Need a perfect paper? Place your first order and save 5% with this code:   SAVE5NOW

Arizona and Jamestown Drought

The Arizona and Jamestown droughts occurred at different times and in different geographical setups. However, I share some insights on their effects, with the Jamestown drought being the hardest hit. The two have negatively impacted the environment, an economy based on different industries, agricultural activities and the ecosystem. This work focuses on the two droughts, their historical existence, time zones, and agricultural and social impacts.

The Arizona drought primarily affected the South Western United States, while the neighbouring regions experienced its conditions. The growing Arizona population’s increasing water demand and its arid and semi-arid climate contributed to the Arizona drought (Faller, 2022). The drought affected the ecosystem, the economy, and the communities. It is documented that the drought has persisted for a longer time, speculating its onset to be around the 1990s or 2000, with the region experiencing varying periods of dryness and extreme heat characterized by occasional monsoon seasons, which provides a short relief. Wron (2022) posits that the adverse climate effects experienced in Arizona register thirty heat-related deaths yearly.

The drought has had a noticeable adverse effect on water resources, agricultural challenges, and ecological effects. Due to limited water and diminishing irrigation supplies, the drought has significantly affected Arizona’s agricultural activities, hence low agricultural produce. Water shortages have also increased competition between agricultural and environmental water users. Natural ecosystems such as forests have experienced continuous depletion. Water sources such as rivers have experienced reduced water flow, threatening aquatic survival. River Colorado serves a larger region than before, leading to its decrease in flow by twenty per cent.

The increase in population in the West in search of a warm climate has resulted in a strain on the available resources, increasing water shortage challenges. The region is currently experiencing uncalled drought, affecting various industries, such as the building and construction industry, which relies heavily on water, among other water-dependent industries, such as mining and manufacturing. The limited water availability has strained the developments in those sectors, thus increasing costs for water-intensive processes and, hence, low productivity. Some of the large lakes (Lake Mead) are experiencing their lowest there, almost dry, ing.

An almost similar drought was experienced in Jamestown, which was termed the Jamestown Massacre. The Jamestown drought occurred between 1607 and 1612, a remarkable event in European settlement in North America. It was named the start time by the colonies, which forced forcing to their land. The Jamestown drought was considered the worst in 770 years, affected the quality of water supply in Jamestown, and devastated crops that sustained the colonies. The tree ring data indicates that the Jamestown drought recorded the highest mortality rate, forcing the first ever permanently settled English people in America to kill more than 4000 English people (White, 2019).

The Virginia Company of Company established Jamestown as the settlement. They faced many challenges due to their unfamiliarity with the region. Among the challenges include strained relations with the indigenous people, unfamiliar terrain, and harsh weather conditions. Securing necessities such as food and water became challenging with the onset of the drought. The drought struck when the settlers were still struggling to adapt to a new region. At the same time, the area experienced unexpected prolonged below-average capitation per period of extreme heat. According to historical data, the region recorded yearly severity degrees (Public et al., 2019).

The drought profoundly affected agriculture, water supply, general health, and interactions between the native Americans and the settlers. The negative impact on agriculture was the immediate effect of the drought, making it the hardly hit section in the life of the settlers who relied heavily on agriculture for subsistence; this was shattered as the crops non- longer received rainfall, leading to the death of the plants. The intense heat in the region also led to crop failures and low yields, which could not sustain the settlers. Additionally, the drought’s impact on water supply could not be forgotten. The nearby water sources depended on by the settlers dried up while some became contaminated, thus leading to the spread of waterborne diseases such as dysentery and typhoid. This weakened the settlers’ already emaciated health.

On the other hand, the drought also exuberated conflicts between the native Americans and the settlers as the settlers now depended on assistance from the locals after being hardly hit, something the locals did not welcome. There was competition for the available limited resources between the two groups, leading to dissatisfaction between them, resulting in violence and warfare in the region.

Scientists have engaged in continuous sensitization awareness for humans to embrace positive human activities that will positively influence future weather patterns and promote a warm climate. The effects of the drought called for an in-depth analysis of the interconnectedness between social stability, agricultural productivity and environmental conditions, alongside opening forums for future debates on resource management, sustainability, and land use.

In conclusion, the Arizona drought is projected to be more devastating with time and could reach the extent of the Jamestown drought should timely caution not be taken. The technology evident in the state should be employed to curb the increasing drought. Various water sources should be created to help improve the water supply, such as the one done in the 1930 construction of the Hoover Dam, which made living in Arizona memorable. This move will also help the neighbouring regions avoid experiencing the consequences of such drought.

References

Faller. M., (2022, 15 November). The Future of Water in Arizona: ASU Experts Predict how Water Consumption might look in our State, Based on the Science of Today. https://news.asu.edu/20221115-arizona-impact-future-water-arizona

Public Broadcasting Service. (2019, April 15). Death at Jamestown- background. https://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/death-jamestown-background/1428/

White. S, (2019). A Comparison of Drought Information in Early North American Colonial Documentary Records a High-Resolution Tree -Ring-Based Reconstruction. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-15-1809-2019

Wrona. P., (2022). Evaluating how the Impacts of Climate Change on Arizona’s Water Supply Will Influence Public Health. https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/coph_sice/225

 

Don't have time to write this essay on your own?
Use our essay writing service and save your time. We guarantee high quality, on-time delivery and 100% confidentiality. All our papers are written from scratch according to your instructions and are plagiarism free.
Place an order

Cite This Work

To export a reference to this article please select a referencing style below:

APA
MLA
Harvard
Vancouver
Chicago
ASA
IEEE
AMA
Copy to clipboard
Copy to clipboard
Copy to clipboard
Copy to clipboard
Copy to clipboard
Copy to clipboard
Copy to clipboard
Copy to clipboard
Need a plagiarism free essay written by an educator?
Order it today

Popular Essay Topics