California is not suffering one drought but four. Each is a metaphor of what California has become.
Nature
The first California drought, of course, is natural. We are now in the midst of a fourth year of record low levels of snow and rain.
Californians have no idea that their state is a relatively recent construct—only 165 years old, with even less of a pedigree of accurate weather keeping. When Europeans arrived in California in the 15th and 16th centuries, they were struck by how few indigenous peoples lived in what seemed paradise—only to learn that the region was quite dry on the coast and in the interior.
Today, modern Californians have no idea of whether a four-year drought is normal, in, say, a 5,000-year natural history of the region, or is aberrant, as wet years are long overdue and will return with a vengeance.
That we claim to know what to expect from about 150 years of recordkeeping does not mean that we know anything about what is normal in nature’s brief millennia. Our generation may be oblivious to that fact, but our far more astute and pragmatic forefathers certainly were not.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
7 comments:
And there sits California with uncountable ZILLIONS of gallons of seawater close at hand, if only there was a cheap and easy way to desalinate it. "Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink" as the old saying goes, soon they'll be killing each other for a few drops of the stuff.
I have wondered why we as a nation and world in general can pump billions of gallons of oil across continents but no water, A leak would not be good but would be easy to rally from.
Saudi Arabia has the worlds most sophisticated desalination water plants in the world.Why are none built here?
But humans don't live long enough to endure the cycle.
@Ben In Salisbury
Do you have any idea what the ratio of water consumption to oil is in this country?
The both of the two New York City Aqueduct tunnels are as wide as two dump trucks.
Sand Box John
Israel uses desalination system as well. America is behind in many areas...
Some of you are missing the point of the article. California has decided that green lawns belonging to wealthy people in coastal cities and snail darters and fish are more important than irrigation for crops that feed the citizens of the U.S.A.
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