Hey, everyone. For the last 8 years, we have had very dry years in 7 of the 8. I believe that this is a part of global warming. I think that the future holds some troubling times in a lot of areas but I'd like to talk about water. My creek has been dried up for months. Species of trees are dying around me. An entire temperate zone has shifted north. I believe that there is going to be a shift in population to areas that are served by major rivers. Rivers that have never run dry. I believe that land values in those areas will go up and land values in areas without major rivers will decrease drastically. When I speak of areas with major rivers, I mean areas where you can get water piped to your home from a public system that takes their source water from a major river.
Wells in our area are going bad at a record pace. Some of this is from dry seasons and some is from pollution and overuse. I hope to goodness that the oil companies don't buy into water systems or we may be paying $100 for a drum of water. We know what sort of conscience the oil barons have.
There are a few more communities every year who start to recycle their sewage water into drinking water. I find this pretty disgusting. My advice would be; be very cautious when selecting the area where you take a job and work. The area where you choose to raise your family and buy a home.
Many farmers in the South are forced to depend on city water systems for irrigation because Mother Nature just cannot be depended upon for even a small amount of rain these days.This is overtaxing public water systems to the point where farmers and citizens are at odds over water. Do the crops get watered or do the kids get their shower? Must we wait until the wee hours of the night to make our tea because agriculture is dumping the water on the ground? I'm glad that I don't have to deal with the fussing.
New water treatment plants will be built at a record pace in the areas mentioned. This is going to cost millions of dollars per plant. As hurricanes worsen, people flee the coastal areas to take up residence in these same areas along major rivers. More crowding and more water needs and more plants to be built.
In less fortunate areas, there will be places where watering lawns will be a thing of the past. Washing cars will be a rarity. Industry will suffer because, let's face it, they won't even build plants in areas without a plentiful and pure water supply. Then you begin to see a loss of jobs to areas that have public water systems supplied by major rivers. (What few jobs that haven't already been sent to Mexico, that is. Did that free trade stuff take a few million jobs from America or what?) The newly unemployed are without a job and stuck with homes that cannot sell due to the aforementioned difficulties in that area. Then you have foreclosures and bankruptcy and more drain on government help programs.
Then one day the world leaders sit down and talk it out.
"It appears that global warming and its consequences are real and must be dealt with in a severe way."
"What do you propose to do? Can't we colonize a new world? After all, we only have to transport the elite people like ourselves and a few worker drones to serve us. The rest can stay and die."
" True, but we have not found a suitable world just yet. Let's decrease the population of the world by 75%. That should help matters."
" How do you propose to do that?"
" A good war should do it."
So the war starts and buttons are pushed. It goes too far and 90% of the population is gone, cities destroyed. Only a few little towns even have electricity, let alone water. In one such town, a man rules like a despot. He controls the water and life itself. He takes the food he wants, the women he wants and builds his own army. The water is more precious than gold, more precious than oil had once been. From being a mere mayor, this man has become a dictator. He has become the Water Lord.
Sorry, I just morphed into fiction mode there at the end. I'll let you decide where I changed from truth to fiction. This is an idea for a novel which I have played around with for several months. Hope the semi-serious prelude didn't depress you.
From a very dry, wilted, droopy green retreat, I'm CE Wills.
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