Today, I will be talking to you about droughts. It is the result from brutal heatwaves. Droughts are especially devastating in parts of California and Arizona. In the last essay, I discussed how heatwaves contribute drastically to droughts. Also, droughts happen to coincide with forest wildfires, especially in the Golden State. Not too long ago, I also discussed on how some regions of China experienced droughts especially during the brutal summer months. It is so bone dry that its irrigation system has collapsed. This thus leads to inflation as a result of food scarcity. Not to mention, also escalating to famine.
The Mississippi River area has never experienced any drought than ever before. During the summer of 2022, the lack of water was so bad that even the boats ended up being stuck in sticky mud. According to the Washington Post website, “Levels have sunk so low that many boat ramps don’t stretch down far enough to reach the water. Docks that usually float with ease sit tilted and grounded on riverbanks. Stretches of the river have transformed into a marvel of drought, attracting onlookers to spots such as a dead-end road outside Portageville. Jarrod Tipton brought his son, Jaxson, to bear witness in his Spider-Man pajamas. ‘He’s 7, and I told him we need to get over here because he’d probably never see anything like this again in his life,’ Tipton said. ‘You can almost walk to Tennessee,’ he said, gazing across the only sliver of water that remained between him and the far bank.”
The unprecedented drought has most definitely affected the Texan farmers. This meant that the Texans, specifically the nonprofits, must find a way to conserve water. The newest and unusual strategy would be to pay the farmers for leaving the water in the ground and consuming more sustainably. Based on Texas Tribune website, “As Texas faces an increasingly fraught environmental future from climate change, a new approach to conservation is growing. Drought conditions have created a two-pronged problem for Texas aquifers, natural bodies of water that move through porous rock underneath the Earth’s surface, and reservoirs. Without rainfall, farmers and ranchers are relying more on those well-established water supplies in the state. And without that same rainfall, the aquifer and reservoir levels can’t be replenished as quickly as they are being depleted. As the state is losing water, some conservation organizations, mostly nonprofits, and agencies are stepping up to help conserve water by using a new strategy — paying farmers to leave the water in the ground and consume more sustainably.”
As I said in my last essay, I think the climate change legislation passed by Congress in August 2022 will not impact climate change substantially yet. The White House signed the “Inflation Reduction Act”, not really taking too much action on the climate crisis. This is because it’ll take at least a couple of decades to help reduce the impacts of climate change. According to CNN Politics, “It will raise over $700 billion in government revenue over 10 years and spend over $430 billion to reduce carbon emissions and extend subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act and use the rest of the new revenue to reduce the deficit”. Like, it would be unrealistic to completely stop climate change the same way we can’t achieve the “Zero-COVID strategy” especially since the Omicron variant is quite contagious. More really needs to be done by first reducing waste and litter. Furthermore, it will most certainly take time to invest money on installing more energy efficient water pumps for buildings.
The key solution to drought is to also manufacture green buildings that not only saves energy, but saves water consumption as well. Like install a water and energy saving water pump to reduce its overload of work.
What we ought to do to prevent droughts is to reduce the unnecessary usage of water. The simplest way to save water is to wash dishes and clothing by hand, since washing machines use at least 19 gallons of water. Also, try not to keep the faucet running when brushing teeth.
Works Cited
Dennis, B., Karklis, L., Dance, S., & Meko, T. (2022, October 28). What it looks like as drought strangles the mighty mississippi. The Washington Post. Retrieved November 3, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/10/26/mississippi-river-drying-up/
Lozano, J., & Melhado, W. (2022, September 26). To save water in Texas, these nonprofits are paying farmers to leave it in reservoirs. The Texas Tribune. Retrieved November 3, 2022, from https://www.texastribune.org/2022/09/26/water-trades-texas-climate-change-drought/
