Adaptation and adjustments in drought-prone areas: Research directions

This chapter reviews a portion of the extensive literature on drought and climate impact analysis. It considers the drought problem from a decision-making perspective. A substantial amount of important scholarly research has addressed the issue of man’s adaptation to drought. In general, these projects have employed the extreme events approach. Drought and its societal effects are of obvious importance. One doesn’t need graduate-level training to discern the human suffering that occurs because of prolonged draughts. One facet of time’s role in adapting to the possibility of drought refers to the long-term variability of climate. Numerous researchers have proposed drought-related research agendas with the goal of improving societal well-being. A decision-making perspective is advanced as a framework for analysis of drought. This framework is illustrated for an agricultural situation, although the approach is applicable in a wide range of situations. The interaction of climate and nonclimate factors in affecting drought-related decision making can be assessed.