Drought

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justiner
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Re: Drought

Post by justiner »

A nice little rain storm in Twin Lakes, Leadville, Frisco yesterday. Don’t wanna use the M word, but it certainly was a soak.
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CheapCigarMan
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Re: Drought

Post by CheapCigarMan »

@ ker0uac @Vids
Thank you for adding history, context, and intelligence to the conversation.
It’s refreshing amidst the emotional hysteria.
I very much enjoyed reading your contributions.
I should be on a mountain
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Dave B
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Re: Drought

Post by Dave B »

Wait, cheapcarsalesman agrees with kerouac?!

Image
Make wilderness less accessible.
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Scott P
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Re: Drought

Post by Scott P »

Not Colorado, but the Pacific Northwest is supposed to be insanely hot this weekend.

So far the hottest it has ever gotten at EasTac (Seattle) in June is 96 degrees. Tomorrow's forecast ranges from 106 to 108. In Seattle.

Portland is supposed to be 109-115. The hottest June temperature ever recorded there so far is 102 which was also the only June temperature that has been over 100 so far.
I'm old, slow and fat. Unfortunately, those are my good qualities.
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Jorts
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Re: Drought

Post by Jorts »

But hey! On the local level our June wildfire problem is clearing up. =D>
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dubsho3000
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Re: Drought

Post by dubsho3000 »

Vids wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 9:31 pm
I respectfully disagree with your post. A forest fire in itself is not a bad thing, it gets rid of old growth and regenerates new feed for wildlife. If it's not threatening houses I say let it burn. Frankly, there are a lot of areas in CO that have so much dead beetle kill that the forest needs to have a good burn and start over. It's part of the natural cycle, and has been happening since long before we all hiked the 14ers.
Fires are part of the natural cycle, for sure, but I would like to reiterate my post from earlier in the thread and point out that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is not normal, and it is not part of a natural cycle. This is exactly the complacency we need to move away from, in my opinion.
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Re: Drought

Post by rmattas »

Western drought brings another woe: voracious grasshoppers

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireSto ... s-78453460
"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." - Isaac Newton
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Re: Drought

Post by rmattas »

dubsho3000 wrote: Sat Jun 26, 2021 7:23 am
Vids wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 9:31 pm
I respectfully disagree with your post. A forest fire in itself is not a bad thing, it gets rid of old growth and regenerates new feed for wildlife. If it's not threatening houses I say let it burn. Frankly, there are a lot of areas in CO that have so much dead beetle kill that the forest needs to have a good burn and start over. It's part of the natural cycle, and has been happening since long before we all hiked the 14ers.
Fires are part of the natural cycle, for sure, but I would like to reiterate my post from earlier in the thread and point out that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is not normal, and it is not part of a natural cycle. This is exactly the complacency we need to move away from, in my opinion.
agreed.

"When trees catch fire, the carbon in their timber combines with oxygen to release energy and carbon dioxide. Wildfires are part of the natural carbon cycle, and the carbon dioxide they release is soon absorbed by young trees. But if a forest is cut down, burned, and not allowed to regrow, all its carbon is turned into carbon dioxide that increases the greenhouse effect."

so unless we aggressively replant burned areas, it'll take years to get back to a carbon neutral area. good luck trying to grow saplings in a 1200 year drought.

also, on the subject of the bark beetle. I think it's safe to say containment is out of reach. somewhere out there in the ravaged forest are a few trees that survived the beetle. we need to aggressively find it, study the genetic drift, or what properties that made it resistant, and start procreating them ASAP.

<The great mountain pine beetle outbreak | Diana Six | TEDxUMontana> is a 8 year old talk. we've watched this menace and have done little to anything about it. now we pay the price.
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Re: Drought

Post by rmattas »

this would be funnier if it wasn't true.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CXRaTnKDXA
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Re: Drought

Post by SchralpTheGnar »

Scott P wrote: Sat Jun 26, 2021 6:32 am Not Colorado, but the Pacific Northwest is supposed to be insanely hot this weekend.

So far the hottest it has ever gotten at EasTac (Seattle) in June is 96 degrees. Tomorrow's forecast ranges from 106 to 108. In Seattle.

Portland is supposed to be 109-115. The hottest June temperature ever recorded there so far is 102 which was also the only June temperature that has been over 100 so far.
Good to see they are not missing out on the fun, but it’s also worth noting that During the Paleozoic era temperatures were routinely above 100 degrees in the Pacific Northwest
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Jorts
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Re: Drought

Post by Jorts »

SchralpTheGnar wrote: Sat Jun 26, 2021 11:35 am it’s also worth noting that During the Paleozoic era temperatures were routinely above 100 degrees in the Pacific Northwest
Is this tongue in cheek? :-k
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Re: Drought

Post by CORed »

Vids wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 9:31 pm
rmattas wrote: Thu Jun 24, 2021 8:04 am some deep thoughts going on here...I like to keep it simple, we're in a very bad drought. pour some resources into whatever it takes to put the damn fires out, because we're going to need it in the future.

good luck to all, I hope you guys have a better year than forecast.
I respectfully disagree with your post. A forest fire in itself is not a bad thing, it gets rid of old growth and regenerates new feed for wildlife. If it's not threatening houses I say let it burn. Frankly, there are a lot of areas in CO that have so much dead beetle kill that the forest needs to have a good burn and start over. It's part of the natural cycle, and has been happening since long before we all hiked the 14ers.
You're not wrong about that, but I think what we are witnessing, if we don't get a handle on carbon emissions, is the permanent deforestation of much of the western US. It's simply getting too hot and dry to support trees in many locations. The beetle kill and fires are symptoms of that, more than causes.
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