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A Kingdom from Dust (2018)

story.californiasunday.com

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Re: A Kingdom from Dust (2018)

#71

Post by anamexis »

ebcode wrote: post #68
whatshisface wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with that is that it's not water that's so valuable, it's water in California. Penalizing water use everywhere, even in rain-soaked places, would be counterproductive.

That's a good point. But I wouldn't classify the water usage label as "penalizing". It's more, um, informational. So if you're in CA, you might set an ideal "virtual water budget" for yourself (100 kl/mo for example), but if you're in VA, your ideal could be several times that.

But where you are located isn't what matters, it's where the water was consumed.

It does not matter where you are eating Californian almonds; those almonds still used Californian water.

Re: A Kingdom from Dust (2018)

#72

Post by DiabloD3 »

So, is it me, or is their font choice obnoxiously hard to read? Why can't people just choose screen readable fonts.

This is their font: http://www.hoftype.com/sinanova

It is very obvious it was designed for printed text, not screens. It's like they wanted Garamond (ahem: https://designforhackers.com/blog/garamond/), but shot themselves in the foot with an even worse one.

Usually I can prove bad font choices happen because of web developers being obsessed with rare computers (Retina-equipped Macs, forgetting the rest of the universe uses normal-DPI Windows machines), but I just looked on my HiDPI screen... it's nearly unreadable there too.

Is anyone else having this problem?

Re: A Kingdom from Dust (2018)

#73

Post by quakeguy »

DiabloD3 wrote: post #72

So, is it me, or is their font choice obnoxiously hard to read? Why can't people just choose screen readable fonts. This is their font: http://www.hoftype.com/sinanova It is very obvious it was designed for printed text, not screens. It's like they wanted Garamond (ahem: https://designforhackers.com/blog/garamond/ ), but shot themselves in the foot with an even worse one. Usually I can prove bad font choices happen b…

Same here, the font is terrible for mobile devices telling from seeing it on iOS and Android. Strangely, the web version with an updated browser does not have this problem.

Re: A Kingdom from Dust (2018)

#74

Post by bilbo0s »

AngryData wrote: post #8

It is all fun and games until the last drop of water gets sucked up. Then they will (already are in some cases) bitch and complain that other states don't pipeline then hundreds of millions of gallons of water while disparaging those same states for not following the same short-sighted and unsustainable practices.

Basically like the states that want to take water from the great lakes. Texas is crying foul because of New Mexico's actions. Florida expects to be given access to the water resources of Georgia, (even though the Army Corps of Engineers has been clear that Georgia needs the resources for things like navigation and, crucially, flood control.) States like Nevada expect access to Great Lakes water. You even have really weird situations, like places that really are untenable even in the Great Lakes region, demanding water be diverted for their use. For instance, Waukesha, Wisconsin.

Water wars are really going to be a mess in the near future. Right now we just have some agitated tussling.

Just wait until the real arguments start, it's gonna be bad.

[1] https://www.greatlakeslaw.org/blog/2018/07/supreme_court_con...

[2] http://www.startribune.com/the-great-siphoning-drought-stric...

[3] https://www.petoskeynews.com/featured-pnr/opposition-mounts-...

Re: A Kingdom from Dust (2018)

#75

Post by rmason »

Reading this I couldn't stop thinking about the Jack Nicholson movie Chinatown. It's a story of rich men fighting over water rights in the thirties. Apparently very little in California has changed over the years.

Re: A Kingdom from Dust (2018)

#76

Post by mark_l_watson »

bilbo0s wrote: post #74
AngryData wrote: post #8

It is all fun and games until the last drop of water gets sucked up. Then they will (already are in some cases) bitch and complain that other states don't pipeline then hundreds of millions of gallons of water while disparaging those same states for not following the same short-sighted and unsustainable practices.

Basically like the states that want to take water from the great lakes. Texas is crying foul because of New Mexico's actions. Florida expects to be given access to the water resources of Georgia, (even though the Army Corps of Engineers has been clear that Georgia needs the resources for things like navigation and, crucially, flood control.) States like Nevada expect access to Great Lakes water. You even have really…

The book ‘The Water Knife’ is a near future sci-fi about water wars - a good read!

Re: A Kingdom from Dust (2018)

#77

Post by dodobirdlord »

marci wrote: post #66
pm90 wrote: post #53

> One day water will be more valuable than oil, and like oil it will start wars. Is this true? Its true that natural sources of water might be scant, but what happens if we just build huge desal plants all along the CA coast and pipe in the water? And what if those desal plants are powered by cheap renewable energy?

Before that happen, it will probably be cheaper to buy water from poorer countries, which will destabilize those regions (locals won't be able to buy their own water), and thus start war.

Water is heavy, and almost none of the water used in the world is used for human consumption. It will never make more economic sense to ship water long distances than to move the economic activities that require it to the source of the water. This is leaving aside the subject of aqueducts, but there's really only so long you can make an aqueduct, and most countries border countries in roughly similar economic situations. Siphoning water from "poorer countries" via aqueducts is not going to be a thing.

Re: A Kingdom from Dust (2018)

#78

Post by dodobirdlord »

BurningFrog wrote: post #45
kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People will start growing crops in more sensible places.

Or people will have the city of LA in a more sensible region.

Urban water usage is a rounding error compared to industrial and agricultural water usage. It will always make more economic sense to move water to cities than to move cities to water. The same is not true for agriculture and industry, and the two topics don't belong in the same discussion.

Re: A Kingdom from Dust (2018)

#79

Post by thaumasiotes »

bilbo0s wrote: post #74
AngryData wrote: post #8

It is all fun and games until the last drop of water gets sucked up. Then they will (already are in some cases) bitch and complain that other states don't pipeline then hundreds of millions of gallons of water while disparaging those same states for not following the same short-sighted and unsustainable practices.

Basically like the states that want to take water from the great lakes. Texas is crying foul because of New Mexico's actions. Florida expects to be given access to the water resources of Georgia, (even though the Army Corps of Engineers has been clear that Georgia needs the resources for things like navigation and, crucially, flood control.) States like Nevada expect access to Great Lakes water. You even have really…

> Florida expects to be given access to the water resources of Georgia, (even though the Army Corps of Engineers has been clear that Georgia needs the resources for things like navigation and, crucially, flood control.)

My dumb model says that adding a large drain to Georgia's water system (aqueducts to Florida) is a pretty strong flood control in itself. How does this damage Georgia's flood control capacity?

Re: A Kingdom from Dust (2018)

#80

Post by thaumasiotes »

dodobirdlord wrote: post #77
marci wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before that happen, it will probably be cheaper to buy water from poorer countries, which will destabilize those regions (locals won't be able to buy their own water), and thus start war.

Water is heavy, and almost none of the water used in the world is used for human consumption. It will never make more economic sense to ship water long distances than to move the economic activities that require it to the source of the water. This is leaving aside the subject of aqueducts, but there's really only so long you can make an aqueduct, and most countries border countries in roughly similar economic situati…

> there's really only so long you can make an aqueduct

This doesn't make any sense. Oil pipelines cross continents.

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