Drought dries up Texas, your community could be next

Thousands of cattle are dying and thousands of acres are failing because of the drought currently dehydrating Texas farms.

Some Longhorn counties began crying out for state and federal help as early as March, and now 70 counties are considered disaster areas because of crop and livestock losses. And 167 Texas counties are now called disaster areas because of the likelihood of wildfires in the parched conditions.

Even after these cries for help, the reaction from the government has been virtually nonexistent as irrigation streams and lakes continue to disappear.

“The assistance, in terms of financial assistance, is very limited, if at all,” said Bastrop County Emergency Management Coordinator Mike Fisher to the Austin American-Statesman. “There’s only so much a handful of brochures can give you.”

And the situation has gotten even worse in the last week. A map provided Thursday by the U.S. Drought Monitor map reveals 18 percent of the state to be in exceptional drought, up from just more than 14 percent last week,” according to the Associated Press.

With global warming increasingly on the horizon, Texas isn’t the only place forced to worry about droughts. In fact, it’s just one small example of the worldwide effects. Drought Monitor’s global map shows droughts on every continent. While Central Africa has it the worst, areas of Eastern Europe, India and Argentina are also experiencing extreme drought.

Now, hydrologists are saying even areas known for rain  like New England may soon be the next victims of low water levels.

The Boston Globe reports summer stream flows could be down 10 percent by 2025 in New Hampshire.

Just like droughts, global warming will sneak up on us slowly but surely. As the temperature rises – even by miniscule amounts – the delicate ecological balance will shift away from what we’re used to.

As governments across the globe continue to deal with a greatly expanding number of droughts and hurricanes, it’s time to seriously look at the root cause.

If we don’t cut out humanity’s contributions to global climate change, droughts won’t just be hurting the cattle and the economy like in Texas. Instead, like is already happening in Africa, droughts will be a serious threat to life itself.