Climate change is contributing to drought in the American West even without rainfall deficits, scientists find
Posted by Portalrules123@reddit | collapse | View on Reddit | 19 comments
PiLamdOd@reddit
At this point it's rather refreshing to know there's nothing we can do about Climate Change anymore.
GenZ is moving far right and the US Supreme Court will be anti environment for the next few decades. Any chances to mitigate the issue are no longer possible.
Might as well sit back and watch the fireworks.
MrRoboto12345@reddit
Probably cause genz gets all their info from unreliable sources on the Internet, much like boomers
Chill_Panda@reddit
Boomers fell for propaganda. GenZ is falling for propaganda. There was a sweet spot in the middle of them where the world was connected like never before and you could see it for what it really was before the propaganda machine could adapt.
kylerae@reddit
Yes I think younger Gen X and Millennials had access to the internet when it was much easier to spend a little time discerning between real and fake information. It allowed us to develop much better critical thinking skills. We were primarily getting bad information via blogs or even vlogs on very specific websites and eventually started getting a little with youtube, but Gen Z and younger have only had a bombardment of short form information from places it is difficult to track down the source and determine whether it is fake or not. Even the way google has changed from promoting the best answers to the top to now being whoever pays the most.
HikmetLeGuin@reddit
I don't think this defeatism is helpful. We need more mass movements and direct action.
Also, there are things that can be done to prepare people and lessen the harm.
joseph-1998-XO@reddit
Gen Z globally? I know this is a big US issue but other countries will be hit harder sooner
yellowsuitstyling@reddit
Europe has seen a move to the far right with younger voters too. It's alarming
6sixtynoine9@reddit
Who cares about other counties MURICA is number one /s
Glodraph@reddit
Yeah if things continue like this, the usa will be in a civil war in the next 10 years lol
Chill_Panda@reddit
10? 8? 4?
Excellent-Stable7320@reddit
I already knew we can't do anything about the Climate Crisis anymore. I was hoping that we could still have risk mitigation strategies/plans to adapt, but that too has gone out the window.
Nadie_AZ@reddit
It's more than just rainfall. People keep moving into the region and consume water. The marketing campaign of 'sustainable growth' is a lie. There isn't enough water for everyone and we keep sucking the aquifers to satisfy the cities and draining the rivers to satisfy the farms. If we had 1/4 of the population, there might be enough to go around. But that's way in the rearview mirror.
What happens when climate refugees from south of the Border or other regions of the US come here?
daviddjg0033@reddit
Why is that pesky American West ecosystem demanding more water? Are we going to desalinate more water (better be ready to build energy intensive plants that are the rage on the Arabian Peninsula) to move the water where it is needed just to keep up with the 1900s average?
"During the drought of 2020–2022, moisture demand really spiked," Fu said. "Though the drought began through a natural reduction in precipitation, I would say its severity was increased from the equivalent of 'moderate' to 'exceptional' on the drought severity scale due to climate change."
How do we get enough water there to prevent the ecosystem collapsing? It's going to burn. 120F months guarantee it
breinbanaan@reddit
We need more nature. More forests to retain moisture while transferring it from hotspot to hotspot. Not the endless monocultures we have.
traveledhermit@reddit
“Research has already shown that warmer temperatures contribute to drought, but this is, to our knowledge, the first study that actually shows that moisture loss due to demand is greater than the moisture loss due to lack of rainfall,”
I always knew that evaporation caused dryer trees and so this makes total sense, but wow, we’re screwed. Everywhere on earth is going to be parched all the time.
“I would say its severity was increased from the equivalent of ‘moderate’ to ‘exceptional’ on the drought severity scale due to climate change”…Moderate means the 10–20% strongest drought, while “exceptional’ means the top 2% strongest drought on the severity scale.
SCREWED!
Hour-Stable2050@reddit
Actually, increased evaporation over the Great Lakes is leading to increasing cloudiness, heavy rainfalls and flooding events in the Greater Toronto area. So it depends on where you are.
CollapseBy2022@reddit
Eh I'm sure all the most powerful countries in the world, with their militaries and nukes will just go "Ok I die now".
StatementBot@reddit
The following submission statement was provided by /u/Portalrules123:
SS: Related to collapse as a new study has found that increased evaporation has actually played more of a role in drought in the American West than rainfall deficits have since the year 2000. So even if rainfall is normal, drought has become all the more likely due to a warming atmosphere that can evaporate and retain more water. This heightened role of evaporation in severe drought is only expected to increase as climate change accelerates, so expect the American West to become increasingly parched and uninhabitable as time goes on. Perfect timing with their election of a climate change denier!
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1gld32c/climate_change_is_contributing_to_drought_in_the/lvt7k1f/
Portalrules123@reddit (OP)
SS: Related to collapse as a new study has found that increased evaporation has actually played more of a role in drought in the American West than rainfall deficits have since the year 2000. So even if rainfall is normal, drought has become all the more likely due to a warming atmosphere that can evaporate and retain more water. This heightened role of evaporation in severe drought is only expected to increase as climate change accelerates, so expect the American West to become increasingly parched and uninhabitable as time goes on. Perfect timing with their election of a climate change denier!