood, foodstuff industries etc., disruption of [[Water supply|water supplies]] for municipal economies.

Further examples of common environmental and economic consequences of drought include:
* Alteration of [[Functional diversity (ecology)|diversity of plant communities]], which can have an impact on net [[primary production]] and other [[ecosystem service]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Griffin-Nolan|first1=Robert J.|last2=Blumenthal|first2=Dana M.|last3=Collins|first3=Scott L.|last4=Farkas|first4=Timothy E.|last5=Hoffman|first5=Ava M.|last6=Mueller|first6=Kevin E.|last7=Ocheltree|first7=Troy W.|last8=Smith|first8=Melinda D.|author-link8=Melinda D. Smith|last9=Whitney|first9=Kenneth D. |last10=Knapp |first10=Alan K.|date=September 2019|editor-last=Jones|editor-first=Holly|title=Shifts in plant functional composition following long-term drought in grasslands|journal=Journal of Ecology|volume=107|issue=5|pages=2133–2148|bibcode=2019JEcol.107.2133G|doi=10.1111/1365-2745.13252|issn=0022-0477|doi-access=free}}</ref>
* [[Wildfires]], such as [[Australian bushfires]] and [[wildfires in the United States]], become more common during times of drought and may cause human deaths.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|title=TFS Article|url=http://txforestservice.tamu.edu/shared/article.asp?DocumentID=406&mc=fire|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030711082443/http://txforestservice.tamu.edu/shared/article.asp?DocumentID=406&mc=fire|archive-date=11 July 2003|work=tamu.edu}}</ref>
* [[Dust Bowl]]s, themselves a sign of [[erosion]], which further erode the [[landscape]]
* [[Dust storms]], when drought hits an area suffering from desertification and [[erosion]]
* [[Habitat]] damage, affecting both [[Terrestrial ecoregion|terrestrial]] and [[Aquatic ecosystem|aquatic]] wildlife<ref>C.Michael Hogan. 2010. [http://www.eoearth.org/article/Abiotic_factor?topic=49461 ''Abiotic factor''. Ed. Emily Monosson. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment, Washington DC] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130608071757/http://www.eoearth.org/article/Abiotic_factor?topic=49461 |date= June 8, 2013 }}</ref>
* [[Snake]] migration, which results in snake-bites<ref>{{cite news|date=2007-01-20|title=Asia-Pacific – Australians face snake invasion|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6282075.stm|publisher=BBC News}}</ref>
* Reduced [[electricity generation|electricity production]] due to reduced water-flow through [[hydroelectric energy|hydroelectric]] [[dam]]s<ref>[http://www.dailyestimate.com/article.asp?idcategory=35&idSub=175&idArticle=12286 Drought affecting US hydroelectric production | Daily Estimate] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111002124428/http://www.dailyestimate.com/article.asp?idcategory=35&idSub=175&idArticle=12286 |date= October 2, 2011 }}</ref>
* Shortages of water for [[Private industry|industrial]] users<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/03/06/MNGE2BL7161.DTL|title=Parched village sues to shut tap at Coke / Drought-hit Indians say plant draining groundwater|work=San Francisco Chronicle|date=2005-03-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/sweden-nuclear-closure-040806|title=Sweden closes nuclear plants over safety fears|publisher=Greenpeace International|access-date=2016-02-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110184749/http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/sweden-nuclear-closure-040806|archive-date=2009-01-10|url-status=dead}}</ref>