Drought Scorches Southeast in Record Levels

When you think of the worst drought in the Southeastern region of the U.S., you tend to think of the Dust Bowl and Depression. You wouldn't think it was happening today.

But that's exactly what's going on. In Atlanta, the city's main reservoir at Lake Lanier will be completely dry within 4 months without significant, sustained rainfall to replenish it. Alabama and Mississippi sounded the call three months ago when crops began to fail - including the corn crop that promised such lucrative returns in the growing ethanol market. Instead of a South revitalized by new markets for agricultural products and other resources demanded to combat climate change, these cities and states are finding themselves suddenly caught in one of the energy crisis' biggest problems.

Unlike the hurricanes and tornadoes featured in An Inconvenient Truth, drought is the kind of crisis that people tend to ignore until they get nothing out of the tap one morning. In fact, a hurricane or two would have provided the heavy rainfall to refill reservoirs. Moreover, drought spawns even more problems for the environment than some shorter, more dramatic disasters: major soil erosion (again, think Dust Bowl and the loss of invaluable top soil) and the increased use of disposable paper & plastic goods (to conserve water that would be used for washing) are just two of many. And unlike the Southwest, where water is always at a premium and conservation is a way of life, the Southeast's self-image of a wet, sultry landscape belies the reality of parched fields and dry creek beds. But people need to open their eyes and get serious about conservation today if they're going to avert disaster.

People along the Mid-Atlantic region and Midwest shouldn't consider themselves free of these problems, either. Virginia and Maryland are already caught up in the drought; my own city of Washington, DC has yet to issue a serious call for water conservation despite the problems creeping in from the nearby suburbs. Just miles outside the city, fires spark easily from a casually flicked cigarette - and lest we forget, the District has already undergone several problems with fires that can't be put out quickly because of non-functioning fire hydrants. Those problems were attributed to long-standing issues with faulty water mains, but while fixing the pipes of the city's outdated infrastructure we should also remember just how crucial the conservation issue is.

It's time to start thinking about climate change in immediate terms: what will we do to avert disaster within the next month? Two months? Three? Each day needs to bring significant progress and a much more proactive mentality. Otherwise, we'll soon know what it feels like to be in the bigger, drier version of the Dust Bowl.