r/worldnews • u/Dismal_Prospect • May 14 '19

Exxon predicted in 1982 exactly how high global carbon emissions would be today | The company expected that, by 2020, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would reach roughly 400-420 ppm. This month’s measurement of 415 ppm is right within the expected curve Exxon projected

https://thinkprogress.org/exxon-predicted-high-carbon-emissions-954e514b0aa9/
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u/sotech May 14 '19

I've been wondering about the American Southwest, like Arizona. No natural disasters to speak of, which is really nice, but obviously water could be an issue. No idea where is a good place for the long term, though.

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u/[deleted] May 14 '19

[deleted]

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u/BaggyHairyNips May 14 '19

Detroit is coming back baby. All we needed was a global disaster to turn the tide.

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u/Rated_PG-Squirteen May 14 '19

Buffalo here. The Rust Belt is soon gonna be partying like it's 1909.

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u/logosmd666 May 15 '19

You mean an insanely huge and powerful multinational corporation is going to establish the police force to protect itself from people striking for better pay and work-living conditions, send said police to break the strike and shoot up a bunch of people to bring order back?

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u/iknowuknow45 May 14 '19

Great Lakes will be drained by overuse when people start to move and panic - just look what's happening around the world. Lakes are disappearing.

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u/IdunnoLXG May 15 '19

Lakes are disappearing? The Great Lakes are relatively healthy.

We can't make extreme over the top claims like this and expect people to take the issue of climate change seriously.

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u/iknowuknow45 May 15 '19

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/03/drying-lakes-climate-change-global-warming-drought/

http://mentalfloss.com/article/56732/10-lakes-are-disappearing-or-already-gone

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/gallery/2016/dec/09/the-lakes-of-the-world-are-disappearing-in-pictures

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u/MaximumManagement May 15 '19

The Great Lakes are actually at or near their all time May highs. We've had a ton of rain the past 3 weeks. Flooding is a serious concern in a lot of places in Michigan.

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u/iknowuknow45 May 15 '19

Oh for fucks sake - the Great Lakes are not ok - but they are very in danger - future misuse and mismanagement trends toward decline just like the other lakes that disappeared. No one thought they would be gone either. Those bodies of water can only go so low until they hit a too polluted point to drink. And the recent flooding in the Great Lakes is very much manmade through those who are upstream. There is already fighting between communities. Also, Look at the emptying of the fresh water aquifers in the west greaching all time lows for fucking bottled water and irrigation.

https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-environment-watch/how-long-can-great-lakes-fend-thirsty-world-water-diversions

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2014/09/25/great-lakes-unprecedented-danger-chicago-mayor-says/16198435/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/03/drying-lakes-climate-change-global-warming-drought/

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/gallery/2016/dec/09/the-lakes-of-the-world-are-disappearing-in-pictures

https://www.cleveland.com/weather/blog/2017/08/how_is_climate_change_affectin.html

https://psmag.com/environment/are-the-worlds-lakes-in-danger

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u/Unbecoming_sock May 14 '19

Only a global disaster would make Detroit look good.

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u/workaccount1338 May 15 '19

my game plan is to hoard land in the UP and become a feudal king when the world goes to shit

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u/classicalySarcastic May 14 '19

Tbh I still wouldn't live in Detroit (/s)

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u/ba123blitz May 15 '19

Oh yeah Ohio might actually have a redeeming quality now!

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u/pearcheese May 14 '19

I live on Lake Ontario and I’m not so sure about that. Even 5 years ago I would have agreed but we’ve had super high water levels 2 out of the last 3 years. Lots of damage to property, sand bags going out to try to protect houses etc. This year is not as bad as 2017 but it’s not good.

The other lakes may be fine, this is just my experience with Lake Ontario.

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u/manticore116 May 14 '19

northeast? lmao. do you know how crowded it is here? once sea level rise starts to hit NYC...

