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Slab City reaches its boiling point

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Re: Slab City reaches its boiling point

#51

Post by labster »

lazide wrote: post #43
labster wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sure the drying of a man-made lake quite qualifies as an environmental disaster, though the smell certainly isn’t pleasant. But it’s definitely not the largest environmental in California. That would be the destruction of millions of acres of wetlands in the Central Valley from the dry and vanished Tulare Lake northward. Next is the desertifying low Sierra as forests are replaced by chaparral and grasslands s…

Eh, just wait until the giant pesticide laden sand storms start kicking up and blowing into LA.

Good luck getting a LAX-DAG pressure gradient strong enough to do that.

Re: Slab City reaches its boiling point

#52

Post by bergenty »

linksnapzz wrote: post #23
nrclark wrote: post #13

Anybody here ever been to Slab City? I'd love to get the HN perspective on it.

I drove through once; my feeling is that it takes a fair amount of guts to live in the desert-that desert, in the summertime. 120F+ is lethal to the unprepared who are out in in it for more than a brief period.

Nonsense, I grew up in the Middle East and it was regularly above 120F during the summer. Just wear a hat and make sure you have water. You’re making it sound like you immediately die.

Re: Slab City reaches its boiling point

#53

Post by bergenty »

linksnapzz wrote: post #28
grecy wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read hyperbole like this all the time and it shocks me. Have you never been outside in 120F+ temps? I have spent many years of my life in those temps (Australia, all around Africa). Shade and plenty of drinking water and it's completely fine. Millions of people live their lives in those temps with no AC, no fridge, etc. I hear the same thing about the cold like "Frostbite in a matter of seconds past -30F". I used t…

Did you read the part about "unprepared"?

I mean prepared is a hat and some water. It’s not rocket science.

Re: Slab City reaches its boiling point

#54

Post by lightedman »

labster wrote: post #51
lazide wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Eh, just wait until the giant pesticide laden sand storms start kicking up and blowing into LA.

Good luck getting a LAX-DAG pressure gradient strong enough to do that.

The way weather is changing, you just might get to see that happen in about 10 years. If it does happen, expect it to occur during the winter time.

Re: Slab City reaches its boiling point

#56

Post by sidewndr46 »

labster wrote: post #26
johnohara wrote: post #7

> The California Energy Commission estimates the sea [Salton Sea] might produce 600k metric tons of lithium carbonate per year. > The land under the lake is a patchwork of ownership spread across three primary entities: the federal government – mostly the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Land Management, the Imperial Irrigation District (IID), and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians. Should be interest…

I’m not sure the drying of a man-made lake quite qualifies as an environmental disaster, though the smell certainly isn’t pleasant. But it’s definitely not the largest environmental in California. That would be the destruction of millions of acres of wetlands in the Central Valley from the dry and vanished Tulare Lake northward. Next is the desertifying low Sierra as forests are replaced by chaparral and grasslands s…

It isn't really a man made lake. It's a lake in a watershed that has been substantially altered. The lake wouldn't be there naturally in the form that it started off in after the accident.

But none of the water would be diverted if it was not for human intervention. It would have followed the natural course of things.

Re: Slab City reaches its boiling point

#57

Post by sidewndr46 »

bergenty wrote: post #52
linksnapzz wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I drove through once; my feeling is that it takes a fair amount of guts to live in the desert-that desert, in the summertime. 120F+ is lethal to the unprepared who are out in in it for more than a brief period.

Nonsense, I grew up in the Middle East and it was regularly above 120F during the summer. Just wear a hat and make sure you have water. You’re making it sound like you immediately die.

I don't know exactly where you grew up, but if you factor in humidity the temperature in Riyadh is substantially lower than where I live in Texas. Numerically it's higher, but the low humidity makes it possible to sweat.

Re: Slab City reaches its boiling point

#58

Post by labster »

MAGZine wrote: post #45
labster wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sure the drying of a man-made lake quite qualifies as an environmental disaster, though the smell certainly isn’t pleasant. But it’s definitely not the largest environmental in California. That would be the destruction of millions of acres of wetlands in the Central Valley from the dry and vanished Tulare Lake northward. Next is the desertifying low Sierra as forests are replaced by chaparral and grasslands s…

It's not just that the dust coming off of the lake smells bad—it's toxic. And given the nature of man-made lakes (i.e., being near other man-made things like homes), it means that the drying of the lake has immediate health effects to the surrounding community. Not to say that the rest of the things you mention aren't ecological disasters as well, but likely none are so immediately hazardous to the surrounding commun…

Paradise, CA would beg to differ, but point taken. I just think it’s important to consider long-term, delocalized damage in addition to points of obvious damage like the Salton Sea.

Re: Slab City reaches its boiling point

#60

Post by rcthompson »

johnohara wrote: post #7

> The California Energy Commission estimates the sea [Salton Sea] might produce 600k metric tons of lithium carbonate per year. > The land under the lake is a patchwork of ownership spread across three primary entities: the federal government – mostly the Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Land Management, the Imperial Irrigation District (IID), and the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians. Should be interest…

I'm not optimistic about the outcome of the US government deciding that a valuable resource is inconveniently located on Native American land.
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