(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Megadrought 101 -- Strike for the Planet week 157 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-12-14 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 157 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 Doing your research work for you, since 2019 This week’s topic is Megadrought 101 What exactly is a megadrought? According to The New York Times, it is “a period of extreme dryness that lasts for decades.” In the last 1200 years, we’ve had multiple megadroughts in the west: in the 800s, the mid-1100s, the 1200s, and the late 1500s. We are in the beginning of another megadrought now 2000 to 2022 was the driest 22 year period in the last 1200 years. According to the above definition, we are in a megadrought. Why is a megadrought a problem? Megadroughts amp up extinctions, destroy empires, lead to mass migration, cause famine, and bring about the fall of civilizations. We are not ready for this. We are still pretending that things are “business per normal,” and that all will be well with little tweaks to our current system. This is a lie and a path to ruin. What will a megadrought do to us? Reservoirs across the west are already falling below energy production levels. Aquifers are being unsustainably pumped and many are drying out. When aquifers are pumped dry, the ground subsides and collapses. Lack of water from rain or irrigation means topsoil dries and blows away, leaving behind dirt with little biological activity, making plant life impossible. Dehydration stress makes plants more susceptible to disease, parasites, and fire. Fewer plants and less variety of plants mean fewer animals and less variety of animals. In summary, all that we depend on for life is changing, and we are pretending everything’s fine. What does San Francisco need to do to survive? Blackwater recycling. Bioswales. A native urban forest. Restoring SF’s rivers and tidal wetlands. Composting toilets. Local victory gardens. Local green energy production. Water conservation. Elimination of leaks in pipes. Rain gardens. Bomb cyclone water storage. Permeable surfaces. You know, doing the infrastructure work needed to give SF a chance of surviving. Otherwise, you better be packing for life as a refugee. J.R. Gill, USGS photo of White House Ruins, Canyon De Chelly National Monument. Civilizations are destroyed by megadroughts. US Forest Service image of California’s dying forests. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/14/2210778/-Megadrought-101-Strike-for-the-Planet-week-157?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/