Drought land “will be abandoned”

@ least there will be more Spice

extremepain

The Oglala Aquifer is exactly what I was thinking about.

It is heavily polluted and depleted. Where will the extra water come from if it's not piped in from the coast? And the entire sun belt - where does anyone imagine their water supply will come from? This is not the time for hand-wringing and hope - the Oglala underlies and feeds America's breadbasket. The south generates enormous wealth. So we're expected to do what? Move everyone north to Washington State?

A huge part of the problem In the Pacific Northwest is deforestation of watersheds. This has been a disaster, resulting in more frequent landslides. Water which percolates down from the mountain ranges was normally filtered over several years by the watershed itself, it's now heavily silted and polluted.

To me at least and it looks like to you to it would be absolutely insane to say well sure, sea levels are rising, but we're running out of water and NOT connect the dots.

desertcat- Those rains are likely fueling the Oglala Aquifer, the huge underground lake that is largely central, but not symmetric by any means. Generally all the water that falls to Earth either evaporates or drains into rivers, lakes and underground aquifers.

If you think of it, there is very little less water on the Earth now than there was since we've had oceans. Some water evaporates into space, but not much at all. After that the only water to escape Earth is any that space missions may release.

The issue isn't how much water, but how many there are to share it, and what state does it exist in?, salinated, frozen, vapor, polluted or readily available? Then it's down to what technologies we can employ to extract more water, likely by desalination, to better fill the needs going forward.
And besides...if the seas are rising, someone should operate the bilge pump anyway, shouldn't they?

i know this may sound silly but why can't we build underground tanks and pipes in areas where it rains a lot to collect the water and use in areas where it does not. where I live it rains so much that i never have to water my outside plants. the majority seeps into the ground but there is run off that overflows lakes, rivers and streams. In some states it may rain three days and 100 miles away no rain for months. This could be a source for parks and other areas where forest fires occur. It just doesn't make sense to bring in new inventions when something can be applied. I keep a barrel outside to collect rain water for when it is dried and put it out in the woods for the wildlife. Keeps the snakes away and cost nothing to help the animals.

Will, you are right, Mother will survive, she always has. What's in question at this point, is will we??!! And further, do we deserve to? I guess that's the big question!

rule 1: people won't change until they see a need to change.
this has been true of environment issues as well since long before i became 'aware' in the 70's.
right now we seem to be on the beginning of the upward climb to sustainable/renewable energy.
if and when we are able to convince our neighbors that all of humanity needs to be considered in the decisions we make will determine how quickly we mature as a civilization.
for future generations, let's hope we do a good job.

...Human beings have been nomadic for most of the time...everytime they have colonized this planet....please try to realize how many layers of different civilizations you walk upon daily....they did not labor under the false ideal that they owned anything...they paid no taxes....Animals...can you believe it....when hot they migrated to a cooler climate....and vice versa.....the main problem is that humans have lost all their animal instincts...probably from wrapping themselves too tightly...in cotton and in trying to control everything....remember that this planet races through the universe everyday....and realize that you are very lucky to be part of the greatest show...not only on Earth...but in the Universe....and try to enjoy it and prolong it as best you can...Earth is like a dog...and humans are like fleas...you will get shaken off sooner or later....and too many fleas will kill the dog.......Golden Ruler..Will...

If we do not come together, put aside political and partisan allegiance, and once and for all, just start being human/humane, it's over! I don't really care where you live, or what you believe - what i know, is that when there is no water for you to drink, and no water for irrigation of crops, or for basic services , like being able to flush your toilet, we are in deep, deep kemshi! This discussion is MOOT!! Something must be done - this is happening -wake up this is our 'NOW"

Why, indeed!!?? We need a global paradigm shift, and we need it NOW! Water will become the oil of tomorrow - the difference is..... we can live without oil, we cannot live without water! Think about it!! Do something!!

Thank you SeaJade!

Further proof - it's time to abandon the agribiz model of throttling innovation purely on their own behalf.

The video above is but one example of what can be done without slavery to biotech and agribiz oligarchies.

In it's simplicity this is Applied Science at its very best. The team that greened this patch of desert together deserves research grants and passports to enable them to send out teams all over the earth.

If "We could regreen the middle east." with seasonal temperatures climbing above 50C where wouldn't this simple procedure work?
Why aren't more people aware of these innovations?

