The Colorado River is drying up because of climate change, putting millions at risk of 'severe water shortages' - CNN

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Pegasus

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Here is a newly published article that mostly regurgitates old information. It mentions that the Colorado River drainage has been in a drought for 20 years, which is true, but then goes on to blame the drought on global warming and climate change. My opinion - the climate is changing as it has and always will be, but to pinpoint the specific cause of a 20-year drought in the region, a minuscule time period in the earth's history, on global warming/climate change is a step not supported by scientific papers I've read.

Although I would truly like to expand on the discussion of global warming/climate change and how it could impact Lake Powell with fellow Wordling's, history tells me these discussions with widely ranging and divisive opinions do not stay 'nice' for very long, which is unfortunate for all of us interested in learning and educating ourselves further on this topic - probably best to avoid in this forum.

Climate change is drying up the Colorado River, putting millions at risk of 'severe water shortages'

-Doug
 
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In grad school, I read two books one was Water in the West and the second was Rivers of Empire. I am fascinated by global warming, in a way it is another aspect malthusian cycle. For lake powell and the west, global warming is not really a concern of mine. Population growth on the other hand is. It is not rocket science, just simple range management. If you have limited water you can only run so many head of cattle.
I am up here in the Cache Valley and we are having building moratoriums because of the lack of water. The great Salt lake is drying up, because water is being channeled into Willard. So, the run off is not making it there. It is simply to many people relying on a limited resources. I firmly believe in the science behind global warming, but I do not believe it is the primary detriment to lake powell or the west. Population growth is a conundrum that we need to deal with.
 
Simply put, nearly all resource-related issues on this planet are a function of population growth, and long-range planning that does not accurately account for that growth, leading to poor policy decisions. Climate change is an important variable in long-range planning, most obviously in coastal zones, but secondarily in how formerly "predictable" weather patterns are changing other environments, including (but not limited to) the southwestern USA. Accurate planning requires predictability. Climate change reduces that predictability, and it's leading to uncharted territory, which has unpredictable human, economic and environmental consequences.

But really, the root cause of most of our problems is that we have too many people on the boat...
 
I am not horribly impressed with Mr. Heller. Not saying that he is on the same level as infowars, and He is certainly entitled to his thesis. The military is adapting its doctrine to include the effects of climate change. I will go with them. I May wind up being dead wrong, global warming might not be happening and the earth maybe flat. Until I see volumes of scientific research to the contrary. I am going with global warming.

Please do not take this as a personal attack on you. You are not Mr. Heller and are doing a great job of bringing opposing views to this debate. Without which there would be no debate.
 
Politics has reared it's ugly head in the debate on human caused global warming--mostly along party lines--and religious beliefs----can only hope & pray for our Grandkids & their Grandkids
 
The way I see it, climate has been changing here on our little globe for billions of years.
Is mankind responsible for speeding the warming up? Possibly.
Does mankind think they will be able to stop climate change? Stupidly, yes.
Will governments be able to tax their way out of climate change? Stupidly, no.
I won't even mention the 16 year old high school drop out that blames the world for loosing her childhood. Oh wait.....opps!
Let's al play nice and enjoy the lake as long as we can.
Happy boating!
 
Dave I. said:
The way I see it, climate has been changing here on our little globe for billions of years.
Is mankind responsible for speeding the warming up? Possibly.
Does mankind think they will be able to stop climate change? Stupidly, yes.
Will governments be able to tax their way out of climate change? Stupidly, no.
I won't even mention the 16 year old high school drop out that blames the world for loosing her childhood. Oh wait.....opps!
Let's al play nice and enjoy the lake as long as we can.
Happy boating!
Click to expand...

i will not disagree with that the climate changes, but the problem with this and few other times that when the climate has changed this quickly is mass extinction events.

write a letter to your great grandchildren wishing them well with the pollution you've saddled them with and the circumstances they'll find themselves in, especially if they have to deal with degraded support systems that are also being continually trashed by greedy humans.
 
flowerbug said:
i will not disagree with that the climate changes, but the problem with this and few other times that when the climate has changed this quickly is mass extinction events.

write a letter to your great grandchildren wishing them well with the pollution you've saddled them with and the circumstances they'll find themselves in, especially if they have to deal with degraded support systems that are also being continually trashed by greedy humans.
Click to expand...
I'll be waiting for the apology letter from my great grandparent then, if that's what supposed to happen.

