(R)ice Bucket Challenge

PART V- DISASTER

Setting the Stage

She didn't think this through. Source: Tumblr

Hello and welcome to our next section: DISASTERS! Disasters, mainly fires, are a visible sign of a drying climate and bring a lot of media attention.

To recap, we know the Southwest is in drought and we know that the drought is going to continue. Look at the most recent drought index for California:

It's getting dry in here. Source: U.S. Drought Portal

The next posts will not be too upbeat (there's no good way to talk about fire destruction) so I want to quickly point out how ingrained the drought has come in Californian culture. This summer youtube, facebook, instagram, you name it was taken by storm for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. I'm not here to talk about the cause but rather the challenge itself: you dump a bucket of ice water on your head. 

As it swept across the nation, in California it wasn't always popular. The Long Beach Post (18/08/14) estimated that the ice bucket challenge had wasted "19,000 homes' daily water usage". In California, people started ice bucket shaming those that wasted too much water in attempting the challenge (LA Times 20/08/14). A satirical article even suggested than fines were being imposed against Californian challenge participants because it violated the Phase 2 water saving program (Daily Currant 15/08/14). While untrue, it raises the question of if fines should have been imposed on the water wasters. As the rest of the country was dumping buckets of water on their heads, California recognized the impracticality of this in their state.

While some still used ice water, others, like "Wrecking Ball" singer Miley, found alternatives with the rice bucket challenge. Discussing drought is no longer only for specialists in the Southwest anymore, it is debated by all residents! So hopefully this cooled you down before we begin to handle the flames of wildfires!