ABSTRACT
The 1987-1989 droughts were a signal event in the evolving interrelationships among climate, natural resources management, technology, and society in the United States. The specific problems caused by droughts stem from their impacts on a wide array of natural systems and climate-sensitive human activities. An Interagency Drought Coordination Committee was formed in April that eventually designated 2,145 US counties as drought disaster areas. By virtue of its severity, timing, public attention, and link to broader environmental problems, the drought evoked fundamental concerns about sustainable natural resources management in the United States. 1987-89 drought and longer-term climate change caused by the Greenhouse Effect, made by a few scientists and widely discussed by the news media, turned the drought into a symbol of potential climate disasters in the future. This chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
