Heat. Everywhere dust. Today not much wind.

We pass a little to the South of the Salton Sea, CA’s largest lake, too far away to see. In a few decades it may not be there. It was created almost by accident in the early 20th century, when an irrigation channel was breached by the Colorado River, which filled up a low lying dry natural basin. It became a popular resort for the wealthy for a while. Then, decades ago, it began to shrink, drying up, a process that is no doubt being hastened by climate change. It may suffer the fate of Russia’s Aral Sea.

For now, a century of agricultural run off, pesticides, fertilizers has ended up in the “sea”. The water is toxic, and so is the air. As the bed dries out, all the toxins are mixing with the desert dust and industrial emissions. As the wind blows, the air becomes noxious. Respiratory diseases run rife. The wealthy elite is long gone. This is an area for the low income, and people of color, suffering the impact of environmental degradation, hastened by climate change.

https://www.theguardian.com/…/salton-sea-california…

These days California means wildfire. Every year we hear that they are getting fiercer, more deadly, larger, lasting longer. The region we rode through today was the scene of the second or third largest fire in CA history, at the time, the Cedar Fire in 2003, near Julian. It burned for two months, destroying about 293,000 acres.

In August this year the Dixie Fire burned nearly half that acreage IN ONE DAY.

How to address it? It’s complicated.

Some forest fire always has been natural (e.g. lightning strikes) But rising temperature and drought are clearly factors in rapidly increased amount of burn. Forest management is an issue.

So who is responsible? Federal government owns 58% of California forest; California state just 3% with the rest being private or Indigenous Peoples’. And to compound the problem, as drought persists, demand for water increases from a growing population and thirsty forms of agriculture.

More of that as we roll East. https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-driving…

#ccan #rockspringucc #climateride #solarvillageproject

San Diego sits right on the US Mexico border…the intersection of the global North and global South, more and less “developed”. Tensions over the environment add to all the mess over migration, trade, jobs, drugs between the two countries.

The US claims that the Tijuana River carries raw sewage from Mexico into the US and then straight into the Pacific Ocean—human waste, unimaginable chemicals. Meanwhile plastic, tires, all sorts of garbage literally pile up 12-15 feet deep in places on the coastline.

Some efforts have begun (1) to contain the problem. Still, fingers point South. But right back at ya, US. The US produces 4 times as much carbon dioxide emissions as Mexico per person; 12 times as much in total. But Mexico pumps it out too; a bit more in total than the UK. That surprised me. (2)

So who’s worse? Finger pointing is pointless. International cooperation is so badly needed. So glad the US is back in the Paris Accord. Hope that COP26 (the United Nations climate change conference), starting in November, achieves some meaningful progress.

1. Https://www.cbs8.com/article/tech/science/environment/tijuana-river-trash-border/509-b87b34ad-c576-4cf8-9e43-9e940b73ce58
2. https://www.ucsusa.org/…/each-countrys-share-co2-emissions

#ccan #rockspringucc #climateride #solarvillageproject