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Nothing's More Important Than Water -- Strike for the Planet week 107 [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-10-17  

You can make a difference to the hurt being caused by climate chaos and the great extinction event in your town or your city! How? Reuse, repurpose, and recycle this information. You can push your local politicians to act. It will make a difference!

This is the letter for week 104 of a weekly climate strike that went on for 4 years in front of San Francisco City Hall, beginning early March 2019. For more context, see this story. For an annotated table of contents of the topics for all the strike letters, see this story. Meanwhile…

STRIKE FOR THE PLANET

Once the water cycle is screwed, we’re all screwed.

This week’s topic: Nothing’s More Important Than Water

Water is the basic, first requirement for sustaining life. Without it, we die in a few days.1 What, then, is the state of this state when it comes to water?

We’re in a Megadrought!2

The Sierra snowpack is gone. 3 In terms of percent of normal, we’re down to single digits (4% -8% of normal).

In terms of percent of normal, we’re down to single digits (4% -8% of normal). About ⅓ of CA’s water is from the snowpack. Almost all of SF’s water is from the snowpack. 4

We’re a fraction of normal because we are in a megadrought. 5 It is being made much worse by climate change. 6

It is being made much worse by climate change. Megadroughts are big. 7, 8

This one will likely last a long time. 9

Meanwhile, big ag in CA is exporting water. 10, 11, 12

And big corporations are stealing water, and we’re doing a piss-poor job of stopping them. 13, 14, 15

We have to be a LOT more responsible and rational about water NOW. 16, 17, 18

Because we need to hydrate the biosphere with less and less water. 19

Or CA will not survive. 20

The destruction of the 5 th wealthiest nation on earth is a big deal. 21

wealthiest nation on earth is a big deal. Yet we belittle and ignore the only people who’ve lived through one of these before.22, 23, 24, 25, 26

Look at the drought map from a week before this one and you’ll see how fast this is getting very bad.27 Drought Monitor map released Thursday, May 6, 2021, with data from May 4, 2021. United States Drought Monitor

Okay, we need more dams, right?

Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. Human-made concrete and steel barriers don’t work, whether they’re to keep out the rising ocean28 or collect the disappearing water.29 Why? Because:

Dams make the problem worse by significantly contributing to climate change. 30

In places where we’ve actually looked at the issue, it’s clear that dams destroy the biosphere 31, 32, 33 , which also hurts our ability to survive.

, which also hurts our ability to survive. They’re economic boondoggles. 34

Dams continue and exacerbate the policies of theft and genocide toward Native communities. 35

And dams steal from the poor to further enrich the rich.36

So what can we do?

Use the water available sanely and wisely. That means:

Blackwater recycling

Conservation

Ecosystem restoration

Sprawl reduction

Rights for living systems

Conservation

Eliminating pollutants

Widespread urban use of bioswales

And enforcing permeable surfaces regulations.

There are strike letters with details on almost every one of these topics, and there are multiple strike letters on blackwater recycling, with contact information for experts who can help set up systems in SF (including some already in SF). This is not rocket science; it is survival.

But all this takes time and money!

Tough. Physics doesn’t care about your agenda. We made the mess we’re in through inattention and greed, and now we have to pay for it.

Do you have the faintest idea how expensive not spending money to mitigate climate change and the extinction crisis is?37 The costs of acting are much less than the costs of doing nothing.38 Just ask the insurance industry.39 And the military.40

So who is responsible for making this happen?

You are. If you’re leaders, then lead. Do your job.

We’ve already shrunk the atmosphere41 and shifted the poles42, and now we’re pissing away the water. Can’t you see that SF’s chances for survival are borderline at best, and require immediate action?43 You’ve taken oaths to act for the good of SF. You say you are bound by the Precautionary Principle. So act already.

The costs of climate change are huge.44, 45, 46, 47, 48 Damage is already being done and it’s going to get worse.49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58 That’s why you have to fight for the people of SF now while it’s still possible to accomplish anything, and that’s why you must start with water!

