The Texas Drought

[kentauros]

I know many if not most of y'all are aware of the major drought going on over the whole state. There's a rather large thread in GD about it as well as all the threads going in the Texas forum. I'm continuing to read up on the weather, watching the data, satellite images and so forth. Even there, no one seems to know just when it will end. "Predictions" range from sometime next month, to over a year from now. And I don't know who to believe any more.

So, I'm curious if anyone here has gotten a sense on it? All we really need right now is at least a break on the heat. A tropical storm would do wonders, but the big problem with a high-pressure zone is that they tend to push low-pressure systems away ;)

I'm just curious if anyone has sensed, or dreamed, or had a vision on that which even our sciences can't 'see'. It's not as bad here in Houston as it is in the rest of the state, but it's certainly breaking all of our hearts to witness this event over our fair state.

[Avalux]

1. I have the feeling it will not end anytime soon...

I live in San Antonio and it breaks by heart as well; disturbing to see TREES turning yellow and dying because of the drought and high temps. The forecast just seems to keep getting hotter with that high pressure dome staying in place for quite awhile.

I am expecting the heat to continue into October and maybe after that, we'll get some rain, but not enough to make up the deficit.

[OneGrassRoot]

2. No insight at all, but I feel for everyone impacted by weather in this way....

so very much.

People, wildlife, plant life...all life. It's one of the few aspects of our existence that make me feel truly helpless.

I heard recently that Houston was talking about building a dome of sorts, to be able to control the environment and be safer from natural disasters?

I think the Biodome creator consulted?

Not sure where I heard that....have you heard anything about that?

[kentauros]

3. I haven't heard anything about that.

Perhaps you heard "high-pressure dome" and thought of a physical structure, when it's a meteorology term. That is, the "dome" is over the whole state and then some and is simply a high pressure area in the atmosphere.

Building a physical structure over the city would likely bankrupt at least the state, were it possible. Houston is about the same size as the county in which is resides, Harris, which, in turn, is bigger than the entire state of Rhode Island. Houston is also a city of trees and I'd think even a transparent dome would do more harm to them than the general environment. People are starting to realize that their lawns can be easily replaced while that's not the case with their trees.

Now, if we had an extensive cavern system in which to retreat, that might work for large populations like ours :)

[OneGrassRoot]

4. lol....no, it wasn't a high-pressure dome. Aha, I found it!

;)

Mark said he saw something about it on TV, and I just found this:

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/mega-engineering/explore/houston-dome.html

I also stumbled upon this site in the search and thought it may be of interest, if you aren't already familiar with it:

http://houston.culturemap.com/series/the-future-of-houston/?page=2


:hug:

[kentauros]

6. Thanks for the links.

I'll have to look at them all tomorrow evening. Just didn't have much time today. I think because we were all excited about getting some rain, however little fell after all that show. Must have been a Republican storm. All hat and no cattle! :P

One thing that comes to me about the future, though, is that while the cities will continue to be populated, I think that will wane. With the kind of communication networks we would expect for 30-40 years from now, I get the feeling more will live away from the larger cities and form small, tightly-knit communities, while still being "connected" to the whole planet. There just isn't much need to drive to an office job even today, and I can't really picture people continuing to do that a few decades from now. I don't know what would become of most cities by then other than as entertainment centers :)

[Why Syzygy]

5. Fellow Texan here

I'll do some musing on when/if the drought will end. Up to this point I've just been thinking that our land is going
through a modification to become more desert-like. It's entirely possible. Did you see the info about scientist discovering
that the radioactive decay rate depends on the strength of the solar activity? I can find it if you want. Logic informs me
that with as much radioactivity being release as we have now, the Sun has a job to do and will do it! Priority One (for the Sun)
is to protect the natural environment. We need to stop using all kinds of nuclear reactions.

[kentauros]

7. I hand't read anything about radioactivity decay rate info.

Go ahead and post it if you like. I'll have a look tomorrow :)

Also, post your musings whenever you want. I acknowledge I'm asking a likely tall order here, so everyone take your time on this one :)

[Why Syzygy]

8. Here's the study

http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/august/sun-082310.html

But there's one rather large question left unanswered. No one knows how neutrinos could interact with radioactive materials to change their rate of decay.

"It doesn't make sense according to conventional ideas," Fischbach said. Jenkins whimsically added, "What we're suggesting is that something that doesn't really interact with anything is changing something that can't be changed."

"It's an effect that no one yet understands," agreed Sturrock. "Theorists are starting to say, 'What's going on?' But that's what the evidence points to. It's a challenge for the physicists and a challenge for the solar people too."

* Unfortunately, they probably won't start using this information to our benefit until they know WHY; which is completely irrelevant to usage.

[eilen]

9. I feel the land and water table in Texas cannot sustain the population

that has congregated there. While there may be some areas that "come back" there will be others that won't.

There needs greater conservation efforts, planned permaculture, more environmental awareness. That may not be possible in its current political environment.

The continuing pollution in the gulf region and with the fracking inland, will continue to deteriorate gains.

Eventually, people will leave the state (those who can and those with no other choice).