Effects of Drought on Environment and Water Resources

Discuss about the Vulnerabilities and Human Adaptation.

Yusa et al., (2015) were of the opinion that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had stated that the change in the climatic conditions such as the events of floods and droughts may result in creating an impact on the human health in a negative manner. In Canada, it has been seen that the result of extreme weather conditions has resulted in severe drought and that it has affect the health of the individuals as well. The major concerns in the health of the individuals were the diseases related to water, food and vector.  Parsons (2014) stated that the major concern will be the severity of the drought conditions and its toll on the health of the humans living in Canada. The main aim of this paper will be to provide a detailed analysis of the impacts that take place on the health of the humans with respect to the droughts in the Canadian context. It will also provide insights regarding the options to adapt so that the human settlement can protect their health during the conditions of drought.

Drought can be defined as the long period of dry weather that results in the depletion of water resources among the humans along with the other needs of the environment. The effect of drought has resulted in the depletion of reservoir levels along with the flow of streams and groundwater levels. It has also hampered the quality of water and the erosion of lands has also taken place (McMichael, 2013). There can be major hazards on the environment as well due to droughts such as loss of wetlands and risk of increased wildfires. The areas that are prone to droughts in Canada have had a greater impact on the health of the humans as well as on the society. The onset of droughts in the area is different as it lasts for long durations and it also recurs in most parts of the Canadian region (Goudie, 2014).

Myers et al., (2013) stated that the dimension of drought is different and is dependent on the factors such as the level of intensity and the time period. It may also create shortage of water, which may lead to other complexities as well.

Deschenes (2014) stated that the country is known for its abundant resources of water but are distributed in an uneven manner across the country. An example of this is that almost 98 percent of the population living in Canada are based in south and have access to only around 38 percent of the water resources. With respect to the northern part, it can be seen that there is more availability of water resources per capita to the individuals and provides water to the prairies and the great lakes as well but has decreased between the period of 1971 and 2004.

Drought in Different regions of Canada

Stanke et al. (2013) on the other hand stated that the part of western Canada particularly the Canadian Prairies and the valleys of British Columbia experience major droughts, as they are on the leeward side of the mountain ranges  and receive less amount of rainfall per year. The prairies have experienced long patches of dry spells during the 1930, 1960, 1980 and in the recent times during the period of 1999-2005. During the period of 2001-02 the flow of streams were below the average level and had extended from the western Canadian region of Ontario to that of the Atlantic Provinces.

In the Quebec and southern part of Ontario, it has been seen that there were major droughts during the period of 1930-1999. The region of Ontario has also experienced drought during the period of 2001-02 (Foyer et al., 2016). During the period of 2011, the water levels of St. Lawrence River had drastically reached to a lower level and a team known as Ontario Low Water Resources Plan (OLWR) had asked the individuals to reduce the consumption of daily water intake. The rate of freshwater discharge has reduced over a span of 37 years, which has reduced the flow of water in the rivers like Hudson, Ungava Bays and James. The Ontario watersheds gets the resources from Nunavut along with the different US states, which is almost equivalent to one-third of the place in Canada (Marengo et al., 2013).

The effect of drought can be immense on the human health, as it affects the socioeconomic areas of the humans. The occurrence of drought leads to an increase in the rate of mortality and morbidity as well. According to the past researches, the changes in the climatic conditions may also result in severe health problems due to drought in the Canadian region (Franchini & Mannucci, 2015). An evidence of this was found in the prairie region where there were severe impacts due to dust and led to water-borne diseases among the individuals. Ontario has also witnesses that due to changes in the climatic conditions there has been impact on the diseases with respect to water, vector and food-borne diseases (Gamble et al., 2017).

There can be a negative impact on the potable water as well due to the effect of drought. The quality of water decreases to a great extent and there is a higher chance of being infected through water due to the droughts that are taking place in the Canadian region. The reduction in the water levels along with the stagnation of water in few of the areas can result in increasing the concentration level of contaminants in the surface as well as in the ground waters (Smith et al., 2013). The lower content of water also results in the contamination due to the unfiltered sediments that are found in the place. With respect to the Canadian context, it can be stated that there was concentrated amount of nitrates along with sulphates and chlorides in the water in the regions that have faced droughts. It was also found that the water contained high amounts of nitrates and organic carbon compounds as well (Barrett, Charles & Temte, 2015).

Impact of Drought on Human Health

The change in water content due to drought conditions also results in increasing the risk of water-borne diseases such as Hepatitis A. The changes in the temperature will lead to the growth of algae in the water bodies, which will result in increasing the level of salinity in the water resources as well. The rise in the level of temperature in the Canadian area will result in the increase in the breeding of pathogens in the water that may lead to serious health issues among the humans (Smith, 2014). With respect to Canada, the spread of diseases that are common through water are campylobacteriosis, salmonellosis and giardiasis. This was due to the level of contamination that was present in the collection of groundwater and there are almost 300-400 cases among the humans per year (Portier et al., 2017).

