XPost: talk.politics.misc, alt.politics.usa, alt.survival

https://phys.org/news/2023-07-colorado-river-basin-megadrought-massive.html

Colorado River Basin megadrought caused by massive 86%
decline in snowpack runoff

The Colorado River Basin provides freshwater to more than
40 million people within the semi-arid southwestern United
States, including major cities such as Las Vegas and Los
Angeles. However, between 2000 and 2021 the basin experienced
a megadrought (a severe drought lasting multiple decades),
which researchers have suggested likely would not have
occurred if it were not for anthropogenic climate change.

. . .

Yea, yea ... everything's due to SUVs .........

However the American west has had mega-drought
long LONG before SUVs. Read up on the people
at Mesa Verde ... lived in their mountain-wall
homes for hundreds of years - then GONE. It
wasn't the Spanish, it was NO WATER. There
were similar even-broader droughts, largely
responsible for destroying the Mayans, maybe
the Olmec before them. Sorry, the Mayans did
not have SUVs ... never even invented the wheel
(which IS kinda odd).

Right NOW however, well, most of the southwest
and even the LA area (and all the surrounding
agriculture) depends on water stolen from the
Colorado river. No Colorado river, everybody
has to LEAVE. No more LA, no more Cal produce,
Vegas becomes a dusty one-light town again.
Hoover dam stops making electricity. Letter by
letter the Hollywood sign falls down.(Bookies -
take BETS on the last letter standing !)

Even the massive west-coast rains last winter
were just a drop in the bucket compared to
the snowpack needed to boost the Colorado.
All that rain DID make was lots of undergrowth
which has subsequently caught fire.

With the (very late)
return of el-Nino it looks like huge stagnant
heat domes are going to be the norm for the
whole southern USA (and EU). Shit, ocean
temperatures in west Florida are at almost
100f ... the heat domes just don't move.
In the USA the domes steer weather OVER them,
making New England cold and VERY VERY rainy.

(Not sure about the wheel thing ... even the
earliest civs, Akkadians/Sumerians, had wheels
for wagons/chariots. Central/South America -
they just didn't DO them. Weird weird. Did
most of the other 'civilization' stuff, but
NO WHEELS).

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XPost: talk.politics.misc, alt.politics.usa, alt.survival

On Sun, 30 Jul 2023 01:09:42 -0400, 23k.302 wrote:

(Not sure about the wheel thing ... even the earliest civs,
Akkadians/Sumerians, had wheels for wagons/chariots. Central/South
America - they just didn't DO them. Weird weird. Did most of the
other 'civilization' stuff, but NO WHEELS).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roads_of_Chaco

To put the frosting on the cake artifacts that appear to be wheeled pull
toys for kids were found. The construction was stone but they still needed vigas. At least today it's close to 60 miles to anyplace with suitable
trees. While they did not have draft animals even some sort of handcart
would make transporting the timbers easier.

One of the rangers at Chaco was a Navajo. He got push back from his family
when he went to work there. The Navajo are relative latecomers and don't
know any more about the ruins than the white man but consider it a place
to be avoided.

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XPost: talk.politics.misc, alt.politics.usa, alt.survival

On 7/30/23 2:21 AM, rbowman wrote:

On Sun, 30 Jul 2023 01:09:42 -0400, 23k.302 wrote:

(Not sure about the wheel thing ... even the earliest civs,
Akkadians/Sumerians, had wheels for wagons/chariots. Central/South
America - they just didn't DO them. Weird weird. Did most of the
other 'civilization' stuff, but NO WHEELS).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roads_of_Chaco

To put the frosting on the cake artifacts that appear to be wheeled pull
toys for kids were found. The construction was stone but they still needed vigas. At least today it's close to 60 miles to anyplace with suitable
trees. While they did not have draft animals even some sort of handcart
would make transporting the timbers easier.

Hand-carts would have been very good, light wagons
even better, even if human-drawn. Further south you
get llama ... and a number of them COULD pull a
cart or maybe a light wagon. A potential for a big
llama trade seems to have been missed. Also, with
some selective breeding, larger llama could have
been made.

One of the rangers at Chaco was a Navajo. He got push back from his family when he went to work there. The Navajo are relative latecomers and don't
know any more about the ruins than the white man but consider it a place
to be avoided.

There is a false perception that every native tribe
knows everything about all the others.

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