It is already written. The Colorado River is dying. The level has dropped to the point where smallmouth bass, with a liking for warm surface water, have been found below the dam inside the lower part of the river.
How’s that a bad thing, when that particular game fish is avidly sought by all anglers? The answer surprised me: chubs are an endangered species found exclusively in the lower river, and the smallmouth bass love to eat them. Say goodbye to one more species of wildlife forever.
The reason is horrifying. The steep drop in water level in the reservoir puts the surface close to the turbine intakes, pipes called penstocks, and the bass get sucked in. All that survive the trip come up dazed on the lower side, but recover. Trapped, they now have a new habitat where their numbers increase rapidly in the shallower, warm water.
But another factor is why the reservoir is so low. Now we have to face global warming, years of drought and reckless water use. The demand for regional water was always too high for supply. Two things done by humans that are bringing catastrophic damage, which cannot be reversed and which, because of greed, not even slowed down. No one, from farmers to homeowners, wants to reduce their use of water, and if it weren’t so, we could have done something to avoid the horrible outcome. But it’s too late now. The epitaph for wildlife as well as humans has already been carved into a granite headstone. All we lack now are flowers for the funeral.
Except, flowers will not be available by then.
And to make everything even more scary, the largest source of fresh groundwater in the United States is being significantly exploited and yet, the consideration that it took thousands or millions of years to accumulate, we’re draining the fuck out of it. The process of refilling would take even longer than it took to become an aquifer in the first place, because carbon gasses trapped in the upper atmosphere can’t be reduced, and drought, irresponsible usage and global warming have already caused our inevitable end. Biologists and environmental experts can scream, yet nobody hears them. The media ignore them. The reason being, nobody wants to think about it. It’s too much to take.
The media isn’t concerned with the future. It is very interested in the current, and the past is also big when it comes to a celebrity’s behavior. Once an accusation is raised, it’s all over the news, and that shit won’t be let go soon. They drag it out from here to the point when the next salacious story comes up. The news is not news. It’s voyeuristic garbage often listed as “news and entertainment”, two things that should never be mixed.
And we are dying.
Overturning Roe will cause the population to climb and therefore, food and water demand to increase, and we have already passed the mark where everything is unsustainable. It’s going to be a shit show, and at some point in time, we won’t be able to turn our heads away anymore. And you can take any post-apocalyptic movie you want: the real thing will be worse.
Mostly brought to you by politicians and mega corporations, which make monopolies of the past appear microscopic in comparison.
It’s all carved in stone, now.
Memoirs of an American Christian 