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goodlil666 · 51-55, M
Yes, I live in the valley of the sun, the Phoenix metropolitan area. The cities rapid growth just in the 40 + years I have lived here went from about 1.4 million people in the metro area in the early 80's to over 4.7 million in 2024. The population growth here spreads out and not up Phx has few high rise buildings . The land area it took up in the early 80's was around 500 sq. miles . Today in 2024 that land area is over 14,000 sq. miles.
That rapid growth and expansion with all the asphalt, concrete , rooftops, has created a massive heat sink. When I moved here 40 yrs ago during monsoon, that's our rainy season from late June to mid September it would rain every night between 5-10pm every night. The moist air rolling up from Gulf of Mexico would roll across the desert. With incredible lightning shows and wild wind and rain. I have seen wind speeds up to 125 mph in the wildest storms. Over the years the storms became less and less. To the point now as you see off in the distance the storm clouds getting near 50- 80 miles away they start to get pushed up and out of the way. The extreme heat rising off the desert floor actually pushes the storms away. That's the unexpected impact of rapid growth in a fragile ecosystem. It has also raised the humidity a little bit with all the swimming pools and golf courses. The summertime humidity was always in the single digits 6-8 % now it reaches into the low teens 11-13%. That's a big difference when the air temp is 115°- 118° or more. It took scientists 20yrs to figure that out.
So now to take my lightning photos I have to chase storms hundreds of miles in a night compared to dozens of miles years ago.
That rapid growth and expansion with all the asphalt, concrete , rooftops, has created a massive heat sink. When I moved here 40 yrs ago during monsoon, that's our rainy season from late June to mid September it would rain every night between 5-10pm every night. The moist air rolling up from Gulf of Mexico would roll across the desert. With incredible lightning shows and wild wind and rain. I have seen wind speeds up to 125 mph in the wildest storms. Over the years the storms became less and less. To the point now as you see off in the distance the storm clouds getting near 50- 80 miles away they start to get pushed up and out of the way. The extreme heat rising off the desert floor actually pushes the storms away. That's the unexpected impact of rapid growth in a fragile ecosystem. It has also raised the humidity a little bit with all the swimming pools and golf courses. The summertime humidity was always in the single digits 6-8 % now it reaches into the low teens 11-13%. That's a big difference when the air temp is 115°- 118° or more. It took scientists 20yrs to figure that out.
So now to take my lightning photos I have to chase storms hundreds of miles in a night compared to dozens of miles years ago.
@goodlil666 What a wonderfully rich description! Thank you 🙂
I've lived 22 years in the sub-tropics, Far North Coast, NSW, Australia.
Here the Summer rainy seasons have become more humid (frequently &0% humidity or higher), wetter, floods more frequent. Several floods included loss of human lives, fences ripped outt,thousands of livestock swept out to sea, homes uplifted, cars saturated, sewage plants overflowing, roads collapsed or blocked by landslide or fallen trees, powerlines down and power cut.
Droughts here are rare, usually 20 or more years apart, but now when they come they're more severe. In 2019 our rainforest caught alight in bush (wild) fire for the first time - with devasting loss of koalas, wildlife and nesting sites.
I really hope all countries will begin to work harder on minimising greenhouse gases and cleaning up our pollution.
I don't believe it should be viewed as a rightist or leftist issue. We need bi-partisan cooperation.
I've lived 22 years in the sub-tropics, Far North Coast, NSW, Australia.
Here the Summer rainy seasons have become more humid (frequently &0% humidity or higher), wetter, floods more frequent. Several floods included loss of human lives, fences ripped outt,thousands of livestock swept out to sea, homes uplifted, cars saturated, sewage plants overflowing, roads collapsed or blocked by landslide or fallen trees, powerlines down and power cut.
Droughts here are rare, usually 20 or more years apart, but now when they come they're more severe. In 2019 our rainforest caught alight in bush (wild) fire for the first time - with devasting loss of koalas, wildlife and nesting sites.
