3 ms·

entire regions being deserted is not a new thing (see mayan civilization). it's possible we'll see the cities of southern California (San Diego, Los Angeles) as

entire regions being deserted is not a new thing (see mayan civilization). it's possible we'll see the cities of southern California (San Diego, Los Angeles) as remnants of an ancient culture in a few hundred years, left intact by the scorching heat and desert.

azinman2 4y ago
Majority of water usage is agriculture
kpopguru 4y ago
And what about places like phoenix and Vegas?
- d4mi3n 4y ago
  Can't speak to Pheonix, but Las Vegas and the surrounding counties have a history of being very good about stewardship of their water supplies. There's a ton of documentaries on the topic if you go digging around the search engines or YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3z_z0Wsk-I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3z_z0Wsk-I
  - idontwantthis 4y ago
    What about the disappearance of Lake Mead?
    - bequanna 4y ago
      This has to do with (bad) estimates being based on a particularly wet period that occurred around the time of original dam construction.
- bequanna 4y ago
  Presumably their water sources are more sustainable. Or, at least much more sustainable than LA or Central Valley.
DoneWithAllThat 4y ago
Climate doomerism is some seriously fascinating stuff. Both of those places are far more temperate than hundreds of cities around the world.
- Angostura 4y ago
  The commenter said "A few hundred years". Doesn't seem like an extraordinary hypothesis.
- Consultant32452 4y ago
  The perfect theme song for reading the internet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5PLf-2FYIM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5PLf-2FYIM
- irrational 4y ago
  Are or were? At least, the trend seems to be moving towards were more temperate.
draw_down 4y ago
skybrian 4y ago
San Diego seems to be doing pretty well at water management. The naysayers weren't able to block the desalination plant and they are doing other things too.
- pvaldes 4y ago
  Desalination plants have been tried in Europe for some time, and they still are problematic. They use lots of energy. And then you need to get rid of hills of salt. Stuff that obviously can't be just put in any fertile soil or returned to the sea near the coast. A partial solution could be to use it in winter roads, but then you need to burn gas to move it to the North. At some time, you will cross the line where the water obtained is cheaper than the energy used to produce it plus collateral effects. And at this point the plant is not profitable and is just burning money to run. So, I hate to say that, but there is no magic solution at sight, still. This planet has a fabulous technology available for making excellent pure water. The problem is that we burn them all, each year.
  - skybrian 4y ago
    The Carlsbad plant actually does return it to the ocean: "The desalination process converts two gallons of seawater to one gallon of drinking water, and one gallon of water with twice the salinity of seawater. The concentrated seawater is diluted before it enters the ocean" https://www.carlsbaddesal.com/environmental-faqs.html https://www.carlsbaddesal.com/environmental-faqs.html
    - pvaldes 4y ago
      Environmental laws in Europe are more strict I think (I could be wrong). The Mediterranean and the Pacific are very different in any case. At the coast this would cause a lot of shallow dead areas and would affect protected ecosystems like the Sea-grass beds that is required for sustainable fisheries
wahern 4y ago
Environmental stressors can often be beneficial for organisms, including communities. Look at Singapore, Israel, or Ukraine, for example. Existential problems can help communities focus and cooperate. Nothing cuts through political punditry, rhetoric, and arm-chair policy opinions like bone fide emergencies. Of course, a prerequisite is that the community and its institutions must be sufficiently functional. But I don't think California is so dysfunctional yet that it's doomed to economic and social regression. I think it's too early to say much of anything other than that California is barreling toward interesting times.

azinman2 4y ago

Majority of water usage is agriculture

kpopguru 4y ago

And what about places like phoenix and Vegas?

d4mi3n 4y ago
Can't speak to Pheonix, but Las Vegas and the surrounding counties have a history of being very good about stewardship of their water supplies. There's a ton of documentaries on the topic if you go digging around the search engines or YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3z_z0Wsk-I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3z_z0Wsk-I
- idontwantthis 4y ago
  What about the disappearance of Lake Mead?
  - bequanna 4y ago
    This has to do with (bad) estimates being based on a particularly wet period that occurred around the time of original dam construction.
bequanna 4y ago
Presumably their water sources are more sustainable. Or, at least much more sustainable than LA or Central Valley.

DoneWithAllThat 4y ago

Climate doomerism is some seriously fascinating stuff. Both of those places are far more temperate than hundreds of cities around the world.

Angostura 4y ago
The commenter said "A few hundred years". Doesn't seem like an extraordinary hypothesis.
Consultant32452 4y ago
The perfect theme song for reading the internet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5PLf-2FYIM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5PLf-2FYIM
irrational 4y ago
Are or were? At least, the trend seems to be moving towards were more temperate.

draw_down 4y ago

skybrian 4y ago

San Diego seems to be doing pretty well at water management. The naysayers weren't able to block the desalination plant and they are doing other things too.

pvaldes 4y ago
Desalination plants have been tried in Europe for some time, and they still are problematic. They use lots of energy. And then you need to get rid of hills of salt. Stuff that obviously can't be just put in any fertile soil or returned to the sea near the coast. A partial solution could be to use it in winter roads, but then you need to burn gas to move it to the North. At some time, you will cross the line where the water obtained is cheaper than the energy used to produce it plus collateral effects. And at this point the plant is not profitable and is just burning money to run. So, I hate to say that, but there is no magic solution at sight, still. This planet has a fabulous technology available for making excellent pure water. The problem is that we burn them all, each year.
- skybrian 4y ago
  The Carlsbad plant actually does return it to the ocean: "The desalination process converts two gallons of seawater to one gallon of drinking water, and one gallon of water with twice the salinity of seawater. The concentrated seawater is diluted before it enters the ocean" https://www.carlsbaddesal.com/environmental-faqs.html https://www.carlsbaddesal.com/environmental-faqs.html
  - pvaldes 4y ago
    Environmental laws in Europe are more strict I think (I could be wrong). The Mediterranean and the Pacific are very different in any case. At the coast this would cause a lot of shallow dead areas and would affect protected ecosystems like the Sea-grass beds that is required for sustainable fisheries

wahern 4y ago

Environmental stressors can often be beneficial for organisms, including communities. Look at Singapore, Israel, or Ukraine, for example. Existential problems can help communities focus and cooperate. Nothing cuts through political punditry, rhetoric, and arm-chair policy opinions like bone fide emergencies. Of course, a prerequisite is that the community and its institutions must be sufficiently functional. But I don't think California is so dysfunctional yet that it's doomed to economic and social regression. I think it's too early to say much of anything other than that California is barreling toward interesting times.