Long-Term Drying Could Impact Water Availability, Study Finds
Scientists from Mississippi State and around the world are sounding the alarm when it comes to drought. This is not just temporary drought conditions, but rather long-term, intense drying known as aridification.
Aridification is believed to now impact 2.3 billion people worldwide, which covers 40% of the planet's land. This is a significant concern for the world's breadbasket, which stretches from California's Central Valley to the Great Plains. New research that was recently published in Nature Water, highlights 'increasing aridification calls for urgent global adaptive solutions and policy action.'
The findings from this study reveal the challenges and harsh realities that come from aridification. This long-term drying will greatly reduce water availability. This is causing farmers to have to rethink everything from what to plant, how to irrigate, and how to adapt to the future when the amount of water that is needed isn't a guarantee.
'This research has real implications for Mississippi,' said Pricope. 'When our lands dry out, it's not just farmers who suffer. Water becomes harder to manage, ecosystems get stressed, and rural communities—already stretched thin—face even greater challenges.'
The scientists presented their findings to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, a global platform where science meets policy. Desertification is where normally fertile land becomes a desert. This typically occurs because of extreme drought, poor farming practices and deforestation.
The scientists highlighted solutions for the U.S. to stay ahead of aridification. They are urging the U.S. and the world to start using smarter irrigation strategies, grow agriculture on more drought-tolerant land and restore degraded land to retain more water. These solutions offer hope of not only protecting our water supply and farms, but the food supply they provide.
'Aridification isn't just a global issue with little bearing for our lives in Mississippi and the USA,' Pricope said. 'We need to act now to protect our farms, forests and families.'
Jennifer Gray is a weather and climate writer for weather.com. She has been covering some of the world's biggest weather and climate stories for the last two decades.
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