Crisis feared as U.S. water supplies dry up

[RedEarth]

Crisis feared as U.S. water supplies dry up
Government projects at least 36 states will face shortages within five years

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - An epic drought in Georgia threatens the water supply for millions. Florida doesn’t have nearly enough water for its expected population boom. The Great Lakes are shrinking. Upstate New York’s reservoirs have dropped to record lows. And in the West, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is melting faster each year.

Across America, the picture is critically clear — the nation’s freshwater supplies can no longer quench its thirst.

The government projects that at least 36 states will face water shortages within five years because of a combination of rising temperatures, drought, population growth, urban sprawl, waste and excess.



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21494919/

[WCGreen]

1. All you folks who moved out of Ohio...

Well, remember that bog old Lake...

How's that Ocean now...

[phantom power]

2. Keep making fun of us, and we may very well come back.

All 50 million of us. Get the guest room cleaned up...

[NEOBuckeye]

9. Easier to repopulate Cleveland and Detroit, than it is to keep grass green in Phoenix and Vegas n/t

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. "Likely to experience water shortage before 2013."

Guess again, folks...

California is already looking at this, right now...

We're talking rationing...

And it's about time...

This place is a fucking desert, after all...at least SoCal is...

The book "Cadillac Desert" is a good read on this topic.

[provis99]

4. well, maybe Californians should get rid of the fetish for green grass

If you want green grass, live in the Northeast. California is a dry desert. Get used to it.

[phantom power]

6. unfortunately, this won't mostly be about lawns.

It's about energy, industry and agriculture. That is where we'll really take it on the chin.

[XemaSab]

10. I like this chart...

And just to throw some more facts into the breech...

The biggest water using crops in California are cotton, rice, alfalfa, and pasture. CRAP. :)

[Nay]

5. Ya know what's funny? All 3 states are on the coasts--why the heck

aren't they building desalinization plants by the dozens?

[NickB79]

7. Desalination plants require large amounts of energy to operate

And we're entering an energy crisis of epic proportions.

[tom_paine]

8. Yup. No way out. We humans are some stupid primates, aren't we?

Painted ourselves into a very small corner and then shit in it.

Monkey behavior. Even though I am also one, and no better than another other monkey-human, it is to laugh.