This is in an area of the US that is very arid. Agriculture depends heavily on irrigation. The headgates have had to been shut in order to not contaminate the fields. Farmers have been forced to pray for rainfall. Rangers have been advised to keep livestock away from the river.
Of course river systems eventually flow into other rivers and then empty into the oceans and this is no exception. Eventually the contamination will spread into the beleaguered Colorado River. The EPA has been cleaning up numerous abandoned mine sites in the area that have been leaking toxic runoff into local waterways. The Gold King Mine is currently leaking about 550 gallons per minute into the environment, down from over 700 gal/min on Friday. Social media has a lot to say about the incident. Many are angry and refuse to call it an accident but rather gross mismanagement. Whatever it is eventually called, it will be the people along the river system who will be the ones to pay for the contamination. Sources: Canoe.com Washington Post Durango Herald
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It’s not just trees that burn when the forest burns. Animals that cannot escape die an agonizing death. July sees many of the wild young venturing out with their mothers. They simply cannot move as quickly as the adults and many are lost. Birds that haven’t fledged are lost to fire and those small mammals that dwell in trees or the ground are doomed as well.
People have not been caught in the fire yet this summer, but fatalities among the fire fighters have occurred. Property damage is massive as the fires encroach on settled areas. In BC a particularly destructive fire is burning in the Cariboo at Puntzi Lake. It has destroyed a resort and numerous homes and outbuildings. It’s growth has been exponential since being reported Wednesday at 5 square kilometres. By Friday it had doubled and by Saturday afternoon it was 70 kilometres square and zero percent contained. For the past week people in the Metro Vancouver area and Vancouver Island have been coping with smoky air from the wild fires. The very young and those with breathing difficulties have been advised to stay indoors with windows and doors shut. The cost to all the taxpayers in the province is high. In 2014 the people of BC paid $297.9 million to fight the fires. You might say that the fires are natural(from lightning strikes) and we should expect them every year, but there are indications that the fire situation is getting worse across the province. In 2004, according to provincial statistics, the average fire was 58 hectares. In 2014 the average fire had grown to 248.8 hectares. Is this due to climate change? Is it simply an anomaly? Or this the new normal? Related from June 2015 - Drought on Vancouver Island ups fire risk
NASA has satellites that can monitor large fires on targeted areas and also compile world maps showing major fires burning around the world. The rapid decomposition of wood by burning releases tonnes of carbon into the world’s atmosphere and contributes to the ever increasing load it carries.
Of course in a forest fire it’s not just the trees that are destroyed. Precious habitat disappears, animals are killed and endangered plants and animals may be extirpated from an area. When the vegetation cover is destroyed it leaves the ground itself subject to quick erosion from storms. Sources: Discover Magazine NBC Cal Fire NASA
There are several factors that are increasing the pressure and drawdown of these fossil reserves. Climate change which is expected to change rainfall patterns and increase evaporation will increase pressure to source groundwater. Already the drought in California is forcing more dependence on groundwater with the result that the levels are dropping quite rapidly. Some of the drawdowns in other areas have been quite spectacular. The High Plains Aquifer in Texas has dropped 50m since being accessed in the 1940s. The Nubian aquifer in N. Africa has dropped 60m since records were kept.
Not only climate change affects our exploitation of groundwater. Agricultural practises, industries, mining including fracking all take their toll. The exponential increase in the human population this last century has put pressure on supplies. There are stopgap measures to combat a temporary drought, but history is full of accounts of civilizations that have disappeared along with their water sources. Currently it is some of the world’s poorest people who depend most heavily on ground water and are drawing down their resources most rapidly. The Arabian Aquifer which serves 60 million people is listed as the most stressed, followed by the Indus Basin in northern India and Pakistan and the Murzuk-Djado Basin in Libya and Niger. People cannot survive without adequate water. Related reading at NEWTEK: California faces emergency drought regulations Taiwan coping with severe drought History making mandatory water restrictions California Drought on Vancouver Island ups fire risk Sources: RT Online Library The company spokesperson has stated that that pipe was inspected May 5th and passed.
California has mined its petroleum for decades, but has changed policy since a spill in 1969. Offshore drilling is now banned, but the state only has jurisdiction for the first three miles of coastal waters. Oil rigs are located outside their jurisdiction. This latest spill will serve to increase opposition to Royal Dutch Shell’s bid to drill in the Arctic. Those opposing more petroleum pipelines being built will also stiffen their resolve to oppose them. Canadians are facing proposals to add more pipeline capacity as well as new pipelines in order to ship bitumen to overseas markets. Some environmentalists are taking up the mantra – A solar spill is described as a very nice day. Sources: Think Progress CBC News |
Barbara McPherson
Blogger, gardener, farmer. Working toward food security and a 30 foot
diet. Addicted to reading. Love this planet, especially my little corner
on Vancouver Island, Canada Archives
October 2016
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