No one tells the story of California's agricultural water crisis better than Mark Arax. The ag industry, especially the hedge funds, corporations, & suck-the-money-from-the-land-as-fast-as-possible investors turn a blind eye to the unfolding disaster.
1/n
theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
The weak legislative effort to regulate groundwater -- the "Sustainable Groundwater Management Act" was a tiny step in the right direction, but prompted a race to pump even more unsustainable groundwater before it takes effect years from now. The result? ...
2/n
Big ag is strip-mining groundwater, killing small farms & poor communities.
There is only one solution, as Arax notes: up to a million acres of farmland must come out of production, perhaps 15% of Central Valley farmland. Even the ag industry acknowledges this, in private... 3/n
Hence the race to strip every $ of profit from the land before it goes dry -- the "hedge-fundification" of California ag. Even without worsening climate-change-induced droughts, this crisis was real. A few wet years or pie-in-the-sky reservoirs can't help. 4/4

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More from @PeterGleick

29 Aug
Reporters: a thread about the links between human-caused #climatechange & hurricanes. As you report on #HurricanIda, help readers understand these links.
For references & details, see the summary.

1. Warmer oceans worsen & accelerate intensification.
sciline.org/climate/hurric…
2. Warmer air from climate change holds more moisture, which contributes to increased rainfall from hurricanes.
3. Higher sea levels from #climate change means storm surges and coastal flooding are worse than they would otherwise have been.
4. There's growing evidence large hurricanes are slowing their movements over land, causing longer periods of intense rains over smaller areas, worsening flood risks.
Read 5 tweets
9 Jul
Governor Newsom has finally called for a 15%voluntary reduction in water use in California.
Easy.
Here are some ideas for individuals.
1/n
If you water a garden 3 days a week, you'll save 33% of your outdoor water use by cutting it to 2 days.
Better yet, get rid of the lawn.
2/n
If you shower for 10 minutes, cut it to 7 and save 30% of your shower water. Better yet, get an efficient low-flow showerhead.
3/n
Read 5 tweets
5 Mar
So, a short thread about how much of the #globalwarming we're seeing is human-caused.
The short answer is ALL of it. Yes, all.
Why?
Here's the longer thread:
1/3
Many natural factors affect the #climate, including the output of the sun, volcanoes, changes (over many thousands of years) in Earth's orbit and tilt, the concentration of certain gases in the atmosphere.
Scientists understand these factors.
And here's the thing:
2/3
If humans weren't added heat-trapping gases, all these natural influences would be causing the Earth to very slightly COOL.
Therefore, ALL of the dramatic, fast warming we're seeing is due to human emissions of greenhouse gases.
That's it.
3/3
Read 5 tweets
11 Jan
Wow. Under the radar, #climate deniers who have taken over the WH Office of Science and Technology Policy have published a series of "Briefs" claiming, falsely, to present "current state-of-the-science" on #climate. These essays are grotesque disinformation & pseudoscience.
These are very odd. They appear here:
ceres-science.com/content/climat…
I've emailed the press office at OSTP to find out the story.
Read 4 tweets
23 Dec 20
A short thread about the recent claims by some "economists" & #climate skeptics that an 8°C rise in temperature would only cut GDP by 4%:
First, it's complete nonsense. That large a temperature rise would destroy the Arctic, flood every coastal city in the world, cripple (1/n)
global agriculture, worsen already severe hurricanes, & disrupt water supplies.
Second, if that's only "4%" of GDP, it's time to acknowledge that GDP is a totally useless measure of well being.
Third, a reminder that breaking your leg or crashing your car raises GDP. But... (2/n)
wiping out a species, destroying an ecosystem, killing 300,000 people in a pandemic has no effect on GDP (or the stock market).
Using traditional economics to understand the consequences of human-caused #climatechange will give you the wrong answers.
(3/3)
Read 4 tweets
22 Dec 19
Thread
You think a #climatechange of just a couple of degrees is no big deal?
Around 12000 years ago, the planet abruptly cooled a couple of degrees, setting back humanity's social evolution for over a thousand years.
This cooling period, the Younger Dryas, delayed the transition in the Stone Age from hunter-gatherers to settled agriculture. When the planet warmed again at the beginning of the Holocene, homo sapiens began our slow climb to modern civilization. Now..
With humans changing the #climate by just a degree or so already, we're seeing massive fires, destruction of the Arctic, strengthening storms, species extinctions, environmental refugees. And much worse to come. Ironic...
Read 4 tweets

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