As I was writing this article, I was interested to see that nobody was searching Google using the term “aridification.” While the word aridification had no takers at the moment, we can expect more and more people to be looking it up on Google and other search engines in the future. They will be trying to understand what aridification is and why it is going to be playing such a significant role in their lives and the lives of millions of people around the world in coming years.

Aridification was first coined in 2001 by the Colorado River Research Group, an independent team of scientists. It means “the gradual change of a region from a wetter to a drier climate.” While aridification can take place for a number of different reasons, invariably climate change is the principal culprit. As the repercussions of aridification increase here and in other parts of the world, it can and will likely have significant consequences.  Among them are the following:

• Reduce and even eliminate agricultural production, potentially increasing food shortages
• Decrease underground water tables; this is a big concern today because so many parts of our country and around the world now receive the bulk of their water from underground sources
• Soil degradation; damaged ecosystems; and reductions in water runoff
• Less water for use by businesses and industry, potentially impacting profits, the survival of some companies, and the broader economy
• Force consumers to make drastic changes in how they use water.

Some parts of the US such as parts of the Four Corners area – New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah – are already experiencing the effects of aridification.  

And around the world, aridification is likely to cause an increased threat of droughts and wildfires, as indicated by a study published earlier this year in Nature Climate Change, a peer-reviewed publication that focuses on the impact climate change is having on the planet. The study was conducted by an international collaboration led by the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, China (SUSTech) and the University of East Anglia’s (UEA) School of Environmental Sciences, based in Norwich, England.

The research team studied weather and moisture projections using 27 global climate models, trying to identify areas of the world where aridification is likely to increase in years to come. “Aridification is a serious threat because it can critically impact areas such as agriculture, water quality, and biodiversity,” said Dr. Chang-Eui Park with SUSTech.

He also says that aridification will likely shift many areas of the world from experiencing moderate drought conditions from time to time, to continuous and severe drought conditions on a more regular basis. “In such a scenario, 15 percent of [the world’s] semi-arid regions would experience conditions similar to ‘arid’ conditions,” meaning they would go from dry to extremely dry conditions, bringing with it all the unfortunate ramifications mentioned earlier. Areas of the world that are now and will likely continue to be some of the most impacted by aridification in coming years are the Mediterranean, Southern Africa, the eastern coast of Australia, and parts of Mexico and Brazil.

But the US will not be spared. Colorado, which is traditionally famous for being both water- and snow-rich, is already experiencing the repercussions of aridification. According to the US Drought Monitor Report, 65% of Colorado experienced severe drought conditions during the bulk of 2018. This has caused Aspen, for example, to call for stage-2 mandatory water restrictions this year.

This required residents to scale back on outdoor landscaping to no more than three days per week and running sprinklers no more than 30 minutes per day. While this may appear as nothing more than a minor inconvenience, especially when compared to parts of Africa where there is virtually no water – not only for irrigation but for people and animals to drink – it is significant because this is the first time such restrictions have been called in Aspen.

The state has also implemented fishing restrictions on eight rivers in Colorado due to low flows and high-water temperatures. Once again, this might suggest merely an inconvenience for sports fishermen, but it has severely impacted anglers who make their living on those rivers. Further, ranchers in parts of the state have begun selling off their cattle. Natural food supplies for the cattle have withered up, causing hay prices to rise to prohibitively high levels.

Drought conditions like this are becoming more common in other western states as well. Colorado is certainly not alone. Water experts say conditions like this are becoming the new “normal” in many areas of the country and the world, and these experts now believe using the term “drought” is no longer an accurate description of what is happening. Instead, they say the word aridification describes more precisely what is occurring.

By Klaus Reichardt, founder and CEO of Waterless Co. Inc.