Dinosaur footprints in Texas, a ghost village in northwestern Spain, and a sunken WW2 warship in Serbia return to the surface. Even a Spanish Stonehenge dating back to 5,000 BC reemerged when the water of the Valdecañas reservoir began to recede. Stones with markings from hundreds of years ago have resurfaced in Germany and neighbouring countries. These markings were etched and made during periods of severe drought, seeming to be a warning for future generations. It gives us a fascinating insight into the past and this is undoubtedly exciting for many historians.
Nevertheless, are these discoveries a reason for celebration? Not a plot from the next sci-fi thriller but a reality coming true across different parts of the world, be it in Texas or the Spanish-Portuguese border. Since 2000, the frequency and duration of droughts have increased severely, per the UN.
This is the reality of a changing climate across the Earth, human activities are drying up the planet, and the planet, in return, is taking us back to history. Droughts occur due to low rainfall for a long amount of time, this is further exacerbated by changes in the climate and temperatures of the oceans. With large corporations still not listening to climate change experts and scientists from around the globe, these problems are continuing to worsen every day.
Devastatingly the number of people dying from thirst and hunger are ever increasing, due to droughts and the subsequent change in relationship between land and food. In eastern Africa where conditions are being deemed as the worst drought of recent times, children have been reduced to bare bones. We are just beginning to witness the consequences of our actions. Mother Earth is haunting us with the ghosts of our past. Are we ready to listen?