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Please explain this to me. Is it because of climate problems or population problems or both?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/02/satellite-images-reveal-shrinkage-of-utahs-great-salt-lake

After a 22-year megadrought that has gripped the south-west of the US, data from the US Geological Survey has also revealed that the decrease in water levels has left about 1,990 sq km of lakebed exposed.

The disappearance of the lake has been attributed to drought [c=BF0000]caused by climate breakdown and water use[/c], along with the [c=BF0000]redirection of water from streams used to replenish the lake for use in residential spaces and agriculture.[/c]

The [c=BF0000]demand for the lake’s water has increased as the population of Utah climbs.[/c] Currently home to about 3.3 million people, it is projected that the [c=BF0000]population will increase by 66% by 2060[/c], making it the fastest growing state in the US.

Sounds to me like it's mainly a population issue.

This is what the first part of the story says. Then below all of that, is this:

There can be no more hiding, and no more denying. Global heating is supercharging extreme weather at an astonishing speed. Guardian analysis recently revealed how human-caused climate breakdown is accelerating the toll of extreme weather across the planet. People across the world are losing their lives and livelihoods due to more deadly and more frequent heatwaves, floods, wildfires and droughts triggered by the climate crisis. At the Guardian, we will not stop giving this life-altering issue the urgency and attention it demands. We have a huge global team of climate writers around the world and have recently appointed an extreme weather correspondent.

Our editorial independence means we are free to write and publish journalism which prioritises the crisis. We can highlight the climate policy successes and failings of those who lead us in these challenging times. We have no shareholders and no billionaire owner, just the determination and passion to deliver high-impact global reporting, free from commercial or political influence.

And we provide all this for free, for everyone to read. We do this because we believe in information equality. Greater numbers of people can keep track of the global events shaping our world, understand their impact on people and communities, and become inspired to take meaningful action. Millions can benefit from open access to quality, truthful news, regardless of their ability to pay for it.

So here, they're bitching about "global heating" and then turn it into a commercial about why you should donate. They want to get some kind of message across, but then they litter it with bullshit. And that's why I won't listen to these idiots. If you want to spread a message of a danger, I shouldn't even see anything with the words donate, give, money and me tied to it.
windinhishair · 61-69, M
There are plenty of sources of information on the real issue of global climate change that don't ask you to donate. That one source you read does ask for donations doesn't minimize the message.

The Great Salt Lake is one of the remnants of the former Lake Bonneville, which has been shrinking for millennia. Increased temperatures, reduced freshwater inputs, and reduced rainfall has accelerated the process. As another responder posted, it is both an issue with global climate change and human impacts.
cherokeepatti · 61-69, F
Most likely agriculture plus the population. Also in southern Kansas there is a river that runs through the Garden City, Kansas area and by the time the river gets to Dodge City, it has diminished greatly. Look on Google Earth and you can see how green it is with agriculture in the area and all of the green irrigation circles.
Heartlander · 80-89, M
@cherokeepatti Unfortunately, the greenery is at the cost of depleting the great aquifers and the loss of native prairie grasses to agricultural crops.
SW-User
Human-caused climate change and overpopulation go hand-in-hand, they are twins.

There would be [i]less[/i] anthropogenic climate change if the Earth still had pre-Industrial Revolution [i]population[/i] levels, which prior to that milestone stayed relatively constant for millennia; now it is on an endless trajectory upward.

Moreover, ever more people vying for he same [i]finite[/i] resources is always going to cause problems regardless of the specifics. That's why humans tend to cull [i]wildlife[/i] when [i]their[/i] numbers are too high. That basic math does not change simply because the overabundant species happens to be humans. That makes talk of [i]curing[/i] death and making humans immortal incredibly ponderous.

 
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