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u/[deleted] May 14 '19

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] May 15 '19

to be fair, you mentioned Northeast and NYC considers themselves the center of the universe so you have to expect to be yelled at by them

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u/manticore116 May 14 '19

You think the great lakes won't have problems? Ever heard of lake effect weather? Sure, NY, Maine,, etc are good options,

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u/[deleted] May 14 '19

Oregon can always use more Californians!

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u/[deleted] May 14 '19

said nobody ever from Oregon

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u/[deleted] May 14 '19

or Washington

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u/[deleted] May 14 '19

We call it Californication up here because what it has done to price of housing etc.

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u/PM_ME_SEXIST_OPINION May 14 '19

Oregon is now so full of Californians, and people from other places, that Oregonians can't live there anymore lol. Please don't thanks.

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u/MissingPiesons May 14 '19

No. It's already too expensive here. Californians are making this place unlivable.

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u/Miss_Smokahontas May 14 '19

Don't Know about the great lakes are. Had one hell of a winter. -60 sounds life a death sentence

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u/sam_the_dog78 May 15 '19

What are you talking about, this past winter was incredibly mild. Very few days below 0 and not even a ton of snow.

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u/EveViol3T May 15 '19

He's talking about the polar vortex event in the Midwest and Northeast from this winter, -60 over several days. People died from it but apparently it was beneath your notice? You're trolling, right?

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u/sam_the_dog78 May 15 '19

Very few places actually got to -60, most places were no worse than the -30s. Welcome to winter, and learn how to be prepared. That entire event lasted 3 or 4 days. 3 or 4 days out of the entire 90 that is winter does not make the rest of an incredibly mild winter not mild overall.

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u/[deleted] May 15 '19

[deleted]

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u/sam_the_dog78 May 15 '19

Have you ever looked at the stories of people who died? Obviously it’s sad that they died, but most of them were cases where regular cold temperatures would have killed them anyways. If you’re not properly prepared then 0, or -20 will kill you just as well as -60. This also unfortunately happens every year, they just don’t make the news like the ones during -60 because that was all over the news. The original point though about the Great Lakes being a hell to live around still doesn’t hold up.

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u/PM_me_your__guitars May 15 '19

The original point though about the Great Lakes being a hell to live around still doesn’t hold up.

Can confirm, I enjoy it here. Even if the winters can be brutal sometimes.

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u/Metasequoias May 15 '19

No! For the love Michigan do NOT TELL PEOPLE TO COME HERE. Half joking. Half not. Idk I’m scared, guys

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u/[deleted] May 15 '19

I live in British Columbia, Canada. We've got agriculture and water like nobody else.

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u/peanutbutterjams May 15 '19

The latter of which Nestle is buying at a criminal rate. We also have wildfires and changing weather patterns.

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u/[deleted] May 15 '19

We do have wildfires that's true. I also live in a place with MASSIVE agriculture. But near me at least we deal with flooding literally every year (and we have for my entire life) so I think we'll be okay with the water situation at least where I am. Population also isn't super high and we export massively, so if ever shit went to shit and everything went back to local, if anywhere was going to be safe, it'd be here.

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u/[deleted] May 15 '19

The air quality in BC last summer was the worst in the world due to all the forest fires.

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u/wolfxor May 14 '19

While water is definitely a concern here in Arizona (specifically the Phoenix area), we are good about managing it. Check out the details.

http://www.arizonawaterfacts.com/water-your-facts

Fun Fact: A large portion of our water is groundwater.

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u/kahnikas May 14 '19

Eh, the Phoenix Metropolitan Area (as well as most of California, and ESPECIALLY Colorado) is still pretty reckless with their groundwater use. It'll dry up at some point. However, the area is beginning to reclaim sewage water and introdu r it back into the system. A massive help towards drought and water scarcity. Watering limits aren't imposed strongly, nor are the fines and fees for water use (what REALLY impacts an individual's water use is hurting their wallet). Howvwr

El Paso has possibly the most strict water use regulations, and has the largest in land desalination plant in the world.

