From NBC News:
New satellite images from NASA show how Lake Mead's shoreline has mineralized and the water level has fallen over the past 22 years. It now sits at just 27% capacity. The largest reservoir in the country, on the Nevada-Arizona border, is nearly unrecognizable, a “stark illustration of climate change,” according to NASA.
Read the full story here.
What is particularly frightening is the change from 2021 to 2022. The lake actually filled to capacity in 1983 and 1999. However, today the level equals the lowest point since April of 1937 when it was first being filled. According to NASA:
The largest reservoir in the United States supplies water to millions of people across seven states, tribal lands, and northern Mexico. It now also provides a stark illustration of climate change and a long-term drought that may be the worst in the U.S. West in 12 centuries.
Today is nostalgia day, and I again insert two postings from an around the world trip I started on 17 January 2010. I quote from my blog that day:
Today, I begin my journey. I will visit Seoul, Hanoi and other parts of Vietnam, Cambodia, Chiang Mai and Bangkok in Thailand, New Delhi, Barcelona, Munich, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, London, DC, New York City, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. I will keep you informed.)
The New Delhi stop was especially noteworthy, reporting on my entry into India. The title tells the whole story:
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…so far. This should get some reaction from my India readership, for, yes, I'm really disappointed at my treatment going through customs. Please comment on how I might more easily pass through the next time. SHOULD I BE WORRIED ABOUT LEAVING YOUR COUNTRY???
The flight from Bangkok was enjoyable. The plane lands on time, I pick up my bags and get sent to another baggage check area, where they find my computer. I am asked, how much is this worth? I say $2000. The customs officer says, I need to pay duty. No sense continuing this discussion, for the drill is that they find something to charge you extra, so I coolly give him the equivalent of $100 (surreptitiously, under the table….really!), for that is just the price of a typical dinner on this trip. He offers me tea, I say no thanks, and he ooshes me on, but as I’m about to exit the customs area, another officer notices that I have $5000 of cash indicated on the form, which he says has to be taxed. Without argument I pass on another $20 and move on. I suspect $20 would have sufficed for the first guy. This is reminiscent of Cairo, another nightmare, found in Chapter 6 of SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Planet Earth.
But I’m smarter this time. I find the booth to pre-pay the taxi company. Don't even think about just getting any old taxi. Just $5 to get to my hotel. I find my way to the taxi stand, show the slip, and they say, go to the other side and catch a black and yellow cab. I stand in line again. No air conditioning (DON’T COME DURING THE SUMMER, FOR INDIA JUST HAD IT’S HOTTEST SUMMER ON RECORD IN 2009, and this is February 7) and a really crummy vehicle. The driver asks, where? I say, the Le Meridien. He says, huh? I show him my taxi receipt and hotel reservation. He seems puzzled. We drive on. I notice that the plumeria tree leaves are not green, but either tannish or grayish, depending on the dust in the area. In fact, everyone and everything is tannish or grayish. Just like Cairo.
I went through one of the most exciting rides of my life, almost exactly like a video game, for the cab has his horn tooting almost constantly, cutting in front and being aced out every few seconds. The lines on the road are meaningless. The larger the vehicle, the higher the priority, apparently. Some roads are closed for no reason whatsoever.
At some point when we are in gridlock, he asks again, what is the address. Yes, he speaks English. I remember that my hotel reservation had a sheet with a map. I show him the Le Meridien. He nods and smiles. He really did not know where we were going. We arrive, and he goes to the wrong entrance. Finally…finally, I have my bags back and I give him a 40 cent tip (not percentage, cents)…20 rupees. I don’t look to see how happy or angry he might be.
The Le Meridien is an OASIS. While almost a quarter century old, the whole place was given a total make-over two years ago. My kind of hotel. Shiny, large flat screen TV, great service.
First things first, and I joined a tour to Agra and the Taj Mahal for what I think is $50 (2400 rupees). Pick up at 6:15AM tomorrow and return at 10:15PM. I think, because a hotel car with driver was to have cost me $200.
I decided to walk around the hotel, got practically mugged, but pleasantly, by a couple of taxi drivers, who insisted that their tuk-tuk (they have the human kind as in Hanoi and the same two-cycle engine system of Bangkok) for less than a dollar could take me virtually anywhere, and that crossing the street was a problem. They were right, for Delhi has these traffic circles (photo from my room above), and you can’t see vehicles careening into you. Theoretically, it is a 10 minute walk to Connaught Place and 10 minutes the other way to India Gate. I chicken out and go back to the hotel and sign up for a city tour in two days. I leave for Barcelona in three days.
I’m having a Highland Park scotch, see (in a manner of speaking, for the atmosphere is reminiscent of Los Angeles, circa 1958) India Gate from my room and am cranking out this blog. The room came with a complimentary bottle of Bordeaux, but I’ll save that for another day. Yes, the Meridien is an oasis.
