Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to I have a hard time deciding if you are actually this obteuse...

re: I have a hard time deciding if you are actually this obteuse...
gbaikie — (archived)

"OF COURSE drought happened in the past, the point is that these changes will lead to more droughts, and more widespread droughts. THINK about whats involved if we have to change to a new global distribution of agriculture!"

You said dust bowls.
I said drought, even severe drought doesn't neccessarily cause dust bowls. And as far as changing "global distribution of agriculture" I have no problem changing it, but more drought doesn't cause this to come about. Drought conditions even long term severe drought does not mean one can't farm in the area.

Areas with less than 8" of water per year in rainfall is generally called a desert:

"Historian Kevin Starr has referred to the San Joaquin Valley as "the most productive unnatural environment on Earth." By some estimates, fully 25% of the United States' agricultural production (as measured by dollar value) comes from California, and the vast majority of that is in the San Joaquin Valley. Grapes—table, raisin, and to a lesser extent wine—are perhaps the valley's highest-profile product, but equally (if not more) important are cotton, nuts (especially almonds and pistachios), citrus, and vegetables. The J. G. Boswell Company's farming operation in Kings County is the largest single cotton farm in the world, occupying over 40,000 acres (162 km²). Certain places are identified quite strongly with a given crop: Stockton produces the majority of the asparagus consumed in the United States, and Fresno is sometimes incorrectly credited as the birthplace of the raisin."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Joaquin_Valley

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