Where do we go from here?

ABC News: Scientists Say Southwest [US] to Sizzle for 90 Years

In an interesting, if not fear-inducing, article on ABC (link above) the south-western US (in which 5 of the fastest growing US states are located) is predicted to be in a state of drought for the next 90 years. This megadrought has – of course – been linked to global warming.

While this may be true, the article mentions previous mega droughts in US history in the region dating back to 1860. The inference can be drawn that this could also be just part of the natural cycle – but that’s a debate for a previous thread.

However, the issue is that the megadrought is here and it’s here to stay. Furthermore, they happen from time to time and man’s response seems to be one of burying their collective heads in the sand by staying home and ramping up the air conditioning.

The article goes on to suggest that living in desert regions is essentially not natural to humans, and while this may be true generally, man has lived in deserts for centuries and some of the oldest civilisations are found in desert regions – for example Mesopotamia and Egypt.

The key point is that it is no longer in balance with natural principles – man has decided that he has the technology at his disposal to allow him to survive in extreme environments, but it is that very technology that is, in turn, causing environmental damage which, in turn, contributes to global problems due to the dependence on fossil fuels (ie carbon) to produce said technology.

It is a very large web of interdependent factors which contributes to the nett effect of environmental issues.

So where do we go from here?

While one (large) sector of industry is looking for alternative sources of fuel and different ways to do things so we can stay where we are and live in these extreme environments, the other alternative could always be to simply move!

Moving has a key advantage – it takes us away from hostile environments and also ones which are at high risk of long-term flooding as sea levels rise. Through targetted investment into “safe” areas, mankind could be relocated safely, and in a timely fashion before the real problems start. This could happen in parallel with the alternative technologies and alternative fuels research to create a long-term stable human habitation on the planet and allow nature to balance herself without creating wide-scale extinctions which could happen if we continue to bury our heads and stay rooted in hostile and high-risk environments.