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Visitors to this site: 23, 700
Visitors this week: 755
Number of countries: 132
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Nothing special about this posting, except that it hit a nerve, and got 90 comments. Click on this to read them. Saw and experienced a lot in New Delhi. A side trip to Agra was experienceful, as reported here. I then left on 11 February 2010 for Barcelona. I include the next posting because it was truly memorable.
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Another truly monumental day, again a roller coaster of emotions with assorted tribulations and over the top stress. However, 24 hours after leaving the Delhi Le Meridien, I arrived at the Barcelona Le Meridien, and feel almost euphoric, for I survived India and am now in Spain.
I left the Delhi Le Meridien at 6:30AM and was taken by a hotel car (free) to the airport. Check in was terrific, for Lufthansa upgraded me to first class. With some trepidation, I nevertheless passed through customs with ease. I was about to have a croissant and capuchino breakfast in the Lufthansa lounge when a uniformed officer asked to see my boarding pass (BP). He then ordered me to accompany him, for there was a problem with my check-in baggage. Maybe another extortion scheme?
I imagined all sorts of worse case scenarios. Maybe someone had somehow snuck in a pound of heroin or a bomb into my baggage. We passed through one security gate, where they stamped my BP. At this point another uniformed officer with a rifle accompanied us. We went through two more security areas, where they again stamped the BP, into the bowels of the airport. Then I thought, oh no, my “India Sucks” blog really pissed off someone and they were going to execute me. However, Cambodia, maybe, but certainly not India. We made it to where bags accumulate, and there was my suitcase. It occurred to me then, what if they never found me before the plane left. This suitcase would never have made it to Barcelona.
They asked me to open it. At this point, I sort of realized the problem. TSA has a key to my type of luggage, but they don’t in India. As I was opening the bag, I was asked if I had a lighter in there. I said, yes, and found it in the bag with my cigars. He huddled with two others and they talked for several minutes. Then they went up to a higher official for several minutes more of animated discussion. I thought, with these histrionics, for sure, another $100 would be necessary. But I would go no higher. Then I saw one of them use a device to evacuate the lighter of the fluid. They gave me back my lighter, I closed the suitcase, they all smiled, so did I, and I left the area, accompanied by my two guards, mildly embarrassed for my unkind thoughts. I had to re-pass through the three security tables, where they again stamped my BP. By the time this was all over, my BP was totally unrecognizable. I was returned to the lounge, where I fixed myself a stiff Bloody Mary, except with gin, as there was no vodka.
In a short while it was about my boarding time, so I left for the gate. There, I learned that there was a two hour delay. No problem, at least I made it this far. Finally I boarded, and the 8 hour flight was about the best I’ve had in all my years of flying.
I was offered a Champagne Veuve Devaux with macadamia nuts. According to the write-up, the “freshness of the chardonnay knits perfectly with the fruit and opulence of the pinot noir.” I did not know this combination (Pinot Meunier can also be used) was what went into champagne, and this one was the winner of the Lufthansa blind tasting. As the plane was taxiing on the runway, they continued to pour more champagne. It is then I noticed that, while there were others in First Class, no one was sitting within 15 feet of me. I was sort of all alone.
The plane took off, and Emma, my hostess,
passed out three large booklets, one each for the two meals and a third of the beverages. I thereby, then, although Pearl would not have approved, decided to break the Guinness world record for the most esoteric assortment of alcohol drunk on one flight. My first drink was a La Guita Sherry, sort of a Manzanilla. If you’re counting, I’m now up to three. With the Serrano Ham and Milan Salami I had a Kaseler Nies’chen Riesling (#4), from the top vineyard in the Mosel Valley. Quoting again: “racy acidity, classic minerality and restrained sweetness.” Various cheeses then came, followed by an omelette of smoked salmon and creamy spinach, with pineapple stuffed pancakes. This was breakfast at 1PM, Delhi time, but 9:30AM in Munich, where the plane was headed.
I ended the first meal with a Niepoort White Port (#5), which had been aged for 10 years. Yes, white port, which actually is golden yellow. I had a Johnny Walker Blue (#6) with the first movie and Warsteiner Premium Verum (#7) with the second.
The second meal started with real caviar and traditional garnishes,
including a special Smirnoff vodka (#8). I reflected on the irony of this feast as the plane flew over the Middle East War. I skipped most of the rest, but had a Pomfret in Saffron Sauce with Fettuccine, accompanied with an Ihringer Winklerberg Spatlese trocken (#9), a Pinot Blanc “with subtle aromas of vanilla, pear and citrus fruit.” This all ended with a Pfalz Chardonnay Eiswein (#10), expresso and Calvados Pays d’Auge (#11). Actually, much of all the above were mere tastings. I did not actually consume every drop. You can ask Emma, who was a most gracious and accommodating partner in this epicurean experience.
