Future of the Great Salt Lake - An "Environmental Nuclear Bomb"
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NY Times story. Lake drying up. Here comes the toxic dust. But don't worry - our legislature appropriated $$$ this year after flying over in helicopters. That should fix it for sure.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/07/climate/salt-lake-city-climate-disast...
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I read this yesterday. "Wind
I read this yesterday. "Wind storms carry that arsenic into the lungs of nearby residents." Yikes. Sounds like an old testament god is pissed.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
It's a slomo smiting!
It's a slomo smiting!
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Rasputin O'Leary
Future Of The Earth
Future Of The Earth
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: skyjunk
We can build pipelines for
We can build pipelines for oil but not water
would the redistribution of water in the US also effect the climate? If more water evaporates in new places would that not also create rain?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: GDTRFB
I read this the other day and
I read this the other day and have had an eye on it for a while now. By and large, I'd say piping water across long distances to save deserts (from the Great Lakes, for example) is a non-starter. Oil pipelines likely end up paying for themselves too. In a forward-planning move, I believe that Vegas voted/bonded for a "third straw" at the deepest part of Lake Mead (completed April 2020) which pretty much guarantees water for the valley until it too is gone.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lord Kalvert
Unfortunately - it's all part
Unfortunately - it's all part of the natural order of things, which has probably been accelerated a bit by climate change.
The Great Salt Lake is the last remnant of ancient Lake Bonneville.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Bonneville
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: GDTRFB
^Yep. And it's demise is an
^Yep. And it's demise is an increasing reality. 'Less lake, less snow' is really the compounding issue. No sane person would ever eat/drink anything out of the Great Salt Lake (only small brine shrimp which are typically used for tank fish food exist in it as it is) but the large water body does serve(d) a critical piece in that ecosystem and moisture events. Factoring in the warming atmosphere and accompanying lower snowpack leads to what we are seeing in real time. CA Sierra snowpack right now is 2.5 inches when it should be 5 feet, for example. Buckle Up.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mice elf
(No subject)
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: GDTRFB
"Careful with that axe,
"Careful with that axe, Eugene!" (and don't breathe the dust)
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Strangha
>>>>but the large water body
>>>>but the large water body does serve(d) a critical piece in that ecosystem and moisture events.
A water stop for millions of globally migrating birds each year.
Pipeline? Someone just proposed pumping Pacific Ocean water to the lake. Of course they didn't bother to ask Californians or Nevadans how they felt about the idea.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: JP (J Bomb)
A massive spaceship will be
A massive spaceship will be taking the Mormons (or as least the loyal ones) to a far away planet so I don't think they are worried about it.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: GDTRFB
Careful there, Slick, some
Careful there, Slick, some locals will be up your ass about saving or even caring for wildlife in lieu of the almighty dollar.
...and, yea, don't the mormons have a retainer/long-term lease on an entire series of other planets anyway?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: GDTRFB
CO may hold on a little bit
CO may hold on a little bit longer:
"Colorado Will Look Like a Different State by 2080"
https://gizmodo.com/colorado-will-look-like-a-different-state-by-2080-18...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Strangha
>>>>but the large water body
>>>>but the large water body does serve(d) a critical piece in that ecosystem and moisture events.
Oh yeah. The ski / tourist industry would be in trouble also. Lake effect snow as the storms pass over and suck up moisture and drop it in the canyons is the reason for that great fluffy powder.
Now the $$$ interests want to build a gondola up Little Cottonwood Canyon to solve transportation issues, instead of increasing bus service. Only 2 stops and both at a resort. Of course, both those resorts are salivating at the idea and someone is funding ads on TV in support. 20 gondola towers in the canyon. May be for naught with a shrinking lake.
https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/360/little-cottonwood-canyon-go...
https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2021/11/11/22774612/utah-little-cottonwo...
https://www.deseret.com/opinion/2022/1/27/22903073/utah-department-trans...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: El Nino
This isn't the hottest decade
This isn't the hottest decade since we started keeping records it is the coolest decade we will have in the next 200 years.
It took us since we first started burning coal to today to add 1 degree Celsius to the average temp
It will take us another 20 years to add another 1 degree
If the pandemic taught us anything it is that no one gives a fuck unless it directly impacts them and even then they will deny taking any responsibility.
At this point the only thing that will get us out of this is some kind of technology that currently doesn't exists. Spraying aerosols into the air to deflect sunlight, carbon sequestration which they are doing now but nothing close to the scale we need, off shore desalination plants powered by wind and solar.
i don't think anyone knows how another 1 degree+ will impact western weather patterns so who knows maybe the great basin will revert back to being a giant inland sea again.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: GDTRFB
^Check your "facts" and
^Check your "facts" and numbers again:
(As of April 2019)
"AMERICAN WARMING: The Fastest-Warming Cities and States in the U.S."
https://www.climatecentral.org/news/report-american-warming-us-heats-up-...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
There are too many people.
There are too many people.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: intentionally blank
Are there too many people? Or
Are there too many people? Or are resources concentrated in centers of power rather than more equitably distributed?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
Both.
Both.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
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> Both.
> Both.
It's a Malthusian dilemma. Population growth vs. a high standard of living.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Strangha
Reading Doug Peacock's new
Reading Doug Peacock's new book "Was It Worth It?" - A Wilderness Warrior's Long Trail Home. Good read, great stories from his past.
Saw this passage this morning and thought of this thread:
"Our view of seeing ourselves as separate from nature is the path that has delivered us to today's peril. The year 2021 finds us in the middle of the sixth great extinction, largely driven by climate change and entirely caused by human activity."
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: doctor
I envision Mad Max
I envision Mad Max
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Zzzzzz
I like the piping idea. Been
I like the piping idea. Been thinking about it a lot when there are flooding issues in some parts of the countries and droughts in others. A national pipeline could be interesting. Can you capture freshwater before it goes into the ocean in the case of the Mississippi for example?
We better get real efficient at minimizing use and desalinization quickly or the west is toast. I can imagine the east will follow.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
Fish need water too.
Fish need water too.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mice elf
Maybe it's time to move to
Maybe it's time to move to Vermont after all.