Page 165 - Science Class 06

v Excessive use of surface water due to animals die due to starva on or leave the
popula on growth and industrialisa on.
Effects on Soil
v Soil becomes dry and cracks appear on
the surface of the soil.
v Soil may become infer le.
v Living organisms of the soil die.
v Humus of the soil is also lost.
Soil cracks caused by drought.
Effects on People
v People face a lot of problems caused
due to shortage of water. Many hand-
pumps, wells, ponds, canals, etc. go dry.
In this situa on, they have to fetch
water from a long distance.
v People do not irrigate crops as water of
lakes, rivers, dams, canals, ponds, etc.
This results in shortage of food grains
and other food items that leads to
starva on.
v Some mes, a drought displaces people
from a large number of villages and
towns.
Effects on Animals
Many domes c animals die due to shortage
of drinking water. A drought also leads to
the shortage of fodder which is obtained
from crop plants. In this situa on, many
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place.
Effects on Water Bodies
Absence of rain for a long dura on causes
drying up of water bodies, such as rivers,
ponds, lakes, canals, etc. The water cycle,
too, is affected, which results in further loss
of rain.
Effects on Aqua c Life
Aqua c plants and animals die due to the
loss of their habitat. This also causes
problems to the people who depends on
aqua c plants and animals.
FLOOD
Floods are natural occurrences where an
area of land that is normally dry abruptly
becomes submerged in water. In simple
terms, flood can be defined as an overflow
of large quan es of water onto a normally
dry land. Flood takes place in many ways
due to overflow of streams, rivers, lakes or
oceans or as a result of excessive rain.
Whenever flood takes place, there is the
possibility of loss of life, hardship to people
and extensive damage to property. This is
because flood can carry bridges, cars,
houses and even people. Flood also
destroys crops and can wipe away trees and
other important structures on land. Some
floods occur abruptly and recede quickly
whereas others take several days or even
months to form and to recede because of
varia on in size, dura on and the area
affected. Some mes, floods also occur near
coastal regions due to dal waves, cyclones
or tsunamis.
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