Drought Ravages Communities Across the Globe

Turpan, an ancient city in Western China, is home to legendary subterranean irrigation channels called karez. For generations, Uighur farmers have prospered from glacial water flowing down the peaks of the Tianshan Mountains to their vineyards and goat farms. Today, only about 20 karez are functional, a drop from around 1,800 functional karez a few decades ago. Drought, increased water demand from petroleum drillers, and withering alpine glaciers have caused these passages to run dry for the first time in centuries. The karez represent not only a way of life, but also an ingenious and lasting creation from a historic civilization, now slowly crumbling away into dust.

In a world experiencing rapid climate change, poor rural communities like the Uighurs of Turpan and wealthy urban areas alike experience the difficulties of water shortage. The worst drought in Vietnam in 90 years left over one million people without drinking water and ran hundreds of thousands of rice paddies dry, paddies that served as the main source of income and food staple for a significant percentage of the nation. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization declared over 10 million Ethiopians to be “food insecure” earlier this year due to a lack of irrigation water. Karnataka, a primarily agriculture-based state in India, received 40 percent less rainfall than normal and faces severe water shortage, causing the local government to declare drought months earlier than usual. Lake Mburo and Kruger National Parks in Uganda and South Africa, respectively, witnessed scores of wildlife die from thirst, damaging local economies that are heavily dependent on game park tourism. Reporters in Zimbabwe noticed political unrest against the longtime rule of Robert Mugabe fueled by a prolonged drought across Southern Africa that has left four million hungry. London faced its warmest summer since the 1940s, leading scientists to conclude that, in the next 25 years, southeastern England will face unprecedented drought that could cost the economy billions of pounds.

As rain patterns change and glaciers shrink exponentially, leaders must address the issue of a warming world. Communities, especially impoverished agriculture-based ones, cannot adapt fast enough to mitigate the effects of climate change. This summer, drought hit every region of the world and once-reliable rains are not consistent anymore. Drought causes famine, economic disaster, political tension, and sometimes violent conflict. Farmers and bankers alike depend of food and water. If farming becomes impossible in the Salinas Valley of California, the state of Punjab in India, or the Pampas of Brazil and Argentina, the global community will feel the shock. Drought is overshadowed by other news headlines and political agendas, but it is one of the most prominent issue the world faces today.

World leaders and organizations such as the UN need to educate people across the globe by teaching sustainable farming practices, developing and supporting drought-resistant crops, and studying how to deal with long-term drought in more effective ways. This must be a massive endeavor, as it concerns people of every part of the world. In an irreversible cycle of dryness, societies face the destruction of heritage and ancient lifestyles, priceless features that contribute to the beautiful collective story of human history.

Nabil is a freshman in the School of Foreign Service from San Antonio, Texas. He one day hopes to live his life among snow leopards in the forests of the North.