Drought may be an ancient scourge, but it is getting worse. No region or country today is immune to its effects. Southern Europe is in the grip of a severe drought -- the worst in 70 years for Italy. In the western United States, the past two decades have been the driest in 1,200 years. Chile is in its 13th consecutive year of drought, and Monterrey, Mexico's third-largest city, is now being forced to ration water.
In the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are recording their fourth consecutive year without rains, and the situation has grown increasingly dire for people, livestock and the ecosystems that support them. Owing to a lack of adequate nutrition, children are dying from diseases they would ordinarily survive. Even camels -- which typically survive longer than people or other animal species -- are dropping dead in large numbers across this region.
This suffering evokes traumatic memories of my own first encounter with drought in Mauritania. I was barely 12 years old when every household in our community lost everything -- food, livestock and their livelihoods. Unable to provide for their families, many adults took their own lives. The experience has stayed with me, motivating my efforts to ensure that no more children have to live through what I did. Sadly, many still are being traumatised by drought, and many more soon will be: Scientists project that climate change will increase the frequency, duration and geographic spread of droughts, with three out of four people affected by 2050.
