So... about that global warming...

By Carl 

You think maybe folks in west Texas are starting to take the hint?

Barham says residents [of Wichita Falls, Texas] have cut water use by more than a third, but water supplies are still expected to run out in two years.

So the city has built a 13-mile pipeline that connects its wastewater plant directly to the plant where water is purified for drinking. That means the waste that residents flush down their toilets will be part of what's cleaned up and sent back to them through the tap.

Drinking your own pee is pretty good indication that you might be in trouble.

I don't mean to make light of a very serious situation, but it's come down to that for many Texans. Amarillo is on course to become the largest American city to run out of water, a dubious distinction at best, and here's the juice quote:

"We still have a generally warm Atlantic Ocean, and that tends to mean dry conditions," [Texas State Climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon] said.

Welcome to the 21st century, Amarillo!

Although this is not the worst drought to affect the region (the 1930s Dust Bowl was), the increased population plus the additional food production in the region will make this by far the most devastating if this trend continues, which seems extremely likely.

As I write this, New York City is under a storm system that will see rain deep into the weekend.

The economic consequences for the west Texas region have only begun to seep in. After all, every dollar spent on bottled water is a dollar less for such luxuries as food, electricity, and fuel.

Yes, luxuries. You can live without fuel and electricity, and maybe for a while food, but water? In the heat of a Texas summer?

Is this the event I talked about a few days ago? That "what would it take?" that no climate-change denier has ever satisfactorily answered before they started to believe it's real and it's a problem?

I hope so. But I doubt it.

(Cross-posted to Simply Left Behind.)