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<DIV>Not good news this morning.</DIV>
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<DIV>Bob Waldrop, OKC</DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=guestpostsandsubmissions@hotmail.com
href="mailto:guestpostsandsubmissions@hotmail.com">The Economic Collapse</A>
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<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, February 28, 2012 3:18 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=bwaldrop@cox.net
href="mailto:bwaldrop@cox.net">bwaldrop@cox.net</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> 20 Signs That Dust Bowl Conditions Will Soon Return To The
Heartland Of America</DIV></DIV></DIV>
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href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com">20 Signs That Dust Bowl
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<P style="MARGIN: 1em 0px 3px"><A
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href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/20-signs-that-dust-bowl-conditions-will-soon-return-to-the-heartland-of-america"
name=1>20 Signs That Dust Bowl Conditions Will Soon Return To The
Heartland Of America</A> </P>
<P
style="LINE-HEIGHT: 140%; MARGIN: 9px 0px 3px; FONT-FAMILY: georgia,helvetica,arial,sans-serif; COLOR: #555; FONT-SIZE: 13px"><SPAN>Posted:</SPAN>
27 Feb 2012 04:39 PM PST</P>
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<P><A
href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/20-signs-that-dust-bowl-conditions-will-soon-return-to-the-heartland-of-america/20-signs-that-dust-bowl-conditions-will-soon-return-to-the-heartland-of-america"
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class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-3446"
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alt=""
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width=250 height=210></A>For decades, the heartland of America has been
the breadbasket of the world. Unfortunately, those days will shortly
come to an end. The central United States is rapidly drying up and
dust bowl conditions will soon return. There are a couple of major
reasons for this. Number one, the Ogallala Aquifer is being depleted
at an astounding pace. The Ogallala Aquifer is one of the largest
bodies of fresh water in the entire world, and water from it currently
irrigates more than 15 million acres of crops. When that water is
gone we will be in a world of hurt. Secondly, drought conditions
have become the "new normal" in many areas of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and
other states in the middle part of the country. Scientists tell us
that the wet conditions that we enjoyed for several decades after World
War II were actually the exception to the rule and that most of time time
the interior west is incredibly dry. They also tell us that when
dust bowl conditions return to the area, they might stay with us a lot
longer than a decade like they did during the 1930s. Unfortunately,
without water you cannot grow food, and with global food supplies as tight
as they are right now we cannot afford to have a significant decrease in
agricultural production. But it is not just the central United
States that is experiencing the early stages of a major water
crisis. Already many other areas around the nation are rapidly
developing their own water problems. As supplies of fresh water get
tighter and tighter, some really tough decisions are going to have to be
made. Fresh water is absolutely essential to life, and it is going
to become increasingly precious in the years ahead.</P>
<P>Most Americans have never even heard of the Ogallala Aquifer, but the
truth is that it is one of the most important bodies of water on the
globe. It covers well over 100,000 square miles and it sits
underneath the states of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas,
Nebraska, Wyoming and South Dakota.</P>
<P>Water drawn from the Ogallala Aquifer is used to water more than 15
million acres of crops. Without this source of water, the United
States would not be the breadbasket of the world.</P>
<P>That is why what is happening right now is so alarming.</P>
<P>The following are 20 signs that dust bowl conditions will soon return
to the heartland of America....</P>
<P><STRONG>#1</STRONG> The Ogallala Aquifer is being drained at a rate of
approximately <A
href="http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/new_west_new_dust_bowl/C35/L35/">800
gallons</A> per minute.</P>
<P><STRONG>#2</STRONG> According to the U.S. Geological Survey, since 1940
"<A
href="http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/02/07/texas-water-district-acts-to-slow-depletion-of-the-ogallala-aquifer/">a
volume equivalent to two-thirds of the water in Lake Erie</A>" has been
permanently lost from the Ogallala Aquifer.</P>
<P><STRONG>#3</STRONG> Decades ago, the Ogallala Aquifer had an average
depth of approximately 240 feet, but today the average depth is <A
title="just 80 feet"
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1gsyhuHGgc&feature=channel_video_title"
target=_blank>just 80 feet</A>. In some areas of Texas, the water is
gone completely.</P>
<P><STRONG>#4</STRONG> Scientists are warning that nothing can be done to
stop the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer. The ominous words <A
href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/8359076/US-farmers-fear-the-return-of-the-Dust-Bowl.html">of
David Brauer</A> of the Ogallala Research Service should alarm us
all....</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><EM>"Our goal now is to engineer a soft landing. That's all we can
do."</EM></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG>#5</STRONG> According to a recent <A
href="http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2012/02/07/texas-water-district-acts-to-slow-depletion-of-the-ogallala-aquifer/">National
Geographic article</A>, the average depletion rate of the Ogallala Aquifer
is picking up speed....</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><EM>Even more worrisome, the draining of the High Plains water
account has picked up speed. The average annual depletion rate between
2000 and 2007 was more than twice that during the previous fifty years.
