Located 171 results from search term 'droughts'
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Commented in Drought, Heat And Nuclear – Gavin Newsom’s Elephant In The Room
Nuclear power is the most resistant source of energy to extreme weather, including droughts and heatwaves.
But earthquakes? Not so much. And this is California.
Why is it anti-global warming conservatives are so pro-nuclear?
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Commented in California Wildfires That are Destroying Homes and Lives, in Pictures
Indeed. California is suffering from historic 100% droughts, and REALLY needs some rain. Otherwise, the situation will slowly worsen further.
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Commented in Will the worst bird flu outbreak in US history finally make us reconsider factory farming chicken?
Same basic problem in any monoculture "crop". By virtue of having less variety, population and habitat resilience to disease, blights etc. drops to the point where large swaths of area can be impacted by what would otherwise be a minor event. Add in mechanization via transport of these species and boom: virus transport effectively exceeds the population's ability to adapt and/or prevents it from dying out locally. Bear in mind that this whole system is also dependent on factors that cannot be controlled in the short term i.e. climate.
Add in that this is not the first time this has happened; check out how droughts in the Midwest in 2012 and 2013 raised the cost of food across the board because of a poor corn harvest, which led into shortages of feed for livestock. There were people that got rich by trading in pork and beef futures because butchering of the too many mouths dropped prices in the short term, and then lower livestock availability caused the price to jump. The whole system is incredibly volatile.
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Commented in California residents cut water use by hefty 29% in May, officials say
This is excellent news and definitely shows that imposed reductions can have an impact. It will also yield interesting debates around regulation and other market controls! I still think it's time for the state to consider implementing marginal volumetric water price increases with consumption across all sectors - residential, commercial, and industrial. This will help avoid penalizing those who can only afford the water they need for daily living, but encourage demand reduction for heavy water users without breaking the bank on potentially non-cost-effective demand management programs that don't have teeth anyway (and may not be needed in five years when the reservoirs and aquifers hopefully refill). Not easy because different industries have better lobbyists than others (not to mention the need for exhaustive metering technology, amending existing contracts, scale of project, etc.), but something's gotta give for the next few years or the next few droughts. It would be nice to actually have a decent infrastructure that is ready to handle water conservation seriously whether the water is running off of the mountains or being expensively desalinated. In any case, still good news!
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Commented in California Water Cuts Leave City Days Away From Running Out Of Water
I am hoping El Nino helps soon. I have been through some droughts,but nothing like you are experiencing out there now.
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Commented in US at risk of "mega-drought" future
"These mega-droughts during the 1100s and 1200s persisted for 20, 30, 40, 50 years at a time, and they were droughts that no-one in the history of the United States has ever experienced," said Ben Cook from Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Of course no one in the U.S. experienced these droughts, the country was yet to be founded, however if it is meant no one was here then, this article lacks just one more layer of authenticity.
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Commented in This hunter's latest kill could get her banned from South Africa
It is the epitome of mans complete disregard for nature, for the pursuit of our own approval and self esteem. Look at her, she looks so proud with her big gun and smiley punch-me-in-my-stupid face family picture. You, lady, are what is wrong with the world. Take with no consequences. Shoot, kill, consume, destroy. That animal was born to a mother, was a father to many children, and was good at its pure existence. It might have been 10/20 years old, endured droughts, hunger, all the elements and everything thrown at it, BUT YOU came along with a nice big gun, probably 5 other tough guys driving with you, and your digital camera, and TOOK that all away! I hope you are proud, and when you are old and dying, remember in your last moments, what a great representation you have made of yourself and your contribution to earth. You didn't kill a lion, you stood behind a machine and pulled a little trigger, you pathetic, sad excuse of a human. Your money, your hunting antics, your insecurity to look at an amazing animal with the need to kill it instead of appreciating it and letting it be, are the traits of a coward. How much did you pay for that kodak moment? Did the lion get any of that money? I don't think so... If you enjoy that kind of blood sport it would be an equal match to pay to have you shot, put some proud pictures up on a blog, and make sure your family doesn't get a cent! Sounds fair! I really, really, really wish all the cyber-bullying the world has left to give, to give it all to you..... you asked for the attention, the moment you claimed your prize! -- Richard Robinson
Couldn't have said it better myself.