Hysteresis

QUOTE

Pema Chödrön once said…

“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.”

(American nun)

CONCEPT

Hysteresis

Hysteresis is a phenomenon in which the current state or output of a system depends not only on its present conditions but also on its past experiences.

• In physics, one classic example is magnetism: once you magnetize iron, it retains some magnetism even after the magnetic field is removed.

• In economics, hysteresis can describe how a temporary spike in unemployment leads to long-term joblessness because workers who’ve been jobless for too long lose skills or confidence, making it harder to re-enter the workforce.

• In social or psychological contexts, hysteresis can reveal how traumatic events leave lingering effects on outlook or behavior, even when the original cause is gone.

This residual “memory” shows how systems—both physical and human—cannot always simply revert to a baseline once external forces change or disappear.

STORY

Irreversible … Irrigation?

In the early 1980s, the Aral Sea—once the fourth-largest lake in the world—began to shrink at an alarming rate.

Located between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the Aral Sea had been a lifeline for local fishing communities for centuries. That is, until massive irrigation projects siphoned off the rivers that fed the lake, redirecting water to grow cotton in surrounding desert regions.

At first, officials believed the damage would be temporary: if they reduced water usage later, the lake would naturally replenish.

Unfortunately, as the water levels dropped, salinity spiked, killing off native fish species and devastating the local fishing economy. Windstorms whipped across the exposed lakebed, sending toxic dust into the air—dust laced with agricultural chemicals that further poisoned the soil.

Even after some irrigation policies were reversed, the damaged ecosystem struggled to recover. The sudden drop in water had triggered a cycle of land degradation and ecological collapse that couldn’t simply be undone by returning water flows to earlier levels.

For the fishing villages that once thrived on the Aral’s shores, the aftermath was devastating and long-lasting.

While partial restoration projects have improved conditions in the North Aral region, the southern expanse remains largely barren. Rusting hulks of ships still lie on dusty lakebeds many miles from the current shoreline.

This tragic transformation illustrates how even if the original cause diminishes, the system’s “memory” of the event endures, creating a lasting legacy of change.