Thailand Faces Another Year of Drought
Created By RISC | 1 year ago
Last modified date : 1 year ago
It's the rainy season so where’s the rain?
When May comes, we know the rainy season’s here. This year, though, it seems to be delayed. National rainfall is below average and we’re facing drought.
Variations in rainfall reflect El Niño, which is stronger than usual this year. Climate change, as we covered earlier (http://bit.ly/3FROVvF), could extend this cyclical phenomenon.
El Niño will be present in 2024 and the world will suffer drought, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the UK Met Office.
Drought reduces soil moisture, surface water, and groundwater. Climate and environmental change combine with El Niño and natural and human-caused factors such as greenhouse gas emissions, waste of water resources, deforestation, and degradation of watersheds. Ecosystems suffer causing biodiversity loss, affecting wild animals, trees, plants as well as our lives.
Urban planners and other organizations must prioritize long-term drought response plans like water management, water retention, and innovations and technologies to store water, make drinking water, and enable efficient irrigation.
Our options might look limited. But government and urban developers must remember how much water matters. Fresh water accounts for only 1% of all water on the earth. We must value water and use it sparingly to create a livable environment for all life.
Story by: Sirapach Mangkang, Geographic Information System (GIS) specialist, RISC
References:
https://www.tmd.go.th/media/climate/seasonal_announce/rainy-season-2566-announcement.pdf
https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/lanina/enso_evolution-status-fcsts-web.pdf
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/10/el-nino-earth-could-overshoot-1point5-degrees-for-the-first-time-in-2024.html
http://ndwc.disaster.go.th/cmsdetail.ndwc-9.283/26675/menu_7525/4214.1/
https://ngthai.com/environment/47937/drought/
https://ngthai.com/science/30230/hydroresourcestory/