North American Droughts

Norman J. Rosenberg is a professor of Agricultural Meteorology at the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He specializes in micro-meteorology and microclimate modification to improve water use efficiency and is currently developing strategies to combat the effects of ~ought on agriculture in the Western United States. He works with the U.S. Agency for International Development, the National Oceania and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council as a consultant on drought mitigation projects for developing countries. He has published some 80 papers on windbreaks, evapotranspiration, and photosynthesis, and is the author of Microclimate: The Biological Environment (Wiley-Interscience, 1974).

• Introduction 1. History of American Droughts 2. Drought: Characteristics and Assessment 3. Drought Impacts on American Agricultural Productivity 4. Drought: An Economic Perspective 5. Social and Political Impacts of Drought 6. Strategies in the Event of Drought 7. Technological Options for Crop Production in Drought 8. State and Federal Responses to the 1977 Drought 9. Forecasting Future Droughts: Is It Possible?