US feels the heat

[Jovial Monk]

Climate Change Batters the West Before Summer Even Begins

Global warming has been fueling disasters in the region for years. Now, an early heat wave and severe drought are threatening lives and leaving water in perilously short supply.

A heat dome is baking Arizona and Nevada, where temperatures have soared past 115 degrees this week and doctors are warning that people can get third-degree burns from the sizzling asphalt.

At Lake Mead, which supplies water for 25 million people in three southwestern states and Mexico, water levels have plunged to their lowest point since the reservoir was filled in the 1930s. In California, farmers are abandoning their thirstiest crops to save others, and communities are debating whether to ration tap water.

In Texas, electricity grids are under strain as residents crank their air-conditioners, with utilities begging customers to turn off appliances to help avert blackouts. In Arizona, Montana and Utah, wildfires are blazing.

And it’s not even summer yet.

“We’re still a long way out from the peak of the wildfire season and the peak of the dry season,” said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Things are likely to get worse before they get better.” ...

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/17/clim ... coast.html

Like Goyders Line in SA moving south in the US the line dividing the drier, hotter west from the cooler, wetter east is moving eastward.

[Texan]

Weather isn't climate change and climate change doesn't have to be man made. Texas has had an unusually cool and wet Spring. It's getting hot now, but that's to be expected as Summer approaches in Texas. ERCOT's mismanagement of our electricity is just that and not a result of climate change. I can't speak for the other states mentioned . I haven't been there in years.

[Jovial Monk]

No, weather is not climate change. The article I cited does not state that it is.

Texas should have joined a national grid, that would have kept power going this last winter. The power generators/regulators could have done/enforced a lot more effort to weather proof generators and grid. Last winter was not that exceptional, seems Texas is hit with that sort of weather about once a decade.

[Texan]

Sometimes being self sufficient is worth the occasional growing pains. It has served us well in the past. We could be like California and depend on other states to provide 1/3rd of our electricity while claiming to be for the environment, but that's not how Texas operates. I'd rather ERCOT learn from their mistakes and make the Texas grid more reliable and less vulnerable to an attack on the national grid. We have often had to fire up the old smog belching coal generators because California begged us for electricity. We passed the EPA fines on to them while we were at it. It's not like we isolate ourselves and thumb our nose at the rest of the US.

[Jovial Monk]

But would have been nice to be able to source power from out of Texas tho.

Think CA will be feeling water shortages too. Better get some desal plants built.

[Texan]

But would have been nice to be able to source power from out of Texas tho.

Think CA will be feeling water shortages too. Better get some desal plants built.

Texas tried to get power from out of state, but the surrounding states were also dealing with the record cold snap at the time. ERCOT screwed up and the media piled on, but most people didn't have many problems. My power went out 3 times for an hour each time and we slept through 2 of those outages. I did talk to a few people who went for 3 days without electricity. Most were prepared with natural gas for emergency heat, wood burning stoves, and fireplaces. A few went to family member's homes or hotels, if they were able to drive on the ice. My neighborhood communicated and shared resources or carpooled to the store if somebody had 4wd. We did fine with front wheel drive. We left the 2wd pickups at home. My homegrown eggs were popular and the chickens never stopped producing.

[Neferti]

Is it dry or humid heat in your area, Texan?

[Jovial Monk]

Good old chooks! I had three and want even more once settled in my house. A lot of fun and home grown eggs are so much better and fresher than store bought.

I still remember cracking a fresh egg into an egg separator—bloody thing just sat there, the white so fresh and thick not going through the holes for it. Ended up separating the yolk by fishing it out with a spoon.

[Texan]

Is it dry or humid heat in your area, Texan?

It's still pretty humid. We have had a lot of rain up until about 4 days ago. The heat is starting to dry us out a little. It varies here, but we are by no means a desert area. I live in the area between West TX deserts and East TX pine forests. We typically get over a meter of rain per year. The Houston area is almost always humid because of the moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. West TX is usually dry. East TX gets a lot of rain and is covered by lakes and forest. I live about 40 km South of downtown Dallas.

[Jovial Monk]

West coast of Tassie gets like 1.5 metres of rain. Every other day, on average, has rain! Do not look for me on the west coast!