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I hope this isn't too far off-topic, Jammie. I didn't think so, but it relates to the entire country rather than just your area. I am far from being an expert, or even somewhat knowledgeable, just an interested 'civilian'.
GraniteStater:
I heard a wildlife biologist discussing this subject. This is what I understood from his conversation: This population shift, from rural to urban areas, is occurring throughout our hemisphere and, in fact, all over the world. There is a projected mass movement of population from certain areas in South America northward. As our water supplies lessen and crop fields experience droughts (a result of climate change), cities and in particular the Pacific Northwest will become overburdened with people. The Pacific Northwest will become the main 'breadbasket' of North America, and its crop lands will change from multiple crops to one or two (wheat, and the Hood River valley will remain in production of apples).
What is your opinion on this? I am aware that it is a projection, but it is based upon scientific data (which I certainy do not understand). BTW, the biologist was referring to a scientific symposium on climate change that he'd attended.
I'd also read somewhere (I'll try to find the link) that the city of Sitka, Alaska has already or is going to sell water rights to melting ice. The rights were sold to a Canadian firm, I believe.
I'm curious to know what your take is on this. I read the article that Jammie posted, and it falls in line with what this man was saying a couple of years ago. Thank you!
I listened to a presentation about this issue, and the professor basically said that the overall warming trend will continue, and average temperatures will gradually move upward. The Central Plains, especially south of 40N latitude will eventually will face a much more difficult climate for traditional agriculture as evaporation rates continue to increase following the temperature trend. What this basically means is that even if a location has average precipitation in a year the total evaporation could potentially negate the moisture. In the Northern Plains it is more difficult to say, but the trend has been toward warmer average temperatures over the past 100 years.
Another item the climate skeptics will talk about is the fact that CO2 increases follow temeprature increases. This is all well and good, but the fact remains that CO2 increases are now exponentially increasing beyond what measurements have observed in the past 800,000 years via ice core sampling. This exponential increase of CO2 will eventually overwhelm the natural balance of the entire system. Therefore, scientists say that we need to find ways to stabalize CO2 concentrations at 350 PPM. Trends would indicate 650+ PPM of CO2 by 2100 if business as usual continues. That could lead to a greater amount of climate destabalization.
It does not surprise me that the state population is shifting to the Black Hills, I-29 corridor, and other population centers (Pierre, Mitchell, etc.). A lot of it comes to jobs and better oppotunties to make a decent living. A lot of the smaller towns are dying due to lack of economic opportunity in many areas and a consolidation of agriculture, which make some of the towns-especially smaller ones-lose relevance.
The small town where my great-grandparents lived, ancestors homesteaded near, and grandpa grew up near (Eureka, SD) was a thriving town before the Great Depression and the Depression hit the town along with many other areas of the country and especially the plains hard. It had over 1,800 people at one time.This town, like many others in this part of the country, never fully recovered and has shrunk from 1,500 people back in the 1970s to well under 1,000 now and a good chunk of the town is over 65 years old.
It is very sad. When I visited my great-grandmother seven years ago, we drove around Eureka and there were at least 15-20 houses that were abandoned and about a dozen that had the sign "REMOVE" spray painted on them due to the houses becoming dilapidated after being abanonded for so long.
I think that we can try to save rural America but realize that we are not going to save every small town and utilize the resources (wind, natural, human capital) better along with a "can do" attitude with moving the communities forward. It will not be easy and will have its tests, but it can be done.
I listened to a presentation about this issue, and the professor basically said that the overall warming trend will continue, and average temperatures will gradually move upward. The Central Plains, especially south of 40N latitude will eventually will face a much more difficult climate for traditional agriculture as evaporation rates continue to increase following the temperature trend. What this basically means is that even if a location has average precipitation in a year the total evaporation could potentially negate the moisture. In the Northern Plains it is more difficult to say, but the trend has been toward warmer average temperatures over the past 100 years.
Another item the climate skeptics will talk about is the fact that CO2 increases follow temeprature increases. This is all well and good, but the fact remains that CO2 increases are now exponentially increasing beyond what measurements have observed in the past 800,000 years via ice core sampling. This exponential increase of CO2 will eventually overwhelm the natural balance of the entire system. Therefore, scientists say that we need to find ways to stabalize CO2 concentrations at 350 PPM. Trends would indicate 650+ PPM of CO2 by 2100 if business as usual continues. That could lead to a greater amount of climate destabalization.
Interesting...
Probably a bit of topic, but....
I just watched an Unsolved Mysteries episode about an unexplained death at a former Uranium processing plant in Fernald, Ohio. The plant released so many tons of radioactive material into the air. And this worker knew about it, and he was killed in an oven... but there's evidence of foul play...
There was an Unsolved Mysteries that aired which featured a case here in SD... Unsolved Mysteries
Click on the Arnold Archambeau & Ruby Bruguier picture.
Did Huron ever get their turkey processing plants up and running? They thought they might have a huge hispanic influx. Might be thier only hope in not losing population.
Quote:
Originally Posted by debey
It's up. and running. and has already completed an expansion project.
In South Dakota, the state would be better off with 20-30 counties, probably 25 counties. In addition, have the school districts by counties, which would cut down on some duplication. The school boards would be by county and would be similar board in the county like a planning and zoning board and have a superitendent like a zoning officer. It would save on administrative costs. Many of these counties are getting less and less people and it will harder to support the counties, even with counties sharing resources, same with school districts. The consolidation of counties and having one school district per county would be a much more efficient use of resources and allow our schools and local governments to modernize.
A lot of the counties were created back in the horse and buggy days and going between 15 to 30 miles to the courthouse was a lot longer than going the same distance via automobile going much faster. A lot of the stuff that people can run to courthouse for (plates, etc.) can be done electronically and utilize the mail system.
I often do not get people in Southern Sioux Falls who moan and groan about going to Canton to renew their vehicles. They can order them electronically when the log into the county website. I ordered plates electronically and it was convenient and saved me a trip.
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follow up..........
