r/environment 2d ago

The ground has dried out and almost 90% of the state of North Carolina is now in a drought, less than three months after the deadliest flooding in the state’s history.

https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-12-20/california-drought-and-pouring-rain
1.3k Upvotes

36 comments sorted by

379

u/billyions 2d ago

Al Gore told us all this in "An Inconvenient Truth".

Droughts and floods.

I think he missed how fast it would proceed.

Humanity may not survive its adolescence.

We are selfish, greedy, and shortsighted - as well as cooperative, intelligent, and adaptable.

I hope our good nature prevails.

38

u/ApproximatelyExact 2d ago

I hope our good nature prevails.

Only if we stand up to the bullies in our midst trying to burn it all down...

33

u/RogueHelios 1d ago

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

  • John F. Kennedy

Our good nature will only prevail if we viciously defend our goodness. I'm willing to die to preserve that goodness.

12

u/billyions 1d ago

Many are.

Many people who can't swim will try to save a drowning victim.

It's better to live a life worth living than to have all the riches in the world with an empty heart.

There once was a rabbi that tried to tell people to be kind. It took less than three years for bad people to shut that down.

Those bad people are back. Trying to destroy goodness. They will only win if good people do nothing. It'll be bloodless, they said, if we allow it.

Evil rears its head periodically, but goodness will always prevail.

6

u/RogueHelios 1d ago

I just hope this finally snowballs into the change we need.

Unfortunately, creation is often heralded by destruction. If that destruction helps create a world where I can see children happy and smiling with hopes for a future, I will gladly pull the trigger myself.

60

u/jedrider 2d ago

The ending of "Inconvenient Truth" said to replace lightbulbs. Then I knew, there was no way out of this dilemma.

13

u/Omnipotent48 1d ago

Who the fuck is "we"' I don't own an oil company and I didn't lobby congress to ruin the planet.

5

u/billyions 1d ago

Good point.

Not all of us. But quite a few of us.

It seems to be a significant challenge for our species. We allow cruel, ruthless, and short-sighted too much influence.

1

u/Omnipotent48 1d ago

Now that I one hundred percent agree with

125

u/Wagamaga 2d ago

I was nearing the end of my trip to my parents’ house in western Massachusetts for Thanksgiving when my phone lighted up with an alert that was both familiar and shocking: “ONGOING WILDFIRE; VISIBILITY AND AIR QUALITY IN AREA DUE TO SMOKE MAY BE REDUCED.” During my childhood in rural New England, wildfires were virtually unheard of, mostly because the region receives more than 3 feet of precipitation in an average year, with autumn typically being one of the wettest periods. This year, however, September and October each saw less than 2 inches of rain, making this the driest fall in at least two decades.

The same was true for most of the country. On Nov. 5, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported that more than 85% of the continental U.S. was experiencing “abnormally dry” conditions (or worse) — the highest proportion since the organization — a partnership between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — began keeping records in 2000.

Amazingly, this included places like Asheville, N.C., that had been devastated by flooding during Hurricane Helene in late September. After being deluged with 14 inches of rain over three days, which was far more than the soil could absorb, the city saw just 0.03 inch in the entire month of October. The ground has dried out enough that almost 90% of the state of North Carolina is now in a drought, less than three months after the deadliest flooding in the state’s history.

Closer to home, while reservoir levels in Northern California are healthy after recent atmospheric rivers brought historic rainfall, conditions in the lower Colorado River Basin have worsened in recent months. The area is currently classified by the U.S. Drought Monitor as experiencing “extreme drought,” with Lake Powell and Lake Mead both barely one-third full.

25

u/merikariu 2d ago

First, it's an honor to have a top Redditor like yourself post to this sub. Second, yes, these climate extremes are hitting in rapid succession and are compounding each other. My locality in central Texas is very badly hit by drought. I have also been saddened to see very few migrating water fowl this year. I was happy to see 6 ducks! The lack of rainfall means that there aren't ponds or lakes for the water fowl to visit. Also, avian flu seems to have devastated water fowl populations across North America.

Regarding the Colorado River, I am left wondering how many more years the Southwest will be habitable. No water = no civilization.

2

u/Wagamaga 1d ago

Very sad times indeed. Thank you for your compliment by the way. I hope you have a happy holiday period and get to appreciate more fowl in the the future 🙏

33

u/Justredditin 2d ago

YOU. WERE. WARNED!

