My home state of Alabama is currently experiencing the worst drought in memory, and it’s been a strange, yet eye-opening experience. Our rivers and lakes are drying up, and forests are going up in flames faster than we can put out the fires.
“Emergency-level” has been declared in all 67 counties in Alabama, and in my city of Birmingham, a surcharge of 400% is being implemented for anyone who uses more than 9,000 gallons of water per month. According to the Alabama Climate Report, the last time that October and September were this dry was in 1904, and during the month of October, 110 daily high records were set. Little River Falls has exactly zero water for the first time on record, and streams are now just rocky trails littered with dead fish. Farmers are suffering immensely at the hands of the drought. Their livelihood is in danger, because they have no pasture for livestock, nor water for crops.