GOOD QUESTION!

Pls advise...

Two agendas necessary.

1/ Cut the crap and the arguing over "consensus", and drastically curb the use and release of ALL pollutants.

2/ Do what the rest of the world is already doing - stop with the bullshit excuses and build a pipelined infrastructure to feed the southern and farm-belt US with desalinated ocean water. The technology is already in use elsewhere.

Or should we just continue to poison ourselves, our kids, our environment and finally on the very last day remember that without water our life expectancy is 3 days?

They can grow things now in deserts but not here? It's a choice not a conjecture.

Above interview excerpts continued:

If you double one percent seven more times, then you get 100 percent. And that`s what happened. And it`s actually continued since the end of the genome project. And if you look at the curves, it`s very smooth exponential growth. Every aspect of our biological science is following that kind of pattern.

BECK: So where are we on the -- because the secret is to get to one, right? To get to one percent, because then it is 2, and then it`s 4, right?

KURZWEIL: Well, we are actually now about one percent on these renewables of solar and wind. And it`s doubling every two years. So we are only seven doublings, which is 14 years, away from 100 percent. And that will - - that will continue.

We are also at that kind of stage in terms of our biological technologies. We have the means of reprogramming our genes. We can turn them on. We can turn them off. We can simulate biological processes. So all of these things are progressing at this exponential rate.

BECK: What is the -- do you believe in hydrogen power? Do you believe in -- are you just solar? Or do you think we need a little of this, we need a little of this, we need a little of this?

KURZWEIL: Well, I think we can make a very strong case that solar alone will meet the bill. And we have 10,000 times more sunlight than we need. We also need...

BECK: Is that planet-wise or country-wise?

KURZWEIL: That`s planet-wise. But actually, if we devoted one small fraction of a percent of the deserts that are now unused in the United States to solar farms with the new technologies that will emerge in five or six years, we could meet all of our energy needs. You also need storage technologies, and that is also coming with nanotechnology. And some of that gives us hydrogen.

BECK: How come we are not hearing about this? I mean, there is nobody -- I`ve talked to...

KURZWEIL: Well, venture capitalists are aware of it. In fact, Al Gore actually belongs now to Kleiner Perkins, which is investing billions of dollars in these kinds of technologies. So he has heard of it by now...

BECK: Yes.

KURZWEIL: ... because there are investments going in these new technologies.

BECK: Here`s the thing. All of our -- all of our leaders are -- they seem to be blocking everything, every step of the way. And there doesn`t seem to be anybody who is articulating a grand vision.

There is -- I`m looking for the president who is going to say, OK, peak oil, no peak oil. It doesn`t matter. We`re going to do this, we`re going to this, and we are going to have a moon shot. If you say...

KURZWEIL: The science is the same. We just had a National Science Foundation, National Academy of Engineering blue ribbon panel with Larry Page and Dean Kamen, and Craig Benter (ph) and myself, we came out with this plan to replace fossil fuels within 20 years with solar energy and store it in nano-engineered fuel cells. And we also came out with some other ideas to overcome disease by reprogramming our biochemistry through biotechnology and move towards virtual reality and a few other things.

I have been impressed with what has been happening with the Great Lakes. We need to have a global strategy, a national strategy and a local one.

In the mid-west, we have the benefit of the Great Lakes as a major, fresh water resource and recently there was legislation passed to restrict the diverting of Great Lakes water to other areas, as there is already need and diminishing fresh water supplies in many states. NC had bans on watering, etc this summer, and I believe that GA also had significant drought. If steps are not taken to halt the head-long rush to destruction that global warming promises, we will see wars over water, instead of oil - a far more alarming and deadly proposition.

What is happening with this land will be a story of what will happen to USA's land if we do not all work towards curbing use of fossil fuels. Drought and salt water incursion is our future unless we choose to make it otherwise. What are you willing to do?

I am intending to devote all my energy and focus on employment towards awareness of climate change and the steps we need to take to change our consumption and energy use.

Larger than this struggle for electing a president is the immediate necessity of changing our consumption habits and making our economy and work force a green one.

If one believes in the ability to change than it is possible. Look at Obama. He believed he could become president and he has millions who believe as well.

Climate change is real and we are in dire peril.