According to US Global Research Program (2018), in a situation of drought, there is immense pressure on the water treatment plants as well that can result in increasing the risk of level of contamination as well. The result of drought is that the water resources are unavailable and most of the people turn to alternative sources, which results in increasing the health risk among the humans. The inadequate manner in which the water resources will be treated during the drought period will result in the rise of pathogens that will also increase the level of cost for treating it in a proper manner. The alterations in the flow of water are also some of the contributors towards the increase in water treatment.

The drought conditions also create an impact on the diseases that are related with food products. The dry conditions that are present in the region result in the increase of the food pathogens that may create problems after consuming the food by the people. In the Canadian scenario, it can be seen that there are almost 11 million cases that results due to consumption of food products containing pathogens. The most common type of diseases that was reported in Canada was from the bacteria named campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis in the year 2012 (Watts et al., 2015). The Canadian provinces that are dry breed bacteria such as C. perfringens that also infests the food products that are consumed by the normal people. In the drought situation, the consumption of shellfish and cultivated crops also increase the risk of infections among the human population. The use of treated sewage water during the period of water shortage for irrigational purposes also increases the chances of illness that are reacted to food products. The country monitors the production of local food products under the conditions of drought so that proper techniques can be used to harvest the crops (Smith et al., 2014).

Water-borne Diseases

These diseases are basically spread through mosquitoes, as they breed in the areas that are associated with higher levels of precipitation. Most of the mosquitoes in the Canadian region transmit the West Nile virus (WNV), which had been reported in the country between the periods of January to the end of November in the year 2013. The higher rate of precipitation in some of the areas lead to the increase in the vectors, as it becomes the breeding grounds for them. The rate of precipitation is higher in the prairie regions and had led to the rise of Culex tarsalis in the year 2007, which was the major cause for the outbreak of West Nile viruses in the Canadian province (Marengo et al., 2013). The drought period also saw the outbreak of this virus in the eastern part of the country along with the prairies as well. The areas that have been affected by drought has also seen wetter kind of climate after a prolonged period, which leads to the rise of mosquito population in the country. The occurrence of drought increases the rate of contact between the hosts and the vectors, which increases the prevalence among the mosquitoes o be infected by the virus. This in turn is increases the chances of the human population to be infected (Franchini & Mannucci, 2015).

Another common vector disease is known as Lyme disease that was prevalent in the Northern parts of America and was emerging in the Canadian province as well. This was a result of the drought areas, as it led to the infestation of ticks in the area. This had to be contained through the process of desiccation that can kill the ticks and by increasing the expense of energy so that the process of rehydration among the ticks can be minimalized (Myers et al., 2013).

According to Deschenes (2014), the conditions of drought is often accompanied with dust storms as well as dry weather conditions that may affect the health of the people. The changes in the climatic conditions gives rise to the particulate matters along with allergen particles in the areas that are prone to droughts, which can lead to negative impacts on the health of the people. The increase in the toxin levels due to the formation of algae due to droughts are also the main reasons for the breathing problems among the people, as it infects the eyes and nose of the population.

Food Pathogens

The conditions of drought also affect the human population through socioeconomic factors, as the scarcity of water creates an impact on the agricultural part as well. The agricultural sector in the Canadian province had produced crops and livestock worth $40 billion in the year 2010. The droughts that had taken place in the country during 2001-02 resulted in a loss of $3.5 billion, as the agricultural sector was affected to a great extent (Foyer et al., 2016). The other impact is that it leads to mass unemployment and increases the level of stress among the individuals as well. The drought in 1987-92 led to huge impacts on the economy of the people, as the prices of the raw inputs for the farmers increased to a great extent. This led to the fall of the agricultural sector present in Canada and the exports were also affected (Smith, 2014).

According to Portier et al. (2017), the Canadian population consists of many elderly and children who are at the risk of being affected by drought. Apart from them, the pregnant women and the people who are mostly outdoors are also at the risk of being infected by the diseases that are spread through the drought conditions. The people who belong to a lower socioeconomic status takes preventive measures during the occurrence of these events, as they suffer a greater impact due to droughts. This is due to the fact that they are exposed to increased rate of injuries along with the diseases that are spread through water, vectors and food products.

Conclusion

Therefore it can be recommended that the adaptation to the climatic changes can be done through mainstreaming the the information that is related to the change of climates so that the planning and the policies can be taken up in a proper manner. In places like Berg, Ontario and de Loe has planned to protect the water sources through the Clean Water Act so that it can adapt to the changes in the demand and supply of the water resources that may result through drought. The mainstreaming of integrated planning procedures will result in managing the risks in an effective manner, as it will take in to consideration the variability in the climatic conditions along with the events that are related to extreme weather conditions. Different measures such as detecting the leaks that may take place along with the policies of management so that it can help in managing the risks has been set up in the Quebec region as well. In the Atlantic Canada region, most of the communities are facing problems with respect to water shortage and has installed water treatment plants so that during the time of droughts the water resources can be managed in a proper manner.

Vector-borne Diseases

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