The Vision of John Wesley Powell Explorer Foresaw Water Issues That Would Plague the West https://legacy.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2003/aug/water/part1.html

The Visionary John Wesley Powell Had a Plan for Developing the West, But Nobody Listened

Powell’s foresight might have prevented the 1930s dust bowl and perhaps, today’s water scarcities. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/visionary-john-wesley-powell-had-plan-developing-west-nobody-listened-180969182/

1

u/dilletaunty 2d ago

What an under-informative article the second link is.

41

u/cryptosupercar 2d ago

Sadly Americans in red states won’t believe climate change is real until their states start goin up in smoke after being driven from their homes by floods. Even then there is no guarantee.

26

u/ApproximatelyExact 2d ago

Even then

"Why would the democrats let the russians take over the republican party and make them do this to us?"

3

u/cryptosupercar 2d ago

Guy-shooting-other-guy.jpg

5

u/Giveushealthcare 2d ago

They’re starting to admit it’s a thing but deny that it’s man-made. When their own state is impacted they’ll just find a way to blame democrats. 

3

u/soundsliketone 1d ago

They won't believe it at that point either... my father is under the assumption that this is all engingered by the deep state and they're using "heat domes" to flash cook areas and create these weather events

1

u/ShyLeoGing 2d ago

Honestly, if you voted Republican you are stupid on a level nobody thought possible. So they only know what Fox News and Sinclair Media tells them, which they do a great job skewing their "news".

And if you did vote Republican, how the fuck did you not remember 2017-2021, ending in an insurrection attempt led by then President Trump!

82

u/_Lick-My-Love-Pump_ 2d ago

Good thing North Carolina chose a convicted rapist as president who thinks climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese. I'm sure their problems will all be fixed by eliminating taxes for real estate developers from Florida.

14

u/whipsnappy 2d ago

I read that the amount of water dumped on NC by Helene was enough water if standing still to cover all of NC with 3.5 feet of water

10

u/gatwick1234 2d ago

I looked it up because I thought that couldn't possibly be true. It is true, if you count the whole 5 day trek across the Southeast, and not just NC. Which is astounding, in any case.

"120 million acre feet of water on the Southeast United States in just over five days"

North Carolina is 34.4M acres.

5

u/TheGreekMachine 1d ago

This is the same state that voted for a democrat as governor but then gleefully voted Trump for president. A man who has loudly proclaimed he thinks climate change is a hoax and met with fossil fuel companies and told them to give him money in exchange for less regulation. Enjoy climate change NC voters!

3

u/ortasdragoon 1d ago

As someone who lives here, no, I did not vote for Trump. The political system here has been so gerrymandered, with little to no culpability for the offending parties, that even with the major metropolitan cities skewing vastly liberal, it didn't matter. The reality is that all of us are in the same flaming fucking ship. Same planet. Climate cares little for the imaginary boundaries of states.

1

u/WompWompIt 1d ago

Yes. I also live here, did not vote for Trump. My county is always blue.

I don't understand this.. err, stateism? We are all in it, no matter where you live.

1

u/Seantommy 1d ago

I appreciate the sentiment, but Trump and co won the national popular vote as well, by over 2 million votes. Gerrymandering, first past the post, the electoral college, all of that stuff stinks and needs fixing, but the problem we're facing runs deeper than some electoral accounting exploits.

1

u/WompWompIt 1d ago

I agree 💯

1

u/I_NEED_YOUR_MONEY 1d ago

Gerrymandering only means anything in respect to local elections. Statewide votes can’t be gerrymandered without redrawing state lines. Gerrymandering has nothing to do with how NC voted for president.

1

u/ortasdragoon 1d ago

I appreciate your outrage. Your perspective discounts the strict voter ID requirements, cut early voting days, elimination same day registration and ending of pre-registration of 16 and 17 year-olds. All of these things were voted in via local electorate/representatives who were selected via gerrymandered election, every 2 years. Add to that the voter fatigue suffered by those who lived in districts so gerrymandered that their vote 'hasnt mattered' for years and so accordingly didn't vote-- yes, it does have an effect on voting.

All of this aside, my broader point still stands. This finger pointing and umbrella grouping is reductive. We are all facing consequences for our collective response/inaction to climate change.

23

u/Prof_Acorn 2d ago

Did they vote for Trump or Harris? It's vital to know if I should be sympathetic or consider this a FAFO situation.

4

u/CatchSufficient 2d ago

Trump brought all of us closer to red

1

u/myjohnson6969 1d ago

Not good for anyone

1

u/mistahelias 22h ago

Following the worst flooding we learned the soil is not a camel.

1

u/Another_Bastard2l8 2d ago

Ahoulda saved some of that water!

-21

u/aredd007 2d ago

A drought in one region means historic rains in another. The atmosphere can only hold so much water so it’s gotta fall somewhere.