The plane landed in a Munich whiteout.
I made it into the Senator Lounge passing through a mob outside. Most flights out had been cancelled, and the line to re-process was at least 200, if not 300, yards long. This was not single file, it was about 5 people wide and not moving at all. Amazingly enough, Lufthansa had the foresight to re-book me on a later Barcelona flight, and this one was to leave in two hours.
Unfortunately, the snowstorm worsened, and the plane did not leave until midnight, five hours late. But this was one of the few flights allowed to depart. Two hours later I landed in Barcelona. In fact, my two bags were the first to appear. Again, just a step before freedom, was asked to have my bags x-rayed in a side room. The setting was perfect. I was the only passenger, they saw a computer in my luggage, and they essentially asked the same question as in India. Theirs was, how many computers do you have in this suitcase. I said one. Is that all? Yes (although I could have added, I have another one in the other bag). He kind of shook his head and I thought, okay, how much? Well, he said okay and helped me place my luggage onto the cart and waved goodbye to me. My relief was overwhelming. Spain's Corruption Perception Index is 6.1, compared to the now #1, New Zealand, at 9.4, and the U.S. up to 7.5, versus India, still at 3.4. The rest of my stops will be in countries with a CPI higher than the USA.
I had made a brilliant decision the day before. I had the option of being picked up by the Le Meridien for 66 Euros (about $100), but I said no because there was a clause that said if the driver had to wait, it would cost 66 Euro/hour. My plane was 8 hours late, so I would have had to pay almost $1000 if I had not decided to catch a cab. I went with the Fodor recommendation that the airport taxi system in Barcelona was well managed. I ended up paying 40 Euros, a bit more than the book stated, but there is a surcharge after midnight, and I added a generous tip.
What a day!!!
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The Dow Jones Industrials went up 106 to 10,144, and world markets also mostly increased, with the Japan Nikkei at 10,092. Gold is up $13/toz to $1090 and crude oil is in the range of $75/barrel.
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Tropical Cyclone Pat is petering out, but Tropical Cyclone Rene is now up to 65 MPH and could well hit Samoa this weekend as a Category 3 storm.
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The Japanese Nikkei and American Dow Jones were about equal on that day in 2010.
- Yesterday the Nikkei was at 27,655, while the Dow was at 31,751.
- Also interesting is that the Nikkei was at 26,613 on 22 March 1991, about the same as what it is today 30 years later!
- However around that time in 1991 the Dow was just below 3,000! Thus the Dow jumped by more than factor of 10 in 30 years, while the Japan's Nikkei is back to where it was in 1991.
Actually, it's worse than that. At the end of 1989 the Nikkei reached an all-time high of
38,916. And it's even more terrible than that, for if you had purchased a whole bunch of Japanese company stocks in 1989 for a million dollars, the value would have dropped 30 years later to $689,000. But the inflation rate value would further have lowered the value by at least a factor of two, or those stocks today would be worth $344,485.
I got only two comments to the second posting, the one where I traveled from New Delhi to Munich to Barcelona. Here they are:
Your dining in Lufthansa first class does sound like a record in airborne decadence. I hope EH does not see this blog because it will blow your cover!
Leighton
Hi your Stewardess Emma is my lovely niece - I am delighted that you mentioned her and how well she represents the charm of the Irish and that she is good at her job - she sent me the link so is obviously very proud herself !
Enjoy - rgds Cathy Reynolds
I was on the verge of inserting a third posting, my first day in Barcelona: I LOVE BARCELONA. But I won't because one of the photos was definitely provocative, and could stir up some turmoil, as INDIA SUCKS did. I do include a photo of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, which comes from my blog entitled FASCINATING BARCELONA. Construction began in 1882 and was projected to be completed in 2026. Well, they gave up on that date.
I close with my Blood Lily bloom at one week. Over the next couple of weeks, there should be at least six, and maybe more flowers. I gave three of them away to residents here, so they, too, should be on the verge of watching their Blood Lily bloom.
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Directed the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute at the University of Hawaii for 15 years.
Assisted in creating the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research, and hired the engineers who built and tested the 210 kW open-cycle OTEC facility at the Natural Laboratory of Hawaii Authority on the Big Island.
Helped found Blue Revolution Hawaii, which has proposed:
The International Space Station cost $150 billion, has been abandoned by Russia, and is expected to crash to Earth in 2031 without creating any major industry in space.
An international partnership to provide an opportunity for the private sector to embark on a geoengineering solution to remediate global warming, while developing and marketing sustainable products in harmony with the marine environment.
