Meteorological drought and its social impact in Illinois

Booth, Alfred W.; Voeller, Don

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/90115 Copy

Description

Title

Meteorological drought and its social impact in Illinois

Author(s)

• Booth, Alfred W.
• Voeller, Don

Contributor(s)

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Issue Date

1967-03

Keyword(s)

• Water resource development
• Water resource development--Illinois
• Human dimensions
• Drought
• Social impacts of drought
• Illinois

Geographic Coverage

Illinois (state)

Abstract

Drought invariably infers a shortage of moisture in one context or another, wherein a situation of stress evolves; and attempts have been made to develop a procedure whereby the relative and absolute impact of this phenomenon can be measured. It was proposed to test the validity of meteorological drought, as defined by the recently derived Palmer Index, by comparing the variability of drought in Illinois, as indicated by the index, with the effects of this phenomenon on various sectors of the State's society. The research was based on the hypothesis that the impact of drought on the social realm varies as drought severity varies. Due primarily to the lack of long-term, readily available data and of developed methodology for isolating the effects of natural phenomenon on man and his activities, little conclusive objective evidence was obtained; however, it appears that drought has variable impact: (1) from one sector of society to . another at a given time, (2) within the same sector of society in given areas at a given time, (3) in given sectors of society through space, and (4) through time on society as a whole, all because of the dynamic nature of man's culture which enables him to better cope with the vagaries of nature on the one hand and results in his becoming more susceptible to them on the other.

Publisher

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Water Resources Center

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90115

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

• U.S. Department of the Interior
• U.S. Geological Survey

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 1967 held by Alfred W. Booth, Don Voeller

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