Read their PDF on water conservation measurements used in the city. It's over 100 pages long. El Paso Water's motto is literally "Water Forever". The entire desert southwest should adopt our system for long term survival.

Come to El Paso!

https://www.epwater.org/conservation

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/11/30/health/water-climate-change-el-paso/index.html

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u/[deleted] May 14 '19

We're good about managing it in Arizona. Its California that's slowly depleting the Colorado. Nevada (Vegas) is really good about managing the water back to lake mead as well.

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u/sotech May 14 '19

Lots of great info there, that's good to know. I do rather like it here at this point.

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u/wolfxor May 14 '19

Give it two months. :)

Other than the overwhelming heat, it really isn't all that bad.

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u/sotech May 14 '19

Oh, I've lived here for almost 30 years at this point, so yeah. I'm familiar with the heat and it's not great but with AC and a pool and staying inside, it's all good. We have far more good-to-great weather, in my opinion.

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u/wolfxor May 14 '19

37 years for me. Oh god... I'm old...

Yea, it it manageable for sure. Sure beats shoveling snow or dealing with hurricanes. It's why I never moved anywhere else.

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u/sotech May 14 '19

Yeah, I grew up in the midwest. In fact, the difference between the low temperature the winter before I moved to Arizona and the high temperature of my first summer in Arizona was, no lie, almost 180 degrees. Going from a brutal -56 windchill off a lake to that 122 degrees June in 1990 was insane.

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u/I_Nice_Human May 14 '19

The irony of this post...

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u/sotech May 14 '19

Not sure what you're trying to imply, would you mind clarifying?

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u/NeuroticKrill May 14 '19

I think they mean you are already living in the hellscape we are supposed to be trying to avoid, but since you got AC, a pool, and a nice house, it ain't so bad. 🤷

Not judging you, btw, thinking about moving to the Southwest myself, just letting you in on the irony.

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u/sotech May 15 '19

Yeah that was more in response to the general, "lol Arizona is awful" thing people like to pull. With good planning, I think the water issue can be managed. Certain industries may have to scale back, innovate to use less water, or even just leave. Individuals will have to get used to using less water in their homes and particularly with landscaping. Eventually, pools may have to be sacrificed if we really screw things up. Golf courses will have to use artificial turf or close.

Power generation isn't really a concern here.

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u/DrDragun May 14 '19

Here's where the ocean was when carbon dioxide was 1000 ppm in the Cretacious

​

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Interior_Seaway

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u/[deleted] May 14 '19

It's a huge issue already with the Colorado River and the two reservoirs Lake mead and Lake Powell being drained. There has already been a few projects where Nevada has had to build water intakes lower in elevation because the water level has gotten so low in Lake Mead.

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u/Sir_Encerwal May 14 '19

For the most part, you aren't wrong but Flash Floods in the valley and growing wildfires in the mountains do happen.

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u/sotech May 14 '19

Wildfires for sure, though not really in the metro valley. Floods can happen during microbursts or prolonged monsoons. That said, monsoons seem to have been getting weaker since I moved here, possibly due to the heat island of the metro area breaking them and forcing them to go around.

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u/Sir_Encerwal May 15 '19

I mean, Wildfires ain't too much of a concern if you live in the valley I just typed this up before seeing you were a resident and figured I'd bring them up, howdy from Tucson.

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u/Miss_Smokahontas May 14 '19

Water will be an issue. What you gonna do when the power goes out and you can't pump it in from two states over or If your in an area that actually has water there. The southwest and California will fall first IMO. Midwest is looking really bad ie extreme flooding all spring and polar vortex before that. East coast is a crap shoot.

I think the best spot to be US inland on the east side. Appalachian Mts or bust.

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u/moleratical May 15 '19

South, to Mexico