Hotter, drier future could change how we eat, how we breathe and where we get our water

Think of this year’s drought as a sort of dress rehearsal to consider the drier, hotter future that scientists predict climate change has in store. Long-lasting droughts could alter the way we live.

Droughts like the one that’s parched crops, drained rivers and ignited wildfires this year in the Midwest foreshadow more frequent, more severe droughts in the decades ahead.

Long, deep dry stretches could mean you’ll click a weather app in the morning not to check the forecast for rain — although you may wish for it — but to see if dust storms and wildfires are kicking up again.

Growing crops with little water might mean you’ll eat cereal made from a perennial grain rather than your Corn Flakes or Wheaties. And if you want meat, which takes a lot of water to feed cattle, it might not be grown in a field.

Climate change patterns in the Midwest are expected to accelerate drastically in the coming decades. Daniel Whitesel said rainstorms will be intense and short, depositing months of rain in days. The hard, sun-baked soil won’t be able to take in the moisture.

“There won’t be as many average years,” the climatologist with the High Plains Regional Climate Center and the National Drought Mitigation Center said. “You’ve heard about 1,000-year precipitation events, right? So in a similar light, we could have 1,000-year droughts.”

Life will have to change to find its place in the drier, hotter future, Whitesel said.

Water restrictions could mandate people to abandon their sprinkler systems and replace green lawns with native, drought-resistant plants. Wildfire precautions may mean skipping the fireworks on the Fourth of July to prevent errant sparks from scorching consistently-parched neighborhoods.

In the past, the Ogallala Aquifer managed to stave off the worst effects of drought. The groundwater nest egg lies beneath much of Nebraska and western parts of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. It supplies 30% of the nation’s irrigation and drinking water for millions of people.

But the aquifer’s savior days are numbered — scientists estimate its southern half in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas will run out of water in less than 30 years.

Drier, hotter days and a depleted aquifer could spark water trades between states or all-out water wars, Whitesel said.

Finding a new water supply

The city of Lincoln, Nebraska, has already started to think about how it will provide water to its growing population as the Midwest gets hotter and drier.

It can no longer rely on the Platte River, which runs through central Nebraska and dried up at some parts throughout the summer, to replenish wells.

Liz Elliott stood near the river’s edge recently at the Platte’s eastern tail and looked across its shallow stream.

“Every time I drive across the Platte and you see the dryness, you kind of just hold your breath a little bit,” she said, “because if we don’t come up with a solution now, we might be too late.”