science

List of droughts

List of droughts is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of droughts rather than just read about it. In short: This is a list of significant droughts, organized by large geographical area and then year. Africa Aoyate drought in the late 18th or early 19th century 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia 2008–2009 Kenya drought 2011 East Africa drought Sahel drought 2010 Sahel famine 2012 Sahel drought Eastern Cape drought 2017 Somali drought 2018–2021 Southern African drought 2020–2023 Horn of Africa drought 2021 Somali drought Food sec…

Key takeaways

List of droughts belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of droughts to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of droughts from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

This is a list of significant droughts, organized by large geographical area and then year.

Africa Aoyate drought in the late 18th or early 19th century 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia 2008–2009 Kenya drought 2011 East Africa drought Sahel drought 2010 Sahel famine 2012 Sahel drought Eastern Cape drought 2017 Somali drought 2018–2021 Southern African drought 2020–2023 Horn of Africa drought 2021 Somali drought Food security in Malawi 2024 Namibia drought

The Americas

Caribbean 2015 Caribbean drought

South America Drought in Chile Great Drought of 1968 (1967–1969) Chilean water crisis (2010–present) Petorca water crisis (2010–present) Drought in Uruguay (2020–present) 2022-2023 Uruguay drought Drought in Brazil Drought in Northeastern Brazil Grande Seca (1877–78) 2014–2017 Brazilian drought 2023–2024 South American drought

United States 1935 Black Sunday (storm) 1934–35 North American drought 1950s Texas drought 1983–1985 North American drought 1988–1990 North American drought 2002 North American drought 2006–2008 Southeastern United States drought 2010–2013 Southern United States and Mexico drought 2012–2013 North American drought 2011–2017 California drought 2012–2013 North American drought 2020–2023 North American drought

Asia

China 1875 Drought and subsequent famine 2010 China drought and dust storms 2010–2011 China drought

India Deccan famine of 1630–1632 Great Bengal famine of 1770 Chalisa famine Doji bara famine Guntur famine of 1832 Agra famine of 1837–1838 Upper Doab famine of 1860–1861 Orissa famine of 1866 Rajputana famine of 1869 Bihar famine of 1873–1874 Great Famine of 1876–1878 Tamil Nadu famine (1891) Indian famine of 1896–1897 Indian famine of 1899–1900 Bengal famine of 1943 Bihar drought of 1966–1967 2013 drought in Maharashtra 2016–2017 Drought in Tamil Nadu

Iran 2025 Iranian water crises

Syria 2025 hunger crisis in Syria

Turkey 2025 Turkey water crisis

Europe

1473 heat and drought in Europe 1540 European drought Russian famine of 1891–1892 Soviet famine of 1946–1947 2022 European drought 2023 European drought 2026 European drought

United Kingdom 1906 UK Drought and Heatwave 1911 UK Drought and Heatwave 1935 UK Drought and Heatwave 1955 UK Drought and Heatwave 1976 UK Drought and Heatwave 1990 UK Drought and Heatwave 1995 UK Drought and Heatwave (The drought generally lasted until Summer 1997) 2003 UK Drought and Heatwave 2006 UK Drought and Heatwave 2011 UK Drought and March–April Heatwave (The drought continued from 2010 and lasted through until March 2012) Part of the 2010–2012 UK Drought. 2011 UK September–October Heatwave Part of the 2010–2012 UK Drought. 2012 UK March Heatwave

Oceania

Australia Drought in Australia Federation Drought (1901) 1911–1916 Australian drought 1979–1983 Eastern Australian drought 2000s Australian drought

South Pacific 2011 Tuvalu drought

References

External links water.usgs.gov

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of droughts

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of droughts claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of droughts before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of droughts ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of droughts

In research: List of droughts appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of droughts in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of droughts is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Droughts, Lists of natural disasters, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of droughts outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of droughts in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of droughts means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of droughts out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of droughts in simple terms?

This is a list of significant droughts, organized by large geographical area and then year. Africa Aoyate drought in the late 18th or early 19th century 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia 2008–2009 Kenya drought 2011 East Africa drought Sahel drought 2010 Sahel famine 2012 Sahel drought Eastern Cape drou…

Why does List of droughts matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of droughts?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of droughts.