FOOTNOTES

1. Abigail Beall. “How long can you survive without water?” BBC. 19 October 2020. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20201016-why-we-cant-survive-without-water .

2. (sung to the tune “Camelot”, with apologies to Lerner and Lowe)

The rain we used to know will never fall now

By March the snowpack will have disappeared

The rivers and the forests will be dried out

From Megadrought!

Megadrought, megadrought

Makes politicians think

Cause with megadrought, megadrought

There’s nothing left to drink.

3. Kellie Hwang. “Sierra snowpack is already ‘wiped out’ this year, adding to California drought and fire worries”. SF Chronicle. 11 May 2021. https://www.sfchronicle.com/local/article/Sierra-snowpack-is-already-wiped-out-this-16169301.php .

4. Ibid.

5. Jeffrey Mount and Michael Dettinger. “California’s 21st Century Megadrought”. Public Policy Institute of California. 23 June 2020. https://www.ppic.org/blog/californias-21st-century-megadrought/ .

6. Associated Press. “Warming makes U.S. West megadrought worst in modern age, study finds”. NBC News. 17 April 2020. https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/warming-makes-u-s-west-megadrought-worst-modern-age-study-n1186061 .

7. Dharna Noor. “The West Is Facing Its Worst Megadrought in at Least 1,200 Years”. Gizmodo. 16 April 2020. https://earther.gizmodo.com/the-west-is-facing-its-worst-megadrought-in-at-least-1-1842904582 .

8. William Stevens. “Severe Ancient Droughts: A Warning to California”. The New York Times. 19 July 1994 [LOOK AT THE DATE: WE SHOULD HAVE STARTED THIS WORK DECADES AGO!] https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/19/science/severe-ancient-droughts-a-warning-to-california.html .

9. Alejandra Borunda. “‘Megadrought’ persists in western U.S., as another extremely dry year develops”. National Geographic. 7 May 2021. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/megadrought-persists-in-western-us-as-another-extremely-dry-year-develops .

10. Alastair Leithead. “California drought: Why farmers are ‘exporting water’ to China”. BBC. 19 February 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26124989 .

11. National Geographic Staff. “Which California Crops Are Worth the Water? Check for Yourself”. National Geographic. 8 May 2015. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/150508-which-california-exports-crops-are-worth-the-water .

12. Patrick Porgans. “How California exports water”. SF Bay Guardian. 16 November 2010. https://sfbgarchive.48hills.org/sfbgarchive/2010/11/16/how-california-exports-water/ .

13. Royce Christyn. “Nestle Stealing Water In California For Profit Despite Drought”. NewsPunch. 19 April 2015. https://newspunch.com/nestle-stealing-water-in-california-for-profit-despite-drought/ .

14. Jeremy White. “Nestle has been bottling and selling water it has no right to in drought-stricken California, state says”. Independent. 27 December 2017. https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/nestle-water-selling-diverting-bottled-arrowhead-san-bernardino-forest-california-a8130686.html .

15. Maanvi Singh. “Drought-hit California moves to halt Nestlé from taking millions of gallons of water”. The Guardian. 27 April 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/27/california-nestle-water-san-bernardino-forest-drought .

16. Atreyee Bhattacharya. “Megadroughts: What Causes, And What Solutions?” Discover. 16 June 2010. https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/megadroughts-what-causes-and-what-solutions .

17. Charles Choi. “Civilization-Collapsing Megadroughts of Medieval Times Could Be in Store for a Warming Earth”. LiveScience. ~May 2019. https://www.livescience.com/66032-medieval-megadroughts-return-global-warming.html .

18. Dennis Wyatt. “Newsom plays politics with drought: As Californians we are not all in this together”. Manteca/Ripon Bulletin. 12 May 2021. https://www.mantecabulletin.com/opinion/local-columns/newsom-plays-politics-drought-californians-we-are-not-all-together/ .

19. Lori Pottinger. “Ecosystems Need Groundwater Too”. Public Policy Institute of California. 6 April 2018. https://www.ppic.org/blog/ecosystems-need-groundwater/ .

