Effectiveness of Drought Indices in the Assessment of Different Types of Droughts, Managing and Mitigating Their Effects
Jean Marie Ndayiragije, Fan Li
Abstract
Droughts are the most destructive catastrophes in the world. The persistence of drought is considered to cause many challenges for both humans and animals and ruins the ecosystem. These challenges have encouraged scientists to search for innovative methods and models that are effective for assessing and predicting drought events. The use of drought indices has been extensively employed in many regions across the globe and their effectiveness demonstrated. This review illustrates the effectiveness of drought indices in the assessment of droughts, with a focus on drought management and mitigation measures. Additionally, several ways of managing drought risk and proactive strategies that need to be implemented to mitigate droughts have been illustrated. In conclusion, this article suggests that drought mitigation should be done more naturally, in ways that strongly protect the environment rather than involve engineering projects which might cause the degradation of rivers and land, and damage the ecosystem.