Climate Change + Drought = More People and Water-Intensive Factories in the Southwest???
I’m certainly not an expert, but unless the decades-long rainfall trend changes, the key question is:
Where will the needed water come from?
Here are a few articles on each topic above, so you can judge for yourself whether or not this is in fact a problem:
Rapid Population and Manufacturing Growth in the Southwest
- “ The Southwest Is America’s New Factory Hub. ‘Cranes Everywhere — Five states in the region accounted for 30% of U.S. job growth in manufacturing over three years, adding more than 100,000 jobs” (WSJ)
- “Phoenix is fastest-growing city in U.S. for 5th year in a row” (AZ Big Media, based on U.S. Gov’t Census reports)
- “Intel to spend $20 billion on U.S. chip plants (two new factories at an existing campus in Chandler, Arizona) as CEO challenges Asia dominance” (Reuters)
Drought in the American West
- “Severe Drought, Worsened by Climate Change, Ravages the American West — Heat and shifting weather patterns have intensified wildfires and sharply reduced water supplies across the Southwest, the Pacific Coast and North Dakota.” (NY Times)
- “U.S. Drought Imperils Economy in California’s Farm Country — Growers are paying four times normal prices for water and letting almond trees die as federal government cuts or ends water allocations” (WSJ)
- “Southwest Drought Rivals Those of Centuries Ago, Thanks to Climate Change — The drought that has gripped the American Southwest since 2000 is as bad as or worse than droughts in the region over the past 1,200 years, a new study finds.” (NY Times)
Bonus: Taiwan chip manufacturing is being disrupted by drought:
“The Chip Shortage Is Bad. Taiwan’s Drought Threatens to Make It Worse.
Island’s worst dry spell in half a century has added to the challenges facing a center of semiconductor manufacturing” (WSJ)“Taiwan Prays for Rain and Scrambles to Save Water — Some of the island’s lakes and reservoirs have nearly run dry. And water restrictions have forced many residents to modify how they shower, wash dishes and flush.” (NY Times)
Climate Change
- NASA Climate Change landing page
- “What is climate change? A really simple guide” (BBC)
- “ A Clearer Climate Picture Emerges — While they still vary, forecasts for how much the world will warm by century’s end have narrowed in recent years” (WSJ)
- “World’s Ice Is Melting Faster Than Ever, Climate Scientists Say —
Research shows the Earth lost a sheet of ice 100 meters thick roughly equivalent to the size of the U.K. in recent decades” (WSJ) - “Google Earth Now Shows Decades of Climate Change in Seconds — The new tool, Timelapse, adds 24 million satellite images taken over 37 years.” (Bloomberg)
National Drought Mitigation Center Drought Monitor — https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap.aspx
Thanks for reading!
My latest project: Zagnetic (coming soon)