20. PTI. “Megadrought linked to powerful ancient civilization’s collapse: Study”. India TV News. 16 November 2019. indiatvnews.

21. “Economic impact: Great Depression”. Britannica. Accessed 12 May 2021. https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Depression/Economic-impact .

22. Jeannine-Marie St. Jacques. “Impacts of Megadroughts on North American Native Cultures and Civilizations”. American Association for the Advancement of Science 2012 Annual Meeting. February 2012. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267542489_Impacts_of_Megadroughts_on_North_American_Native_Cultures_and_Civilizations .

23. Dan Bacher. “Salmon advocates criticize California Governor Newsom for promoting Sites Dam, voluntary agreements during drought”. Red Green and Blue. 23 April 2021. http://redgreenandblue.org/2021/04/23/salmon-advocates-criticize-california-governor-newsom-promoting-sites-dam-voluntary-agreements-drought/ .

24. Pheng Vang and Daphne Ding. “Native Americans and the Drought”. California Drought Watch. Accessed 12 May 2021. https://mcjcaliforniadrought.wordpress.com/native-americans-and-the-drought/ .

25. Ezra David Romero. “An Ancient Native American Drought Solution For A Parched California”. KVPR. 2 June 2015. https://www.kvpr.org/post/ancient-native-american-drought-solution-parched-california#stream/0 .

26. Action News. “Native American tribe using traditional methods to combat California drought”. ABC 30. 27 July 2015. https://abc30.com/native-american-drought-north-fork-mono-indians-california/887283/ .

27. Amy Graff. “Latest federal drought map puts entire San Francisco Bay Area in ‘extreme drought’”. SFGate. 6 May 2021. https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/2021-05-drought-monitor-map-California-Bay-Area-16156596.php .

28. Joseph Bennington-Castro. “Walls Won’t Save Our Cities From Rising Seas. Here’s What Will”. NBC News. 27 July 2017. https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/walls-won-t-save-our-cities-rising-seas-here-s-ncna786811 .

29. “Dams and Reservoirs”. MIT. Accessed 12 May 2021. http://12.000.scripts.mit.edu/mission2017/dams-and-reservoirs/ .

30. Kate Hudson. “Hydropower is NOT Clean Energy: Dams and Reservoirs are Major Drivers of Climate Change”. Waterkeeper Alliance. 21 November 2017. https://waterkeeper.org/news/hydropower-is-not-clean-energy/ .

31. “Myth: Dams are good for the environment”. Water Quality NZ. Accessed 12 May 2021. https://waterqualitynz.info/myths-of-agricultural-intensification/myth-dams-are-good-for-the-environment/ .

32. Mara Hvistendahl. “China’s Three Gorges Dam: An Environmental Catastrophe?” Scientific American. 25 March 2008. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/chinas-three-gorges-dam-disaster/ .

33. Karl Mathiesen. “Do dams destroy rivers?” The Guardian. 11 February 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/live/2014/aug/27/do-dams-destroy-rivers .

34. Peter Bosshard. “Large Dams Are Uneconomic, Scientific Study Finds”. International Rivers. 3 May 2014. https://www.internationalrivers.org/news/large-dams-are-uneconomic-scientific-study-finds/ .

35. The Water Education Foundation does a good round-up of Tribal water issues on this site — https://www.watereducation.org/topic-tribal-water-issues . The information is variously sourced and up-to-date.

36. Anne Minard. “Dams Cutting Off 400 Million People From Food and Income”. National Geographic. 4 June 2010. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/100604-dams-economic-impact .

37. Eric Roston. “The Massive Cost of Not Adapting to Climate Change”. Bloomberg. 9 September 2019. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-09-09/the-massive-cost-of-not-adapting-to-climate-change .

38. Starre Vartan. “The Cost of Tackling Climate Change Is Less Than the Cost of Doing Nothing”. Treehugger. 21 April 2020. https://www.treehugger.com/tackling-climate-change-will-help-economy-when-we-need-it-most-4865281 .

