Regards the flooding in the American Midwest...

Why is it flooding?

 

It is raining more than the historical average, a result of global warming (according to a report from the WHITE HOUSE, not a souce you'd expect to be using that explanation!).  Water is the slave of gravity, the river is the lowest point to flow to, and it filled up!

 

One reason it filled UP is that it is confined by levees and can't simply flow WIDER when there is flood, it flows HIGHER...therefore, the flood is causing extensive economic damage because LEVEES are FAILING (partly due to the higher pressure they experience when the water is higher...it seeps in more easily!)

 

Here's HUMAN technology at it's finest and a great example of the "Law of Unintended Consequences"...

 

We decided that the river needed to be "controlled" (so property owners nearby would not be flooded every year, and their plot wouldn't be under the river itself over the course of time and farmers could predict when to plant and not worry about flooding, and the river would have a "channel" for freight traffic that is predictable and dredgeable, etc. etc. etc. etc.)

We kept it from meandering with levees, which did control the flow...for a time.

We built cities nearby, below the level of the river, since we were protected by the levees.

We increased CO2 levels, and that caused more rain.
Water, the slave of gravity, seeped through the levees, they failed, and all those nice cities went down the toilet, so to speak. 

(and more rain is falling, and more cities are at risk, and summer hasn't even started!)

 

It would be compelling, as a "B" movie, if it wasn't so sad, as Reality...

 

The reports on TV include the title "Fighting the Flood"...a fascinating perspective - HUMANS MUST FIGHT NATURE, even though we caused the flooding in the first place.

 

That is exactly what Humans have done since there have been humans, we use our culture to FIGHT nature!

 

Just another reason not to have kids...since it is fairly obvious that one cannot trust decisions humans make regarding "controlling nature" with technological "fixes" to problems that maybe weren't problems to begin with.

 

Greed, and laws greedy people created to protect their "private property" at public cost, appears to be the rule instead of the exception. 

 

By the way, Sacramento California and environs have levees too.  http://www.safca.org/floodrisk/index.html 
The amount of food grown there (in the "shadow of the river") is between 5 and 10% of the ENTIRE agricultural output of the USA!  If you think higher energy prices have caused high food prices, just wait until those levees fail...it won't matter where in the world you live, your food bill will be SIGNIFICANTLY higher...

 

LET'S NOT BAIL THEM OUT THIS TIME.

MOVE THE CITIES AWAY FROM THE RIVER.

LET IT FLOW AS IT WILL.

DON'T TRY TO CONTROL THE MEANDERING, IT RENEWS THE FERTILITY OF THE LAND, ETC. ETC. ETC.

LET THE FARMERS and other economic interests SORT IT OUT EVERY YEAR...

 

Ain't gonna happen, they are already throwing billions at the perceived problem ("We need better levees!") which simply demonstrates our COLLECTIVE INSANITY - Let's do what we did before, "control the river", since that's what we did before...and we know how to do that.  No need to inconvenience any VOTERS with a mandatory move 10 miles away...we must rebuild where we were, It's Our Heritage! (and we're PROPERTY OWNERS (as though a human can own part of the planet, what a concept our entire economy is based upon!))

 

I don't think it a good idea to rebuild New Orleans either, but, not many listen to me.

 

Happy Solstice All!