Editing Drought (section)

== History ==
{{See also|List of droughts}}
[[File:Dust Bowl - Dallas, South Dakota 1936.jpg|thumb|A South Dakota farm during the [[Dust Bowl]], 1936]]

Throughout history, humans have usually viewed droughts as [[disaster]]s due to the impact on food availability and the rest of society. Drought is among the earliest documented climatic events, present in the [[Epic of Gilgamesh]] and tied to the [[Bible|Biblical]] story of [[Joseph (Hebrew Bible)|Joseph]]'s arrival in and the later [[The Exodus|Exodus]] from [[ancient Egypt]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Weather Centre – Features – History and Religion – Weather in the Bible – Drought and Famine|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/bible_drought.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040110002457/http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/bible_drought.shtml|archive-date=10 January 2004|access-date=5 November 2017}}</ref> Hunter-gatherer migrations in 9,500 BC Chile have been linked to the phenomenon,<ref>{{cite web|title=Ancient Chile Migration Mystery Tied to Drought|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1024_021024_ChileAtacama.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021028200916/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/10/1024_021024_ChileAtacama.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 28, 2002|work=National Geographic}}</ref> as has the exodus of early humans [[Recent African origin of modern humans|out of Africa]] and into the rest of the world around 135,000 years ago.<ref>[http://azstarnet.com/all-headlines/205715m/ Drought pushed ancient African immigration ]{{dead link|date=December 2016|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>

Droughts can be scientifically explained in terms of physical mechanisms, which underlie [[natural disasters]] and are influenced by [[human impact on the environment]].<ref name="Savelli">{{cite journal|last1=Savelli|first1=Elisa|last2=Rusca|first2=Maria|last3=Cloke|first3=Hannah|last4=Di Baldassarre|first4=Giuliano|title=Drought and society: Scientific progress, blind spots, and future prospects|journal=WIREs Climate Change|date=May 2022|volume=13|issue=3|pages=e761|doi=10.1002/wcc.761|issn=1757-7780|doi-access=free|pmid=35864922|pmc=9286479|bibcode=2022WIRCC..13E.761S}}</ref>
Beliefs about drought are further shaped by cultural factors including local knowledge, perceptions, values, beliefs and religion. In some places and times, droughts have been interpreted as the work of [[supernatural]] forces.<ref name="Salite"/> Globally, people in many societies have been more likely to explain natural events like drought, famine and disease in terms of the supernatural than they are to explain social phenomena like war, murder, and theft.<ref name="Wrethman">{{cite news|last1=Wrethman|first1=Emily|title=How societies use supernatural forces to explain earthly events|url=https://mdhs.unimelb.edu.au/news-and-events/how-societies-use-supernatural-forces-to-explain-earthly-events|work=Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences|date=4 April 2023}}</ref><ref name="Jackson">{{cite journal|last1=Jackson|first1=Joshua Conrad|last2=Dillion|first2=Danica|last3=Bastian|first3=Brock|last4=Watts|first4=Joseph|last5=Buckner|first5=William|last6=DiMaggio|first6=Nicholas|last7=Gray|first7=Kurt|title=Supernatural explanations across 114 societies are more common for natural than social phenomena|journal=Nature Human Behaviour|date=May 2023|volume=7|issue=5|pages=707–717|doi=10.1038/s41562-023-01558-0|issn=2397-3374|doi-access=free|pmid=37012368}}</ref>

Historically, [[Ritual#Rites of affliction|rituals]] have been used in an attempt to prevent or avert drought. [[Rainmaking (ritual)|Rainmaking rituals]] have ranged from dances to [[scapegoating]] to [[human sacrifice]]s. Many ancient practices are now a matter of [[folklore]] while others may still be practiced.<ref name="Spring">{{cite book|last1=Spring|first1=Úrsula Oswald|last2=Brauch|first2=Hans Günter|title=Decolonising Conflicts, Security, Peace, Gender, Environment and Development in the Anthropocene|date=25 January 2021|publisher=Springer Nature|isbn=978-3-030-62316-6|pages=385–410|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qioXEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA394}}</ref>

