A WOW type picture of "lake" Mead

[packman]

[Ilsa]

1. I saw in 1983 or 84. Drastic change. nt

[Bayard]

2. Ships and bodies are being uncovered

Its bizarre.

[roamer65]

3. There is more "wow" coming.

The lake is even lower now and it will continue.

[Brother Buzz]

4. So, like, when does Las Vegas go dark?

[packman]

5. I bet those Nuke power plants are a good bet now Vegas

[2naSalit]

7. How would that work...

If they have no water for cooling?

[packman]

8. Good point - Solar power???

With all that desert and sand

[2naSalit]

10. Yeah, solar and some wind.

But it should be more of a point source orientation rather than coating the desert with glass.

[tinrobot]

15. They already have a few large solar plants.

This one uses molten salt to generate power 24/7.

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16012018/csp-concentrated-solar-molten-salt-storage-24-hour-renewable-energy-crescent-dunes-nevada/

[caraher]

25. These facilities have had a rough start

Crescent Dunes is now running at around half power and was shut down completely for several years. The original operator went bankrupt, it never consistently produced the expected power, and there have been problems with leaks in the molten salt system.

Obviously there are significant solar resources available in the area, but the particular technology has proven a challenge to implement.

[2naSalit]

36. I've seen them from the air...

And as I said, they need to invest on point source generation. Generate the power where it will be used.

[Lil Liberal Laura]

43. Or just Bulldoze Vegas

And then Phoenix. Both are unnatural cities that shouldn't exist.

[Traildogbob]

19. What water is left needs to be for drinking

Not Permanently poisoned with radiation. Food needs a lot to grow as well.

[SergeStorms]

24. I've noticed over the past two years....

the size of Honeydew Melons grown in the southwest has dropped substantially.

Three years ago the melons were like bowling balls. Last year they were the size of cantaloupes. This year they're the size of softballs, and I'm not kidding. No one is buying them. At $5 apiece you can't blame them.

I think agriculture in the southwest is in serious jeopardy. It may never recover.

[Traildogbob]

28. Me too.

Southwest and Cali feed the nation. Or use too. They may start hoarding taking care of their own.

[2naSalit]

35. Exactly.

There's no water for anything else.

I mean, it's a freaking desert, hello!

[Traildogbob]

39. Ban desert Golf Courses

It’s not like you can’t find other places to play. Hell, I live in Rural back asswards WNC. This county has 5. Mostly for rich ass Summer home part time residents and rich tourists. They don’t give a damn about water needs of the people the actually live here. We should outlaw all golf courses owned or affiliated with a treasonous shit stain hell bent on destroying our country.

[SergeStorms]

40. Yep.

And all those damned fountains and swimming pools in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson etc.

[lastlib]

6. during the first quarter of a Raiders-Broncos game?

(fingers crossed......)

[former9thward]

46. It doesn't go dark.

LV does not get its main energy from the Hoover Dam. It uses natural gas electricity generation.

[Brother Buzz]

48. I know, but don't blow the myth

Up until a few short years ago NV Energy was burning some of the dirtiest cheapest coal known to man, shipped in from Wyoming, to produce their electricity; fracking changed that game real quick.

[LakeArenal]

9. As Ron Johnson might ask: What's your point?

Scary shit there.

[CrispyQ]

11. But one entire party & a majority on SCOTUS don't want to do anything about climate change.

There was a movement to drain Powell into Mead, but I don't know where that's at. That was a crime, flooding Glen Canyon.

[Kaleva]

14. It's probably already too late

"'It's now or never': World's top climate scientists issue ultimatum on critical temperature limit"

"The highly anticipated report, delayed slightly due to last-minute disputes over the exact wording of the document, says curbing global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels would require greenhouse gas emissions to peak before 2025 at the latest.

At the same time, methane, a potent greenhouse gas, would also need to be reduced by roughly one-third.

The U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said it is “almost inevitable” that humanity will briefly surpass the critical temperature threshold of 1.5 degrees in this scenario, but it could return below this level by the end of the century.

“It’s now or never, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C,” IPCC Working Group III co-chair Jim Skea said in a statement accompanying the report. “Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, it will be impossible.”"

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/04/ipcc-report-climate-scientists-issue-ultimatum-on-1point5-degrees-goal.html

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216566721

[CrispyQ]

16. Agreed, but I try not to show my total pessimism on the topic.

For all our pride in our big brain we seem to lack the imagination to visualize how drastically we're changing our planet. I wonder what human population will be at the end of this century?

[Kaleva]

17. I look at it as something we can't prevent but I can do my best to adapt.

And I think the odds of successfully adapting are pretty good but it will take, planning, and hard work.

[Elessar Zappa]

31. It's not too late to prevent a worse-case scenario of 4 Celsius increase.

Who knows if we’ll act in time but it’s not too late yet.

[Kaleva]

45. True

[amb123]

12. I'm amazed Hoover Dam still works.

[roamer65]

13. At approximately 950 ft power generation stops.

The lake is around 1043 ft right now.

Last time it was this low was in 1937 when it was filling.

[VGNonly]

34. I believe that when it hits

1025, hydropower starts dropping incrementally until it hits dead pool. Time to open the Lake Powell penstocks completely, saving some time for the more viable Lake Mead water source.

[newdayneeded]

41. It's already at 60% power generation

[roamer65]

50. Around 950 they have to definitely start shutting off the turbines.

The air/water mixture will damage them.

I am assuming they will start shutting them off in succession earlier than 950ft, to prevent damage and try to slow the water level drop.

[Trailrider1951]

18. Update from a LV resident on Youtube

Holy Shit!

[MissB]

23. It is interesting- but why are they still allowing boats to launch?

It is truly horrific to see the levels drop so quickly. How on earth is Vegas going to survive? Seems the level will be so low so soon that power generation is lost.

Really grateful that I live where I do. There is power generation o’plenty. Our water supply is secure.

Vegas is screwed.

[former9thward]

47. Vegas is not screwed.

They get very little power from the Hoover Dam. The use natural gas electric generation plants.

[SunSeeker]

27. Wow. Not good. nt

[StarryNite]

29. Thank you for sharing these videos.

[a kennedy]

20. OMG 😳 😳 😳 that is so scary, I wonder if the water level will EVER return in our lifetime??

[Trailrider1951]

21. And an update

June 22:

[IronLionZion]

22. There is a B-29 Superfortress at the bottom of that lake

If it keeps drying up than stranger things will become visible. They've already found bodies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Mead

[Wounded Bear]

26. Mead Pond...nt

[VGNonly]

30. When I was there May2010,

The level was about 1087, today 1043. It was freakishly low even then.

[IcyPeas]

32. some people:

[Torchlight]

33. It pointedly illustrates our need to

reduce, renew, reuse, and recycle.

[Mysterian]

37. We should have listened to Jimmy Carter

How many republicans will admit they were wrong when climate disaster strikes?

[gulliver]

38. Reminds me of the pandemic

The people who know there's a problem point out the problem. Then the problem isn't taken seriously and no action is taken.

The news reports 90% useless information. We'll see alarming pictures. We'll see predictions about water levels. We'll get info about how people are reacting emotionally and suffering. We'll hear about possible rationing, about previously irrigated farmland now drying up.

What we don't hear is what are we doing and, if nothing, who do we fire and hire? To me, that's the story.

[newdayneeded]

42. I've even heard

that once it gets below 895 ft, the water will not be able to continue through the dam. basically the Colorado River will dry up below Hoover dam until the water rises.

[roamer65]

49. Yup, "dead pool".

No pun intended.

[They_Live]

44. Does not bode well

terrifying.