The Economic Impact of the Climate

Generali

As you may be aware, the is a huge drought going on in California and the state has become increasingly reliant on snow melt to provide its water.

The Nation have published a very interesting article about the socio-economic impacts of the drought:

http://www.thenation.com/article/191825/californias-drought-so-bad-some-communities-are-trucking-their-water#

The Central Valley contains less than 1 percent of the country’s farmland, but produces a quarter of the US food supply. Its agricultural output is valued at more than $17 billion a year.....

.....With its alpine source depleted by what is becoming the worst drought California has ever faced, today that system is failing to furnish nearly enough surface water—water gathered from above-ground streams, rivers, lakes, reservoirs and, ultimately, mountain snowfall—to sustain the enormous agricultural economy it midwifed.

Last January, for the first time ever, the state government announced a “zero allocation” of surface water from the State Water Project to the twenty-nine local water agencies that purchase it and distribute it through their networks of canals to 25 million Californians in cities, towns and farmlands throughout the state (in April, the allocation was raised to 5 percent). A month later, the federal government announced a zero allocation from its Central Valley Project, which provides irrigation water to about a third of the state’s agricultural land, to all but the most senior water rights holders.

michaels

Aus seems to be being particularly badly impacted by climate variability and yet they have just changed govt, partly because of antipathy towards policies addressing climate change....

CLAPTON

the good news is that China expects/hopes to stop increasing its output of CO2 by 2035

purch

to all but the most senior water rights holders

Golf courses :eek:

Generali

purch wrote: »

Golf courses :eek:

If the US loses a quarter of its food production I strongly suspect that golf courses will be outbid!

chewmylegoff

Generali wrote: »

As you may be aware, the is a huge drought going on in California and the state has become increasingly reliant on snow melt to provide its water.

The Nation have published a very interesting article about the socio-economic impacts of the drought:

http://www.thenation.com/article/191825/californias-drought-so-bad-some-communities-are-trucking-their-water#

How do you think this compares with the general 10(?) year drought in Australia which came to an end a couple of years back? I suppose easier to import food to feed 20odd million Australians than 500 million Americans.

I have vaguely heard mention of infrastructure on the west coast of Australia moving huge amounts of water hundreds/thousands of miles as well. Perhaps the yanks need to speak to Canada.

michaels

Is there a name for the universal law that once the media pick up on a weather story the weather changes:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-30443932

CLAPTON

michaels wrote: »

Is there a name for the universal law that once the media pick up on a weather story the weather changes:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-30443932

now didn't we once have a minister for drought?
I think his job lasted a couple of days

purch

What we in the UK call a drought, the Californians would call an unusually wet summer..................and what the Californians call a Storm, we would consider it the end of the World as we know it.

Generali

chewmylegoff wrote: »

How do you think this compares with the general 10(?) year drought in Australia which came to an end a couple of years back? I suppose easier to import food to feed 20odd million Australians than 500 million Americans.

I have vaguely heard mention of infrastructure on the west coast of Australia moving huge amounts of water hundreds/thousands of miles as well. Perhaps the yanks need to speak to Canada.

I think it's nothing like as bad in the US right now at a household level. Mrs Generali's Aunt was having to decant the rinse water from her washing machine to wash the next lot of clothes in. Washing cars and filling pools was banned. It was pretty bad and she lives in a big city.

Lots of rural places don't have aquifers to tap, they just have to deal with it. In Aus water gets bussed in. I'm not 100% sure who pays for that but I think it's me.

Generally, Aussie farming copes with drought because the farmers expect it. The norm here is 2 good years, 4 okay years and 2 drought years. If you expect your business to be blessed with rain every year you'll be disappointed.

It was very interesting listening to our sort of version of Farming Today, a weekly farmers' phone in as the drought broke. The presenter was asking callers to a quiz whether they'd had rain or not. Whether the answer was yes or no there was a real quaver in the voice. Yes meant that they could keep the farm. No meant no end in sight from having to take the shopping list to the bank to get it approved before being allowed to buy toothpaste.

purch

There is a reason why hardly anyone lived in Australia and most of the current USA until the late 1500's early 1600's.