The depletion is most severe in the southern portion of the aquifer,
especially in Texas, where the water table beneath sizeable areas has
dropped 100-150 feet; in smaller pockets, it has dropped more than 150
feet.</EM></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG>#6</STRONG> According to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences,
the U.S. interior west is now the driest that it has been <A
title="in 500 years"
href="http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/interesting-water-facts/"
target=_blank>in 500 years</A>.</P>
<P><STRONG>#7</STRONG> It seems like the middle part of the United States
experiences a major drought almost every single year now. Last year,
"<A
href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/drought-of-2011-the-southern-united-states-is-desperate-for-rain-as-the-middle-part-of-the-country-continues-to-get-scorched/comment-page-1">the
drought of 2011</A>" virtually brought Texas agriculture to a
standstill. More than 80 percent of the state of Texas experienced
"exceptional drought" conditions at some point, and it was estimated that
about <A title="30 percent" href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/43725663"
target=_blank>30 percent</A> of the wheat fields in Texas were lost.
Agricultural losses from the drought were estimated to be <A
title="$3 billion" href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/43725663" target=_blank>$3
billion</A> in the state of Texas alone.</P>
<P><STRONG>#8</STRONG> Wildfires have burned millions of acres of
vegetation in the central part of the United States in recent years.
For example, wildfires burned an astounding <A title="3.6 million acres"
href="http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wildfires/story/2011-09-06/Texas-officials-1000-homes-burned-in-past-week/50273608/1"
target=_blank>3.6 million acres</A> in the state of Texas alone during
2011. This helps set the stage for huge dust storms in the
future.</P>
<P><STRONG>#9</STRONG> Texas is not the only state that has been
experiencing extremely dry conditions. Oklahoma only got about <A
title="28 percent" href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/43725663" target=_blank>30
percent</A> of the rainfall that it normally gets last summer.</P>
<P><STRONG>#10</STRONG> In some areas of the southwest United States we
are already seeing huge dust storms come rolling through major
cities. You can view video of a giant dust storm rolling through
Phoenix, Arizona <A
href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W4Cx44XKZ4&feature=player_embedded">right
here</A>.</P>
<P><STRONG>#11</STRONG> Unfortunately, scientists tell us that it would be
normal for dust bowl conditions to persist in parts of North America for
decades. The following is from an article <A
href="http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/North+America+could+with+decades+long+megadrought+scientist/6200846/story.html">in
the Vancouver Sun</A>....</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><EM>But University of Regina paleoclimatologist Jeannine-Marie St.
Jacques says that decade-long drought is nowhere near as bad as it can
get.</EM></P>
<P><EM>St. Jacques and her colleagues have been studying tree ring data
and, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science
conference in Vancouver over the weekend, she explained the reality of
droughts.</EM></P>
<P><EM>"What we're seeing in the climate records is these megadroughts,
and they don't last a decade—they last 20 years, 30 years, maybe 60
years, and they'll be semi-continental in expanse," she told the Regina
Leader-Post by phone from Vancouver.</EM></P>
<P><EM>"So it's like what we saw in the Dirty Thirties, but imagine the
Dirty Thirties going on for 30 years. That's what scares those of us who
are in the community studying this data pool."</EM></P></BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG>#12</STRONG> Experts tell us that U.S. water bills are likely
to soar in the coming years. It is being projected that repairing
and expanding our decaying drinking water infrastructure will cost more
than one trillion dollars over the next 25 years, and as a result our
water bills will likely <A
href="http://www.awwa.org/files/GovtPublicAffairs/GADocuments/BuriedNoLongerCompleteFinal.pdf">approximately
triple</A> over that time period.</P>
<P><STRONG>#13</STRONG> Right now, the United States uses approximately <A
title="148 trillion gallons"
href="http://www.naturalnews.com/022915.html#ixzz1WFMBO1Tm"
target=_blank>148 trillion gallons</A> of fresh water a year, and there is
no way that is sustainable in the long run.</P>
<P><STRONG>#14</STRONG> According to a U.S. government report, <A
title="36 U.S. states"
href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21494919/ns/us_news-environment/t/crisis-feared-us-water-supplies-dry/#.TnPct-yUrkw"
target=_blank>36 states</A> are already facing water shortages or will be
facing water shortages within the next few years.</P>
<P><STRONG>#15</STRONG> Lake Mead supplies about 85 percent of the water
to Las Vegas, and since 1998 the level of water in Lake Mead <A
title="has plunged by more than 50 percent"
href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/08/eveningnews/main6073416.shtml?tag=contentBody;featuredPost-PE"
target=_blank>has dropped by about 5.6 trillion gallons.</A></P>
<P><STRONG>#16</STRONG> A federal judge has ruled that the state of
Georgia <A title="has few legal rights to Lake Lanier"
href="http://naturalresourcereport.com/2010/01/water-war-does-not-bode-well-for-agriculture/"
target=_blank>has very few legal rights to Lake Lanier</A>, and since Lake
Lanier is the main water source for the city of Atlanta that presents
quite a problem.</P>