I really hope all countries will begin to work harder on minimising greenhouse gases and cleaning up our pollution.
I don't believe it should be viewed as a rightist or leftist issue. We need bi-partisan cooperation.
goodlil666 · 51-55, M
@hartfire Amen to that it , it should be a bi-partisan issue. Unfortunately many people here in America can't seem to grasp the concept of coming together for worthy causes. The government wants to keep us divided it's much easier to control us that way.
If we would all jump on the same band wagon I do believe we could bring about some change. No matter what party is control. If enough people continue to be in their faces they will have to acknowledge us eventually. I have been trying to get people to see that and step up , but they just can't leave their personal prejudices out of it. I have been trying to rally support to reform the inner workings of our corrupt and out of control government that could care less about its citizens.
I know my replies get a bit long at times. LOL But I try to show the reasons and or motivations for my outlook and opinions.
I remember watching on the news the severe fires you had . And the massive areas they covered and all the devastation to wildlife. To see that scale and amount of destruction is heartbreaking to all off us who love nature and wildlife. We here in the western USA are very familiar with large consuming fires although not as large as yours in 2019. We average over 7 million acres or over 3 million hectares lost to wildfires each year.
Our conditions here in the Sonoran and Mohave desert are at a critical point. We don't get much precipitation here , we average about 6" - 8" in. or about 15-20 Cm per year. And we are 20 years into a drought cycle. We haven't had normal rainfall in 20 yrs. Even the most drought tolerant plants and cacti are showing signs of stress and decline. Many other less tolerant
flora species have already succumbed. All the fauna species are in a battle for dwindling resources and many are forced from their normal home range into closer contact with humans searching for water and food and because of loss of habitat and encroachment into their homes.
If we would all jump on the same band wagon I do believe we could bring about some change. No matter what party is control. If enough people continue to be in their faces they will have to acknowledge us eventually. I have been trying to get people to see that and step up , but they just can't leave their personal prejudices out of it. I have been trying to rally support to reform the inner workings of our corrupt and out of control government that could care less about its citizens.
I know my replies get a bit long at times. LOL But I try to show the reasons and or motivations for my outlook and opinions.
I remember watching on the news the severe fires you had . And the massive areas they covered and all the devastation to wildlife. To see that scale and amount of destruction is heartbreaking to all off us who love nature and wildlife. We here in the western USA are very familiar with large consuming fires although not as large as yours in 2019. We average over 7 million acres or over 3 million hectares lost to wildfires each year.
Our conditions here in the Sonoran and Mohave desert are at a critical point. We don't get much precipitation here , we average about 6" - 8" in. or about 15-20 Cm per year. And we are 20 years into a drought cycle. We haven't had normal rainfall in 20 yrs. Even the most drought tolerant plants and cacti are showing signs of stress and decline. Many other less tolerant
flora species have already succumbed. All the fauna species are in a battle for dwindling resources and many are forced from their normal home range into closer contact with humans searching for water and food and because of loss of habitat and encroachment into their homes.
@goodlil666 American and Canadian firefighters flew over to help us with those 2019 fires.
One lost his life when his plane crashed, due to a firestorm created windspout I think.
I remember staying indoors, doors and windows closed for four days, and bits of smoke still got in via the fridge, oven and shower vents. Couldn't see trees further than a meter away for the thickness of the smoke outside, glued to the radio for fire updates and warnings, and the sun a psychedelic crimson ball eerily penetrating a thick brown sky. My heart pumped loud enough to hear it for most of those days.
Our average rainfall has gone from 1.200 mm per year to between 1.5 and 1.6.
Our area (Tweed Valley) has many green minded people, enough that 3 out of 7 of our councillors are Green or green aligned. The Labour man sits on the fence but votes in favour of local pro-environment issues about half the time. That's a shift in the right direction.