39. Andrew Hoffman. “Rising Insurance Costs May Convince People That Climate Change Risks Are Real”. Huffpost. 1 November 2018. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/insurance-costs-climate-change_b_5bd0a8d0e4b04d1f9a5582d9 .

40. Sébastien Roblin. “The U.S. military is terrified of climate change. It’s done more damage than Iranian missiles.” NBC News. 20 September 2020. https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/u-s-military-terrified-climate-change-it-s-done-more-ncna1240484 .

41. Damian Carrington. “Climate emissions shrinking the stratosphere, scientists reveal”. The Guardian. 12 May 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/12/emissions-shrinking-the-stratosphere-scientists-find .

42. Damian Carrington. “Climate crisis has shifted the Earth’s axis, study shows”. The Guardian. 23 April 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/23/climate-crisis-has-shifted-the-earths-axis-study-shows .

43. Richard Procter. “San Francisco Knows How to Stop Global Warming — Will It?” SF Weekly. 11 September 2019. https://www.sfweekly.com/news/san-francisco-climate-change-emissions/ .

44. Harper’s Index. March 2021. https://harpers.org/archive/2021/03/ .

45. Harper’s Index. March 2021. https://harpers.org/archive/2021/03/ .

46. Dana Nuccitelli. “New report finds costs of climate change impacts often underestimated”. Yale Climate Connections. 18 November 2019. https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2019/11/new-report-finds-costs-of-climate-change-impacts-often-underestimated/ .

47. Rebecca Hersher and Nathan Rott. “What Are The Costs Of Climate Change?” NPR. 16 September 2020. https://www.npr.org/2020/09/16/913693655/what-are-the-costs-of-climate-change.

48. Samantha Fields. “Insurance increasingly unaffordable as climate change brings more disasters”. Marketplace. 31 August 2020. https://www.marketplace.org/2020/08/31/insurance-increasingly-unaffordable-as-climate-change-brings-more-disasters/ .

49. Matt McGrath. “Climate change: 12 years to save the planet? Make that 18 months”. BBC News. 24 July 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48964736 .

50. Heather Smith. “Climate Change: Even Worse Than We Thought”. Sierra. 8 October 2018. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/climate-change-even-worse-we-thought-ipcc-report .

51. Michael Grose and Julie Arblaster. “Just how hot will it get this century? It’s worse than we thought”. Phys Org. 18 May 2020. https://phys.org/news/2020-05-hot-century-worse-thought.html .

52. Amelia Urry. “The scientist who first warned of climate change says it’s much worse than we thought”. Grist. 22 March 2016. https://grist.org/science/the-scientist-who-first-warned-of-climate-change-says-its-much-worse-than-we-thought/ .

53. Rafi Letzter. “Today’s Climate Change Is Worse Than Anything Earth Has Experienced in the Past 2,000 Years”. Live Science. 25 July 2019. https://www.livescience.com/66027-climate-change-different.html .

54. John D. Sutter. “Vanishing”. CNN. Accessed 30 June 2020. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2016/12/specials/vanishing/ .

55. Peter Castagno. “Biodiversity Loss Worst in Human History — 1 Million Animal Species Risk Extinction”. Citizen Truth. 6 May 2019. https://citizentruth.org/biodiversity-loss-worst-in-human-history-1-million-animal-species-risk-extinction/ .

56. Kristen Callihan. “Earth’s Currently Ongoing Sixth Mass Extinction Is Worse Than We Thought”. OutwardOn. 7 August 2017. https://www.outwardon.com/article/earths-currently-ongoing-sixth-mass-extinction-event-is-worse-than-we-thought/ .

57. Lauren Frayer. “Scores Are Feared Dead In India After Himalayan Glacier Breaks Away”. NPR. 7 February 2021. https://www.npr.org/2021/02/07/965046888/scores-are-feared-dead-in-india-after-himalayan-glacier-breaks-away . It’s now looking like it was a landslide which makes the situation worse.

[END]
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