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The Worst Drought in 1,200 Years

Slate Daily Feed

Slate

News, Society & Culture, Business

3.91.1K Ratings

🗓️ 26 July 2022

⏱️ 25 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The American southwest is in a megadrought. Water levels in lakes are dropping, threatening the local environment as well as agriculture, hydroelectric power, and the people living there. As global temperatures rise, it could be a preview of worse things to come. 


Guest: Dr. Jason Smerdon, ocean and climate physicist, and Lamont research professor at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and co-director at the Earth Institute Faculty. 


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Transcript

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0:00.0

This episode is brought to you by Tinder.

0:04.0

Life is full of possibilities.

0:06.0

A cheeky reply to a message here could lead to a world of fun new experiences over there.

0:11.0

And with Tinder, it all starts with a swipe.

0:14.0

Strangers can become mates, mates can become lovers with matching tattoos.

0:18.0

Or maybe it's not that serious.

0:20.0

Whether a match leads to something new and exciting or something personal, no matter what.

0:25.0

All matches lead to self-discovery.

0:27.0

Download Tinder now.

0:31.0

Link Mead is shrinking.

0:38.0

And when I say that, here's what I mean.

0:41.0

If you go to Las Vegas, drive out to the lake, which is actually America's largest reservoir,

0:47.0

you'll notice a strange pale stripe running along the waterline.

0:51.0

Some people call this a bathtub ring.

0:54.0

Over the last two decades, it has gotten so dry here

0:58.0

that it is as if the lake has drained, leaving bleached white rocks where the waterline used to be.

1:07.0

As the water recedes, it's uncovering things that got drowned a long time ago.

1:13.0

Just this month, a World War II era swamp boat emerged from the lake.

1:18.0

And a few weeks before that, people were making more gruesome discoveries.

1:23.0

Just a short drive from Sin City out here in the wilderness, this past Saturday, May 7th,

1:29.0

human skeletal remains spotted at a popular recreation spot.

1:34.0

As we discovered more and more bones, especially the jawbone, we realized this is definitely human.

...

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