I think the Conservative tendency to resist renewable energy, save old growth native forests and limit pollution is actually quite odd. It's easy to see now that climate change is devastatingly costly. A lot of the ecologically beneficial technologies are able to produce energy more cheaply. Plantation forestry can provide wood more reliably that stripping native forests. Cleaning up oceans and waterways and limiting fishing hauls will provide more and healthier food, and better livelihoods. Growing bamboo and hemp for paper, fibreboard and other building products could mean new buildings have a much lower carbon footprint. There is so much that we already know how to do. It takes a shift in the economy, but it by no means ruins business. So many big corporations are starting to recycle and learning that going green is functional on every level.
So why don't the right wing pollies understand this yet?
BTW, I write on a laptop, which makes longer conversations delicious. So glad you like to chat.
And so glad to meet a fellow campaigner for a healthier planet! :)
One lost his life when his plane crashed, due to a firestorm created windspout I think.
I remember staying indoors, doors and windows closed for four days, and bits of smoke still got in via the fridge, oven and shower vents. Couldn't see trees further than a meter away for the thickness of the smoke outside, glued to the radio for fire updates and warnings, and the sun a psychedelic crimson ball eerily penetrating a thick brown sky. My heart pumped loud enough to hear it for most of those days.
Our average rainfall has gone from 1.200 mm per year to between 1.5 and 1.6.
Our area (Tweed Valley) has many green minded people, enough that 3 out of 7 of our councillors are Green or green aligned. The Labour man sits on the fence but votes in favour of local pro-environment issues about half the time. That's a shift in the right direction.
I think the Conservative tendency to resist renewable energy, save old growth native forests and limit pollution is actually quite odd. It's easy to see now that climate change is devastatingly costly. A lot of the ecologically beneficial technologies are able to produce energy more cheaply. Plantation forestry can provide wood more reliably that stripping native forests. Cleaning up oceans and waterways and limiting fishing hauls will provide more and healthier food, and better livelihoods. Growing bamboo and hemp for paper, fibreboard and other building products could mean new buildings have a much lower carbon footprint. There is so much that we already know how to do. It takes a shift in the economy, but it by no means ruins business. So many big corporations are starting to recycle and learning that going green is functional on every level.
So why don't the right wing pollies understand this yet?
BTW, I write on a laptop, which makes longer conversations delicious. So glad you like to chat.
And so glad to meet a fellow campaigner for a healthier planet! :)
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@goodlil666 I agree on that wonderful list of industrial hemp products, and the health spinoffs from varietals. Israel is way ahead in research on the latter.
Terrifying and tragic, that story of the firefighters all dying like that, and the team member who couldn't warn them.
We had one story of an amazing survival in our firestorms. A man had bought a property that formerly belonged to ceramic artists. There were rolls of kilm insulation material and piles of kiln fire-bricks left lying around. He built an igloo out of the bricks, butted up against the concrete foundations. He lined it with the insulation. When the fire got close enough, he crawled inside and sealed himself in. The firestorm passed over, destroyed everything except the old kiln, the concrete house-foundation and his igloo. It didn't last long, so there was no risk of him suffocating - though I imagine one could probably include a diver's air tank and bottles of water.
I think it creates a few hints about how we could build safer houses.
What legislation was passed, during the Biden administration, that you see as disastrous?
Or was it the inability to pass enough legislation?
And affecting what kinds of issues on the national level?
Terrifying and tragic, that story of the firefighters all dying like that, and the team member who couldn't warn them.
We had one story of an amazing survival in our firestorms. A man had bought a property that formerly belonged to ceramic artists. There were rolls of kilm insulation material and piles of kiln fire-bricks left lying around. He built an igloo out of the bricks, butted up against the concrete foundations. He lined it with the insulation. When the fire got close enough, he crawled inside and sealed himself in. The firestorm passed over, destroyed everything except the old kiln, the concrete house-foundation and his igloo. It didn't last long, so there was no risk of him suffocating - though I imagine one could probably include a diver's air tank and bottles of water.
I think it creates a few hints about how we could build safer houses.
What legislation was passed, during the Biden administration, that you see as disastrous?
Or was it the inability to pass enough legislation?
And affecting what kinds of issues on the national level?