I was recently driving across the American desert southwest and was astonished at how jarring it was to observe an irrigated desert. After traveling for miles over terrain that clearly wouldn't support anything larger than a small rodent, with plants widely separated because the water content doesn't allow any tighter grouping, I would s…
I was recently driving across the American desert southwest and was astonished at how jarring it was to observe an irrigated desert. After traveling for miles over terrain that clearly wouldn't support anything larger than a small rodent, with plants widely separated because the water content doesn't allow any tighter grouping, I would suddenly enter lush fields of fruit trees, or vegetable crops, all supported by the chattering hoses of the irrigation system.
The air would instantly become softer from the water being sprayed around. Plants that only thrive in places with a hundred times more rainfall are thriving there, all through the use of irrigation. I dunno where that water comes from, but it isn't present on the surface, that's for sure. I know the word "unnatural" gets misused a lot, but there is something really creepy about having an artificial oasis in the middle of the desert that's growing a substantial portion of our food supply.
Sadly it is the age old aquifers that are being depleted in an effort to green the desert and provide water to places that would otherwise be inhospitable to large populations. So too is climate change melting the glaciers that many countries use as a major source of water. We can live w/o gas/oil (a BIG adjustment), but we can’t live w/o potable water. We humans are depleting the earth’s resources and altering it to the detriment of all species we share this pale blue dot with.
I was recently driving across the American desert southwest and was astonished at how jarring it was to observe an irrigated desert. After traveling for miles over terrain that clearly wouldn't support anything larger than a small rodent, with plants widely separated because the water content doesn't allow any tighter grouping, I would suddenly enter lush fields of fruit trees, or vegetable crops, all supported by the chattering hoses of the irrigation system.
The air would instantly become softer from the water being sprayed around. Plants that only thrive in places with a hundred times more rainfall are thriving there, all through the use of irrigation. I dunno where that water comes from, but it isn't present on the surface, that's for sure. I know the word "unnatural" gets misused a lot, but there is something really creepy about having an artificial oasis in the middle of the desert that's growing a substantial portion of our food supply.
Sadly it is the age old aquifers that are being depleted in an effort to green the desert and provide water to places that would otherwise be inhospitable to large populations. So too is climate change melting the glaciers that many countries use as a major source of water. We can live w/o gas/oil (a BIG adjustment), but we can’t live w/o potable water. We humans are depleting the earth’s resources and altering it to the detriment of all species we share this pale blue dot with.