California dreamin'

[telemann.livejournal.com]

NASA: California Down to One Year Supply of Water

Most of California's agriculture goes to feeding humans:

Comments

[telemann.livejournal.com]

I was really surprised at how much water almonds require.

California farmers will reap a record 2.1 billion pounds of almonds this year, the USDA estimates—about three times as much as they did in 2000. That's great news for the world's growing horde of almond eaters, because the state's groves supply 80 percent of the global harvest. As this chart shows, California has been planting more and more almonds over the past two decades.

But in the long term, the almond boom may prove bad news for everyone who relies on California's farms for sustenance. You might have heard that the state, supplier of half of US-grown produce, is locked in its worst drought on record. Meanwhile, it takes 1.1 gallons of water to produce a single almond, as my colleagues Alex Park and Julia Lurie have shown. You don't have to scramble to figure how many almonds make up 2.1 billion pounds to realize that that's a hell of a lot of water.

Source: Your Almond Habit Is Sucking California Dry (http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2014/07/your-almond-habit-sucking-califoirnia-dry)

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

We could do a lot better. Almonds are currently mostly "flood farmed" which means they flood the almond tree fields. You can also grow Almonds with more efficient targeted irrigation and that transformation is overdue.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

I think the increase is due to a lot of almond milk sales. You can't win can ya? Cows are pretty much methane factories (albeit very TASTY ones) and almonds aren't so gentle on Mother Earth either.

[moonshaz.livejournal.com]

Cows are pretty much methane factories (albeit very TASTY ones)

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

You know we taste like pork, yes?

[gaudy-flowers.livejournal.com]

[peristaltor.livejournal.com]

Cows themselves aren't the problem, not at all. The way cows are reared, that can be quite methany, true; but don't knock the cow. They don't deserve it. Cows can help sequester a shit-ton of carbon if they're allowed to do so, far more than they fart.

The drought will simply force agriculture to change, as it has over the last few decades. Since we've had extra energy, we've transformed ag to a less labor-intensive endeavor, with extra profits for the mechanizer. When we go back to a more labor-intensive process, the drought will mean less; but profits will decrease.

I'm hopeful that the change will be positive.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

[peristaltor.livejournal.com]

Exactly! Joel Salatin (and his father before him) used Savory's methods to revitalize the Polyface farm soil. This shit works!

[peristaltor.livejournal.com]

That transformation will be expensive, but yes. Buy some god damned hoses, almond guys and gals.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

The question I have is how long is the drought going to continue. And NASA is freaking me the hell out.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

It's going to be like North Africa (which used to be grain belt for the Roman Empire, before it turned into what we see now).

[peristaltor.livejournal.com]

I believe the waterless southwest will be the new normal, not "drought" as in anomaly. Since this is the 20th year I've seen the shores of Lake Shasta increase in size, I've got a lot of observations behind this belief.

Best part is, if you go forth with this attitude, you aren't shocked when the "drought" never ends.

[drivebyluna.livejournal.com]

Yeah we've already made the decision to switch to eating peanuts once our snack bag from Costco runs out.

[zadok-allen.livejournal.com]

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-and/climate-peanut-butter

Hold that thought! Future generation will be better off if you just stop eating.

[drivebyluna.livejournal.com]

Will do!

[immemor.livejournal.com]

I was surprised too. I just learned about all the water almonds require from watching John Oliver.