The US is actually very green despite what Americans think. Considering that China and India are building coal fired power plants at an alarming rate, when here in my area, 2 coal fired powerplants have been shut down. Check out this website and pay attention to America and how many are closing compared to China and how many new ones there are. In fact, there is not a single one, new plant in the US.
www.carbonbrief.org

Mapped: The world’s coal power plants in 2020

Since 2000, the world has doubled its coal-fired power capacity to around 2,045 gigawatts (GW) after explosive growth in China and India. A further 200GW is being built and 300GW is planned.
www.carbonbrief.org www.carbonbrief.org

Maybe China owes everyone an apology. If anything effective was to happen, it would have to be a Global effort, not just some uniformed activists saying the world is going to end in 10 years.

Happy boating my friend. :)
 
Havalina said:
In grad school, I read two books one was Water in the West and the second was Rivers of Empire. I am fascinated by global warming, in a way it is another aspect malthusian cycle. For lake powell and the west, global warming is not really a concern of mine. Population growth on the other hand is. It is not rocket science, just simple range management. If you have limited water you can only run so many head of cattle.
I am up here in the Cache Valley and we are having building moratoriums because of the lack of water. The great Salt lake is drying up, because water is being channeled into Willard. So, the run off is not making it there. It is simply to many people relying on a limited resources. I firmly believe in the science behind global warming, but I do not believe it is the primary detriment to lake powell or the west. Population growth is a conundrum that we need to deal with.
Click to expand...
Havalina. A very good point.. I agree with you
 
Havalina said:
In grad school, I read two books one was Water in the West and the second was Rivers of Empire. I am fascinated by global warming, in a way it is another aspect malthusian cycle. For lake powell and the west, global warming is not really a concern of mine. Population growth on the other hand is. It is not rocket science, just simple range management. If you have limited water you can only run so many head of cattle.
I am up here in the Cache Valley and we are having building moratoriums because of the lack of water. The great Salt lake is drying up, because water is being channeled into Willard. So, the run off is not making it there. It is simply to many people relying on a limited resources. I firmly believe in the science behind global warming, but I do not believe it is the primary detriment to lake powell or the west. Population growth is a conundrum that we need to deal with.
Click to expand...
I had to read more than two books in grad school. 😃
 
Dave I. said:
I'll be waiting for the apology letter from my great grandparent then, if that's what supposed to happen.

The US is actually very green despite what Americans think. Considering that China and India are building coal fired power plants at an alarming rate, when here in my area, 2 coal fired powerplants have been shut down. Check out this website and pay attention to America and how many are closing compared to China and how many new ones there are. In fact, there is not a single one, new plant in the US.
www.carbonbrief.org

Mapped: The world’s coal power plants in 2020

Since 2000, the world has doubled its coal-fired power capacity to around 2,045 gigawatts (GW) after explosive growth in China and India. A further 200GW is being built and 300GW is planned.
www.carbonbrief.org www.carbonbrief.org

Maybe China owes everyone an apology. If anything effective was to happen, it would have to be a Global effort, not just some uniformed activists saying the world is going to end in 10 years.

Happy boating my friend. :)
Click to expand...

yet at the same time we are pumping out more oil and natural gas instead of actually reducing the use of fossil fuels. oops. not good trend no matter who's burning it.
 
It still goes back to population expansion. Do I believe in global warming, absolutely. Will other developing countries want to pitch in and help? No, To The vast majority of developing countries the concept of global warming is quite condescending. The first world has realized the issue, but we are not willing to change anything because it will affect our way of life. The third world countries feel like the first world is trying to prevent them from gaining equality or improving their way of life.

Is global warming man made this go around? Yes more than likely. Are we going to do anything about it? No not really, who wants to degrade their quality of life. Global warming is still just part of the malthusian cycle. It is really going to suck for the folks living just above sea level in a few years. We did it to ourselves. Thankfully our planet is a wonderful carbon sink and after we kill ourselves off. The earth will recover and maybe what ever species supersedes us will be better than we were taking care of the planet.
 
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