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In Phoenix during peak summer if the grid were to go down - 917 deaths over five days. [More inside] (subium.com)
submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by to c/doomer@hexbear.net
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Bluesky link for the thread - https://bsky.app/profile/tessafisher.bsky.social/post/3mndvfqmofk27

A reply

HALF of the population of Phoenix would require medical attention at a hospital if a blackout occurred during a historic heat wave.

[PDF link] https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.2c09588

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[–] [S] 19 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Irrigated agriculture is the largest user of water in Arizona, consuming about 72% of the available water supply. In the past, this percentage was as high as 90%.

https://www.azwater.gov/conservation/agriculture

And I saw a Bluesky post that said ~25% of Arizona's water use goes just to the thirsty crop alfalfa.

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  • [–] 16 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    They’re growing alfalfa because it’s something they can grow and tend with just heavy equipment. It’s midwestern farming in the middle of a fucking desert where they think the sunny weather is just for fun. They’re terrible.

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  • [–] 13 points 4 months ago* (1 child)

    A lot of it is grown by large foreign-owned companies, I know in particular Saudi Arabian companies but from elsewhere too. Average people in AZ complain about the companies and water usage plenty from what I've seen at least.

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  • [–] 8 points 4 months ago

    There is no limit to how much water you can pull from the water table on private land in Arizona. In fact, it was made illegal just for the government to track how much is being pulled even though they can't stop you. So not only is Arizona the most precarious state in terms of water reserves, it's also the easiest to just remove all the water you want.

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