Is it a drought? No, it’s an ESRD (that means: Environmental Stress due to Rainfall Deficit)
By Tamara Cohen
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When is a drought not a drought? When it’s an Environmental Stress due to Rainfall Deficit.
An ‘ESRD’ for short, this is the new term being employed by the Environment Agency following the wettest April on record.
Officials admit it is not exactly catchy but believe it best describes the situation in the 19 counties no longer in drought.
Drought? The Environment Agency’s new terminology is supposed to prevent this year’s situation, when people were told their areas were in drought despite flooding
And this is only the start of it. They plan to create ‘more sophisticated terminology’ to describe an array of dry conditions, and address concerns that the term drought is too ‘blunt’.
The aim is to prevent a repeat of the situation this year where people were told that their areas were officially in drought despite the fact their homes were being flooded.
In future, dry conditions could be divided into a number of sub-categories to describe the level of water shortage and who is affected.
The drought was rained off for much of the South West and the Midlands ten days ago after more than double the average rainfall last month.
It is still in force in the east of England, where hosepipes are banned.
Heavy downpours saw 150 properties flooded, 75 flood warnings issued and more than 10,000 phone calls to a flood helpline.
Cropston Reservoir, in central England, in February (top) and May (below). The hosepipe ban is still in force in the east of England
Trevor Bishop, the Agency’s head of water resources, said: ‘People think of drought and they think of television programmes of Ethiopia, and we are not in that situation.’ Normally, he explained, the weather gets hotter and drier in the spring and summer.
‘But this year it got colder and wetter. People were finding themselves in areas categorised as in drought but actually were being flooded,’ he said.
The intense rainfall in spring has not solved the drought, he went on, adding: ‘We wanted to create a new terminology which represented this.’
The new terms will involve ‘gradations in the way we describe the water resources situation’. ‘That may or may not involve the term drought. It almost certainly will in some situations,’ Mr Bishop added.
Mr Bishop said water firms were ‘reasonably certain’ there would be no need for further water restrictions in a normal summer, but a heatwave could push supplies to ‘critical points’.
While it is unclear what the new terms will be, Dr David Boorman, of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, said experts already refer to meterological, hydrological, agricultural and economic drought, depending on whether the environment, farmers, homes or businesses are hit.
Entries for this year’s Environmental Photographer of the Year Competition
- shot one of the entrants for the Environmental Photographer of the Year Competition
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 2:30 AM on 24th October 2011
Jaw-dropping: Among the entrants was this remarkable shot of a fearless cleaner shrimp in the mouth of a moray eel, cleaning its teeth
The terrifying jaws are capable of causing serious damage to any human who may cross its path.
But this moray eel is more than happy to let a shrimp clean his teeth – perhaps keeping them in top shape for the next prey that comes along.
From rarely glimpsed scenes such as this in the depths of the ocean to dramatic shots of nature, red in tooth and claw, these stunning images capture our natural environment in all its glory and despair.
They are among the entries for this year’s Environmental Photographer of the Year Competition.
This year a number of entrants focused on humans and their environment with overall winner, Hong Kong resident Chan Kwok Hung’s producing a stunning image of homeless children in Nepal.
With more than double the submissions compared to 2010, the 13 judges had to sort through over 10,000 entries from 105 nations, making this the most popular and high calibre year to date.
Winner, Chan Kwok Hung described how he was able to capture his picture of two vulnerable children living on what seemed like the very edge of survival.
‘The photo was taken in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal and is of two children who lived nearby to the junkyard with their grandmother,’ he said. ‘Every day they searched the junkyard for something useful that they can resell for money so they can buy food.
‘If they don’t find anything their grandmother blamed them seriously. Unfortunately, they had found nothing for a few days, the little boy felt very hungry.
‘I gave them some money and a biscuit after taking this photo. But who knows who will help them afterwards.’
Despite the seriousness of the subject, Chan is still hopeful that his picture can make a difference.
‘I’m so proud that I am the winner of the Environmental Photographer of the Year Competition,’ he said. ‘This award is very important and meaningful to me because I can share my photo to the world.’
The judges heaped praise on Chan for the way he depicted the affect on humans environmental damage causes.
This is a very graphic image that captures the human impact of homelessness,’ said judge and Chairman of the UK Environmental Agency, Lord Smith. ‘Coupled with the mountain of rubbish, it links homelessness with the degradation of the environment.
‘Those around the world facing the greater environmental hazards are very often those facing acute poverty too.
‘It’s also a very powerful photograph because of the use of colour and light and the atmosphere it creates.’
The competition, which is now in its fifth year, is organised by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) – a charity and professional body for scientists and engineers which promotes environmental awareness across the world.
Water babies: Two youngsters fend for themselves in their ocean village
Competition winner was this image of two children who live near a junkyard in Kathmandu, Nepal
In addition to the still image winners, this year also saw the first video entries – one of the first major photo competitions of this genre to do so.
Nick Reeves, judge and CIWEM’s Executive Director, said: ‘The competition goes from strength to strength.
‘Most pleasing of all, the quality of the photography continues to be of a very high standard.
‘The range of subjects reflects a good understanding of the environmental challenges we face and a shared understanding of the power of the picture to tell the story.’
The raw brutality of nature is captured in this entry, which shows African wild dogs attacking a warthog in Northern Botswana
Pipe dreams: A homeless mother prepares to send her daughter to school while her still sleepy son clings to her in India
The Holderness coast located in Yorkshire suffers the highest rate of coastal erosion in Europe. This staggering image showed the devastating impact it can have
Categories: News Tags: 'This, Competition, Entries, Environmental, Photographer, YEAR, years
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