In areas where people have limited understanding of the scientific basis of drought, beliefs about drought continue to reflect indigenous beliefs in the power of spirits and Christian philosophies that see drought as a divine punishment. Such beliefs can influence people's thinking and affect their resilience and ability to adapt to stress and respond to crises.<ref name="Salite">{{cite journal|last1=Salite|first1=Daniela|title=Explaining the uncertainty: understanding small-scale farmers' cultural beliefs and reasoning of drought causes in Gaza Province, Southern Mozambique|journal=Agriculture and Human Values|date=1 September 2019|volume=36|issue=3|pages=427–441|doi=10.1007/s10460-019-09928-z|issn=1572-8366|doi-access=free}}</ref> In the case of [[Creationism]], curricula sometimes give religious explanations of natural phenomena rather than scientific ones. Teaching explicitly denies [[evolution]], that human agency is affecting climate, and that climate change is occurring.<ref name="Scaramanga">{{cite journal|last1=Scaramanga|first1=Jenna|last2=Reiss|first2=Michael J.|title=Evolutionary stasis: creationism, evolution and climate change in the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum|journal=Cultural Studies of Science Education|date=1 September 2023|volume=18|issue=3|pages=809–827|doi=10.1007/s11422-023-10187-y|issn=1871-1510|doi-access=free|pmid=37360053|pmc=10191816|bibcode=2023CSSE...18..809S}}</ref>

Some historical droughts include:
* The [[4.2-kiloyear event]], a [[megadrought]] that took place in Africa and Asia between 5,000 and 4,000 years ago, has been linked with the collapse of the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom]] in [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], the [[Akkadian Empire]] in [[Mesopotamia]], the [[Liangzhu culture]] in the lower [[Yangtze|Yangtze River]] area, and the [[Indus Valley Civilization]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Did a mega drought topple empires 4,200 years ago?|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00157-9|work=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|date=26 January 2022}}</ref>
* The longest drought in [[recorded history]] started 400 years ago in the [[Atacama Desert]] in [[Chile]] and still continues.<ref>{{cite web|title=Driest Place: Atacama Desert, Chile|url=http://www.extremescience.com/driest.htm|access-date=September 25, 2016|publisher=Extreme Science}}.</ref>
* Drought might have been a contributing factor to [[Classic Maya collapse#Drought theory|Classic Maya collapse]] between the 7th and 9th centuries.<ref>{{cite web|title=What really caused the collapse of the Maya civilization?|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/mayan-empire-collapse-mystery|work=National Geographic}}</ref>
* [[1540 European drought|1540 Central Europe]], said to be the "worst drought of the millennium" with eleven months without rain and temperatures of 5–7&nbsp;°C above the average of the 20th century<ref>Oliver Wetter et al: ''The year-long unprecedented European heat and drought of 1540 – a worst case''. In: ''[[Climatic Change]]'', June 2014, [[doi:10.1007/s10584-014-1184-2]]</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Andreas Frey|date=2018-08-04|title=Elf Monate ohne Regen: Die Angst vor der Megadürre des Jahres 1540 geht um|language=de|newspaper=[[Neue Zürcher Zeitung]]|url=https://nzzas.nzz.ch/wissen/elf-monate-ohne-regen-angst-vor-megaduerre-jahres-1540-geht-um-ld.1408708|access-date=2018-08-06}}</ref>
* 1900 India [[Indian famine of 1899–1900|killing between 250,000 and 3.25 million]].
* 1921–22 Soviet Union in which over [[Russian famine of 1921–1922|5 million perished from starvation]] due to the combined effects of severe drought and war.
* 1928–1930 Northwest China resulting in over [[Chinese famine of 1928–1930|3 million deaths by famine]].