Between politics, war, disease and the latest financial headline comes the Drought.
I was in So. California in the years 1985 and 1986, and can recall a semi-panic situation, even though it got worse later on. The low level reservoirs were scary, even then.
In today's news there was a note about a California town of 500 people that has not had water for some time, with no hope of change in the future. No water to cook, wash, flush, or even to drink, except for bottled water. Property values nil, and residents in a dire situation... jobs, businesses and everything that we come to expect in a community in a rapid decline.
So what to think about the future?
The number of news stories is growing daily. The worries are difficult to quantify, as every story seems worse than the previous one. Whether drinking water, crops, recreation, business, health, or the total economic effect, there is much worry, but... as far as I can see, few bright spots or solutions.
For those who live in California, or the other drought stricken states... How do you see the problem? Serious or a passing bad time, that the people will eventually take in stride, and to which there will always be an adjustment?
Will the government and the private sector come up with solutions? Is it reasonable to think that desalination plants or fresh water diversion can equalize the ravages of nature?
As always, with problems, there come opportunities. What will they be?
Here in the midwest, nature's problems, while always serious have been coming in smaller disasters, as with the Asian carp invasion of the rivers. The attention to tornadoes and storms that comes and goes, always seems to fade into the background in a matter of months or a few years. Is this drought just a part of a cycle that has been seen before, and from which those who are affected eventually recover?
I have earned a reputation as a gloom/doom worrier... and in most cases am learning to not be scaremonger or the boy who called "wolf"... but I can't help but wonder at the seeming lack of concern that pushes the drought off the front page.
I don't see this as being a matter of politics, but as a matter that may needs be part of planning for the retirement years. Not just as a place to live, but whether this could be a geographical/economic concern in the future.
I was in So. California in the years 1985 and 1986, and can recall a semi-panic situation, even though it got worse later on. The low level reservoirs were scary, even then.
In today's news there was a note about a California town of 500 people that has not had water for some time, with no hope of change in the future. No water to cook, wash, flush, or even to drink, except for bottled water. Property values nil, and residents in a dire situation... jobs, businesses and everything that we come to expect in a community in a rapid decline.
So what to think about the future?
The number of news stories is growing daily. The worries are difficult to quantify, as every story seems worse than the previous one. Whether drinking water, crops, recreation, business, health, or the total economic effect, there is much worry, but... as far as I can see, few bright spots or solutions.
For those who live in California, or the other drought stricken states... How do you see the problem? Serious or a passing bad time, that the people will eventually take in stride, and to which there will always be an adjustment?
Will the government and the private sector come up with solutions? Is it reasonable to think that desalination plants or fresh water diversion can equalize the ravages of nature?
As always, with problems, there come opportunities. What will they be?
Here in the midwest, nature's problems, while always serious have been coming in smaller disasters, as with the Asian carp invasion of the rivers. The attention to tornadoes and storms that comes and goes, always seems to fade into the background in a matter of months or a few years. Is this drought just a part of a cycle that has been seen before, and from which those who are affected eventually recover?
I have earned a reputation as a gloom/doom worrier... and in most cases am learning to not be scaremonger or the boy who called "wolf"... but I can't help but wonder at the seeming lack of concern that pushes the drought off the front page.
I don't see this as being a matter of politics, but as a matter that may needs be part of planning for the retirement years. Not just as a place to live, but whether this could be a geographical/economic concern in the future.
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