Call Things by Their Real Name

 

I occurred to us the other day that climate deniers like to call what we have experienced in the last 20 years as a’ drought’.  It is not a drought.  Droughts end.  This climate won’t end for at least 200 years, even if we address right away.  The massive heat sink of the oceans has taken 100 years to heat up and will take at least that long to cool down.  The last best chance we had to fix this ‘drought’ was with AL Gore, but he turned that election over to Bush/Cheney, Haliburton and the oil companies. 

Call things by their real name, this is Climate Change, Chaos, Calamity, Catastrophe.  Drought is natural weather fluctuations, our climate is changing, accelerating, a rates that have not been seen for 4 billion of years.  It is the rate of change, or delta, that is unique and alarming.  Weather or drought is like velocity or momentum, that we don’t feel when we nap on a fast airplane.  M = (m x v).  Climate Change is like acceleration, like when we take off or land, that we feel and notice statistically and anecdotally.  (F = m x a). 

 

 

So it is with The Great Salt Lake that is drying up because of Climate Change and overallocation to agriculture in the upper Provo, Bear and Weber river basins.  The State could allocate more water to the lake under the Public Welfare clause in Water Rights, but the legislature removed that clause last year to avoid costly lawsuits and build more Data Centers.  They could also limit water use with priority date restrictions but that would be economic and political suicide.  The lake needs a lot of water and It will cost billions to pay the farmers not to flood irrigate a hundred dollars’ worth of hay at 8000 feet. 

So, they pay lip service to it and craft nice conservation adds to get us to take short showers but, in the end, we are hosed.  They don’t want to get too involved with a sinking ship.  They would rather let it sink and then blame Joe Biden.  But the current pedophile President says he wants to save the lake with Federal dollars and our Governor said if he did, he could call the lake anything he wants.  So, we will get The Great Trump Lake and become Trump Lake City.  Airport code TLC.  Oh, the horror.  It will become a benefit - cost comparison between cheap agriculture and toxic dust storms in Temple Square and he city, lowering Church attendance and property values.  In the end it is always about money

Likewise, Lake Powell Regulating Reservoir is draining fast because of Climate Change and too much allocation to low dollar agriculture.    By next spring, given an average winter, the level will be too low to make power and provide the proper allocations to the downstream states.  They will play with water from Flaming Gorge and to Lake Mead, but it will happen sooner or later.   So, it will become a very expensive flood control and sediment storage structure.  At least we will be able to canoe Glen Canyon again and see the surviving Native ruins.  So, what shall we call it then?   Lake Foul?  Lake Mead-2 – the color of Scottish ale.  Gone Canyon.  Wah Weep, there is nothing we can do about it. 

 

Lastly, as temperatures increase, Park City will become the last local cool respite to chill out.  Even with our 5–10-degree temperature increase in the last 50 years and there is no skiing anymore, if it is 120 in AZ and 110 in SLC and only 90 in PC people will come.  It will be worth migrating up the hill in the summertime so this should remain a popular place and continue to grow.  The new billion-dollar developments don’t mention skiing so much anymore, but stress the other recreational opportunities at cooler, higher elevations where you don’t need AC or a swimming pool.  Park City will become more popular and oversaturated with no more namesake mountain meadows or parks, or traffic with no place to park.  It will become No Park City.  Call things by their real name.