Editor's Note: Scroll down to the story "Silent Springs" from which this very alert comment from Ms. Burgin was taken. What she says certainly adds more cause for reflection about whether we're all moving forward in our water AND land management with eyes wide open, and utilizing the latest and best science available. Contact Ms. Burgin at alyssatexasclimate@gmail.com, or go to this web site: http://texasclimateemergency.org/
Alyssa Burgin said... Everything said here is true, and developers are to be held accountable, and so are the politicians who thrive on their offerings.
That said, however, I can't believe that this article ignores the desertification process that is taking place in Texas – according to prominent scientists like Richard Seager of Columbia University, and Ron Sass right here at Rice University. This is not just about developers or greedy politicians, it's about the forces of climate change. The consequences of unchecked climate change will result in a continuation of what scientists are calling "permanent perpetual drought," which is what a big chunk of Texas is already experiencing. To ignore that issue is tantamount to suicide for Central, West, and South Texans.
Map shows areas of increasing and decreasing rainfall. In spite of increasing rain in the western U.S. desertification is increasing since warmer temperatures tend to dry the soil creating more run-off that can’t recharge aquifers.Source: USDA, October 2006
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UPDATE Monday, June 1, 2009 . . . actually a 'Backdate' from the Dallas Morning-News April 5, 2007 edition:
See the full story here: http://www.kvue.com/news/state/stories/040507kvuedustbowl-eh.360faebb.html
Dust Bowl-like drought projected
02:46 PM CDT on Thursday, April 5, 2007
By RANDY LEE LOFTIS / The Dallas Morning News
rloftis@dallasnews.com
Texas almost certainly faces a future of perpetual drought as bad as the record dry years of the 1950s because of global warming, climate scientists say in a study published Thursday.
The trend toward a drier, hotter southwestern United States, including all of Texas, probably has already begun and could become strikingly noticeable within about 15 years, according to a study led by Richard Seager of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
Drought conditions are expected to resemble the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s and Texas' worst-ever drought of the 1950s, Dr. Seager said. Unlike those droughts, however, the new conditions won't be temporary, the study found."This time, once it's in, it's in for good," Dr. Seager said.
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
A map shows the projected drought area, with darker colors noting more severe effects.
6 comments:
Thanks for the insights Alyssa and RoundUp. Having read the latest news that LCRA is pulling out of a future water sharing deal with 500 pound gorilla San Antonio, it adds another piece to the big picture. LCRA would never state it publicly (don't want to cause panic in the streets), but just maybe LCRA has read the tea leaves of climate change and desertification and realizes that what it once thought was a plentiful supply from the Colorado River Basin is no longer looking so plentiful. I think it's time for one of those legislative hearings like they do in congress to reveal the truth as best as possible, and then act responsibly in the public interest. What a shame though that we have a bunch anti-science bible thumping Republicans in charge. God have mercy while we all burn in a drought parched hell.
Thought you all might want to know of the latest Aqua Texas water leak...this time they lost 300,000 gallons before a homeowner in the neighborhood discovered the source and reported it....this was in the same area where the 100,000 gallon leak took place about two weeks ago. All events are being reported in writing to the TCEQ by concerned citizens....TCEQ Region 11 continues to look the other way...Investigation please Mr. A.G.!
Desertification process? Not true! This is just another drought like those that have hit Texas over and over since time began. It seems that the “scientists” that live in academia have to chime in over any water issue just to get their pet theories noticed. They fail to reference history and the fact that droughts are cyclical.
From 1950 through 1956 a drought hit Texas that was so bad that the cedar and mesquite trees died. In 1957, 244 of the 254 counties in Texas were declared Federal Drought Disaster areas. It lasted until a hurricane came onshore. That “Six Year Texas Drought” paled in comparison to the “Dust Bowl” drought of 1933 – 1940. There wasn’t a lot of development going on here at the time. This whole “climate change”, or “global warming” (as it used to be called) thing is unproven and only exists in the minds of liberal junk science professors.
A couple of months from now we will likely be complaining of too much rain, flooding, and too many mosquitoes.
What concerns me is the politicization of this issue.
Thanks for confirming this, A#3.
Maybe you are just naïve #4, but climate change has been a political issue since somebody thought it up. You just have to look at the proponents, Al Gore for instance and other lefties with their goal of they Cap and Trade Tax. Did Gore invent Global Warming as well as the Internet? They want to destroy our Capitalistic system by putting forth impending disaster and unfounded theories. They are doing a pretty good job of it and even indoctrinating our children in the Public (Government) Schools. I was floored when I saw my Granddaughter wearing a political T-shirt touting Carbon Reduction and other “Green” propaganda BS.
Herbert Hoover invented the Great Depression. Reagan invented trickle down economics. George HW Bush called that voodoo economics. HW invented "no new taxes." Newt Gingrich invented the 'contract with America,' Tom Delay invented K street with a whip. President Cheney and his side kick W were asleep at the wheel on 9/11 then invented WMD in Iraq for Haliburton, KBR and mercenaries, invented hundreds of billions in "war supplemental" debt to fund Haliburton, KBR and mercenaries, then reinvented the Great Depression. All righties. The polar ice caps are melting away, Glacier National Park has no glaciers left, Alaska's and Russia's frozen tundras are melting, ocean temperatures are rising, killing thousands of square acres of coral reefs and marine life. Or perhaps this is just your next drought of record, worldwide? The desert drought line in Texas has moved from San Angelo to just about right over Wimberley. Y'all are all the same – always asleep at the wheel.
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