The global water scene should strike fear into the hearts of even the most privileged of middle-class Americans. There will be good years and there will be worse years, but the planet is generally getting drier: When it comes, rain will happen in often cataclysmic downpours, while the dry periods in between will grow longer and longer. There will be less seasonal runoff, lower water tables, and emptier aquifers. At the same time, there will be much, much more demand.

The future will bring floods, but only those offering limited relief and coming at the cost of much damage. The southern US and the Great Plains will have to get used to permanent drought, which means the rest of us will feel water scarcity shockwaves in any number of ways. Clearly, we need to be adapting.