<P><STRONG>#17</STRONG> It has been estimated that the state of California
only has <A title="a 20 year supply"
href="http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/interesting-water-facts/"
target=_blank>a 20 year supply</A> of fresh water left.</P>
<P><STRONG>#18</STRONG> It has been estimated that the state of New Mexico
only has <A title="a 10 year supply"
href="http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/interesting-water-facts/"
target=_blank>a 10 year supply</A> of fresh water left.</P>
<P><STRONG>#19</STRONG> Approximately <A title="40 percent"
href="http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/interesting-water-facts/"
target=_blank>40 percent</A> of all rivers in the United States and
approximately <A title="46 percent"
href="http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/interesting-water-facts/"
target=_blank>46 percent</A> of all lakes in the United States have become
so polluted that they are are no longer fit for human use.</P>
<P><STRONG>#20</STRONG> Eight states in the Great Lakes region <A
href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/08/eveningnews/main6073416.shtml?tag=contentBody;featuredPost-PE">have
signed a pact</A> banning the export of water from the Great Lakes to
outsiders - even to other U.S. states.</P>
<P>Unfortunately, it is not just the United States that is facing a
shortage of fresh water in the near future. The reality is that most
of the rest of the world is in far worse shape than we are. Just
consider the following stats....</P>
<P>-According to the United Nations, the world is going to need at least
<A
href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/the-united-nations-wants-to-crash-the-world-economy-in-order-to-save-the-environment">30
percent</A> more fresh water by the year 2030.</P>
<P>-Global demand for fresh water <A
title="tripled during the last century"
href="http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/environment/water/water_crisis.html"
target=_blank>tripled during the last century</A>, and is now increasing
faster than ever before.</P>
<P>-According to USAID, <A title="one-third of all humans"
href="http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/environment/water/water_crisis.html"
target=_blank>one-third of the people on earth</A> will be facing severe
or chronic water shortages by the year 2025.</P>
<P>-Of the 60 million people added to the cities of the world each year,
the vast majority of them live in deeply impoverished areas <A
title="with no sanitation facilities"
href="http://water.org/learn-about-the-water-crisis/facts/"
target=_blank>that have no sanitation facilities</A> whatsoever.</P>
<P>-It has been estimated that <A
href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=aErNiP_V4RLc&pid=newsarchive">75
percent</A> of all surface water in India has been heavily contaminated by
human or agricultural waste.</P>
<P>-Sadly, <A title="according to a UN study on sanitation"
href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/7593567/India-has-more-mobile-phones-than-toilets-UN-report.html"
target=_blank>according to one UN study on sanitation</A>, far more people
in India have access to a cell phone than to a toilet.</P>
<P>-Every <A title="8 seconds"
href="http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/interesting-water-facts/"
target=_blank>8 seconds</A>, somewhere in the world a child dies from
drinking dirty water.</P>
<P><STRONG>-</STRONG>Due to a lack of water, Saudi Arabia has given up on
trying to grow wheat and will be 100 percent dependent on wheat imports <A
title="by the year 2016"
href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/07/us-saudi-water-idUSTRE78642F20110907"
target=_blank>by the year 2016</A>.</P>
<P>-Each year in northern China, the water table drops by an average of <A
href="http://whyfiles.org/131fresh_water/2.html">about one meter</A> due
to severe drought and overpumping, and the size of the desert increases by
an area equivalent to the state of Rhode Island.</P>
<P>-In China, <A title="80 percent"
href="http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/interesting-water-facts/"
target=_blank>80 percent</A> of the major rivers have become so horribly
polluted that they do not support any aquatic life at all at this
point.</P>
<P>-In sub-Saharan Africa, drought has become a way of life.
Collectively, the women of South Africa walk the equivalent of the
distance to the moon and back <A title="16 times a day"
href="wlmailhtml:../archives/water-shortage">16 times a day</A> just to
get water.</P>
<P>It has been said that "water is the new gold", and unfortunately we are
getting close to a time when that may actually be true.</P>
<P>Without water, none of us could survive for long. Just try not
using water for anything for 12 hours some time. It is a lot harder
than you may think.</P>
<P>We can't grow our food in a pile of dust. Unfortunately, many
areas of the heartland of America are slowly but surely heading in that
direction.</P>
<P>History tells us that it is only a matter of time before dust bowl
conditions return to the central United States. We have used
irrigation and other technologies to delay the inevitable, but in the end
it cannot be stopped.</P>
<P>Let us hope that the return of dust bowl conditions can be put off for
as long as possible, but let us also prepare diligently for the worst.</P>
<P><A
href="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/55-interesting-facts-about-the-u-s-economy-in-2012"><IMG
class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-3447" title="The Dust Bowl" alt=""
src="http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/The-Dust-Bowl-440x267.png"
width=440 height=267></A></P>
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