Paesta Podcasts

You Asked, We Answered! Transcript of the podcast Hello listeners, my name is Madison Stewart and I am an undergraduate student at Penn State Brandywine. Today I am here to answer the question “What causes drought?” This is a question that certainly has more than one answer. Typically, it is believed that drought is caused by lack of rainfall, which is partly true. However, there are actually different types of drought and each have different causes. [1,2] A meteorological drought is caused by lack of precipitation and moisture. This type of drought occurs when a specific region receives less rainfall than it normally does. For example, 20 inches of rainfall may be normal in some parts of Texas, but not in Washington State. Another way to think of a meteorological drought is in terms of degree and duration of dryness particular to a certain region. Winds and high temperatures are also influencers. Another type of drought is hydrological. A hydrological drought is when water levels are lower th