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Published online 31 January 2008 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news.2008.545
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Greenhouse effect has 'significantly dried' the western United States
Stop development in southwestern states, say researchers.
Human activity is largely to blame for the worsening water shortages in the western United States over the past half-century, a new study shows. The analysis of climate trends that influence the availability of freshwater shows that humans are responsible for 60% of the observed changes.
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"In California they are pretty clued-in and have been leading the way, but they have been stymied by Congress," How often do we hear this?!
I encourage readers to consult Wikipedia's entry on desalination and several media references therein listing current prices. Rates ranging from Singapore's 49 cents per meter to Tampa Bay's $1100 per acre-foot are not really that far above the $700 per acre-foot paid currently near San Diego, and a large desalination project has been planned for that region. Because California's coastal cities now draw water from the Colorado watershed, no pumping would be needed for this water to relieve scarcity hundreds of miles inland, if the political decision is made to do so. While the cost of water may increase fractionally, and significant environmental harm may come from desalination or the power required for it, there is no justification for pessimistic statements that all development in the West needs to be stopped.
"The greenhouse effect" is not a very good name whatsoever. Global warming (or climate change) and "the greenhouse effect" are much different terms, and such confusion should not appear in reputable journals-- technical articles or otherwise.