A drought is a long period when an area receives much less rain or snow than usual, causing water to become scarce. During a drought, rivers run low, lakes shrink, crops wither in fields, and communities may need to restrict how much water people can use for lawns, car washing, or long showers.

Droughts can last for months or even years. They're different from a simple dry spell: a few weeks without rain might leave your grass brown, but a real drought threatens water supplies that entire cities depend on. Farmers suffer terribly during droughts because their crops need regular water to grow. In severe droughts, livestock may not have enough to drink, and wildfires become more dangerous because everything is so dry.

Throughout history, major droughts have forced people to abandon their homes and move to places with more reliable water. The American Dust Bowl of the 1930s combined drought with poor farming practices, creating enormous dust storms and causing hundreds of thousands of families to leave their farms.

Scientists track droughts carefully because they affect food production, water supplies, and entire ecosystems. Unlike floods or hurricanes that strike suddenly, droughts creep up slowly, making them particularly challenging to manage.