IMPACTUL SECETELOR ÎN REPUBLICA MOLDOVA ASUPRA ROADEI DE FLOAREA-SOARELUI ÎN CONTEXTUL SCHIMBĂRILOR CLIMATICE REGIONALE

Abstract

Droughts in the Republic of Moldova are some of the most dangerous phenomena of nature, representing the specific feature of the regional climate. At the same time, the increase in the frequency and intensity of droughts in the last 20 years is an obvious response to regional climate change, and primarily due to the process of warming and arid regional climate. Based on the study, the droughts of 2007 and 2012 were described from an agrometeorological point of view, with the establishment of their impact on the size of sunflower harvest. The drought of 2007 on the territory of the Republic of Moldova intensified to the maximum during May-July, when the average air temperature in the territory was +21-+ 23°C, being 3-4°C higher than normal, and the amount of precipitation made up only 30% of the norm. During the described drought the average monthly value of the Hydrothermal Coefficient of the territory humidity (HTC), in most of the republic (except for the extreme northern districts), varied between 0.2 and 0.5, which corresponds to the strong drought and very strong. As a result of the 2007 drought, the average sunflower yield in the country was 7 q/ha, by 6 q/ha lower than in 2006, when it was 13 q/ha. The drought in the summer of 2012 on the territory of the republic was characterized by large thermal and water anomalies. The average air temperature for the period June-August was higher than the norm values by 3.0- 4.5°C and was +21.7-+ 24.8°С, and the amount of precipitation falling in the country during the mentioned period varied between 35 and 70% of the norm. During the described drought, the average monthly value of HTC over a large part of the country in June-August varied between 0.1 and 0.5, values specific to strong and very strong droughts. As a result of the drought in the summer of 2012, the average yield of sunflower seeds in the country was 10 q/ha, by 6 q/ha lower than the yield in 2011, when it was 16 q/ha. The mapping and analysis of data on the average yield of 1 ha of sunflower in administrative-territorial profile, allowed the establishment of the degree of damage to the territory of the Republic of Moldova by strong and very strong droughts in 2007 and 2012. Thus, these droughts were catastrophic in terms of the occupied area, affecting 80-90% of the territory of the republic. According to the main agro-meteorological indices, the droughts of 2007 and 2012 even surpassed the drought of 1946, bringing direct damage to the national economy in the amount of over three billion US dollars.