Lake Mead Drought

Dykstra: A corpse in a barrel in a drying reservoir

And other climate change tales for our age

A grim story about human remains found in a barrel exposed by the receding shoreline of Nevada's Lake Mead caught my eye this past week.


For me, it had all the elements: I grew up in a North Jersey town known for housing a few Mafia celebs, like Willie Moretti, the real-life inspiration for The Godfather’s legbreaker, Luca Brasi.

A few miles away were the heavily-polluted Meadowlands, a once-gorgeous wetland that had become, among other things, the alleged final resting place of countless Mafia debtors, rivals, and no-account Goodfellas.

So when drought-parched Lake Mead gave up the skeletal remains of a potential Western wiseguy, I was fascinated.

Lake Mead drought

Lake Mead is in desperate shape. Along with Lake Powell, upstream on the Colorado River, Mead is the key to prosperity for the booming cities, suburbs and farms of the desert Southwest – Arizona, Southern California, and, of course, Las Vegas. In addition to the unfortunate guy in the barrel, decades of overuse capped off by several years of brutal, climate-driven drought has exposed an intake pipe for Southern Nevada’s 2.2 million people.

They’re running out of water. Putting megacities like Phoenix and Vegas in a desert was never a good idea. They were always destined to run out of water, some day. But the rampant growth and a years-long, killer drought have made the crisis immediate.

And with the corpse-in-a-barrel story, we have one more link between climate and popular culture: The Sopranos meets fossil fuels.

It hardly made a wave, thereby joining the long rap sheet for climate change’s impact on our culture. Mostly, it’s things we’re losing.

Climate change and wine

Climate change wine

A California vineyard

Winecountry Media, via flickr

From Bordeaux to the Napa Valley, vineyards are in trouble. Bordeaux’s quarter million acres of vines face “a slow but simmering” climate crisis, according to Wine Enthusiast magazine. Increased temperatures, more frequent damaging storms and more can have a big impact on the sensitive grape, increasing the alcohol content in some varieties by 10% or more.

In California’s Napa Valley, frequent wildfires have scalded multi-million-dollar vintages. Other vintners who thought they were spared by the flames were felled by the smoke, which either ruined the taste of America’s priciest wines, or blackened the grapes to make the costliest raisins in history.

Insurers have also turned the screws on California wineries, either jacking up premiums, limiting coverage, or cancelling policies outright.

Changing seasons

Phenology is the science of measuring plants’ and animals’ responses to long-term changes in weather and climate. (Note: phenologists get really upset when their work gets mixed up with that of phrenologists, the sideshow quacks who tell your fortune by reading the bumps on your head.)

As spring replaces winter each year, the time- honored work of the tree tappers yields the sweet sap of sugar maples from the northeast U.S. and Quebec. But researchers tell us two things about rising temperatures and sugar maples: The maple syrup is less sweet, and the trees’ range is slowly moving north. Someday, phenologists tell us you won’t be able to find Vermont maple syrup in Vermont.

Lobsters, fluke and whales

Maine Lobster

Lobstermen hauling traps on the Maine coast

Rob Kleine/flickr

Offshore, New England lobsters could meet the same fate. Warming waters are chasing much of the food chain northward. Connecticut and Long Island lobstermen are struggling with a dwindling catch; within decades, Maine lobsters may only exist on the state’s license plates.

Summer flounder, or fluke, are a popular target for both sport and commercial fishermen. North Carolina commercial boats hold most of the permits for fluke in the $22 million industry, but they have to motor north to New Jersey to find the fish.

Northern right whales winter and calve off the Georgia and Florida coasts. They feed in summer in the Gulf of Maine. For now. The 300 or so remaining whales are what’s left after centuries of whaling. Ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear risk taking more But three recent studies indicate that climate change may be a final blow. The zooplankton that are right whales’ primary food source are increasingly scarce in the whales’ northern range.

So many climate stories

I could go on. Ocean wildlife everywhere is under threat from acidification and from the everyday torrent of microplastics. Shorter term, the energy dynamics of the Ukraine crisis have become the newest rationales for keeping the oil & gas infrastructure afloat.

But I guess that’s plenty for now.

Peter Dykstra is our weekend editor and columnist and can be reached at pdykstra@ehn.org or @pdykstra.

His views do not necessarily represent those of Environmental Health News, The Daily Climate, or publisher Environmental Health Sciences.

Banner photo credit of Lake Mead: Jakob Owens/Unsplash

In the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, new poll finds 90% of respondents support stricter fracking regulations

“Pennsylvanians are deeply ambivalent about fracking.”

PITTSBURGH — Nine in ten Pennsylvanians support stricter regulations on the fracking industry, while 42% would support an outright ban on fracking, according to a new poll.

Keep reading...Show less
Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.

Federal disaster programs could run out of money as hurricane approaches Florida

The federal government’s disaster relief programs face financial strain as Hurricane Milton, a Category 4 storm, threatens Florida, following the devastation of Hurricane Helene.

Thomas Frank reports for POLITICO.

Keep reading...Show less
palm trees blowing in a strong breeze
Credit: Pixabay

Hurricane Milton will be an election season political test

Hurricane Milton’s approach toward Florida threatens to challenge the Biden-Harris administration as it faces scrutiny in the lead-up to the presidential election.

Alexander Bolton reports for The Hill.

Keep reading...Show less

Trump spreads misinformation about disaster response to gain a political edge

In the final weeks of his presidential campaign, Donald Trump has used misleading claims about the Biden administration's disaster response to Hurricane Helene in an attempt to portray Vice President Kamala Harris as failing in her duties.

Justine McDaniel and Marianne LeVine report for The Washington Post.

Keep reading...Show less

Trump’s potential return sparks fear among federal employees

Environmental and energy agency workers are anxious over the possibility of a Trump presidency, fearing job loss and program cuts as they rush to finalize Biden’s priorities.

Robin Bravender reports for E&E News.

Keep reading...Show less
Philly refinery explosion
Credit: Elvert Barnes/Flickr

Philly refinery explosion settlement sends a message to the industry

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a $4.2 million settlement with Philadelphia Energy Solutions over a 2019 refinery explosion, marking the largest Clean Air Act settlement of its kind.

Frank Kummer reports for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Keep reading...Show less

Kelly Armstrong’s deep ties to oil raise ethics concerns in North Dakota governor’s race

Kelly Armstrong, front-runner for North Dakota governor, would oversee state bodies that regulate the oil and gas industry from which he derives nearly all of his personal income.

Jacob Orledge reports for ProPublica in partnership with the North Dakota Monitor.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
environmental justice

LISTEN: Mokshda Kaul on making the clean energy transition work for all

“Coalitions become this interesting way to create buy-in.”

climate week NYC

Op-ed: Is plastic the biggest climate threat?

A plastics treaty for the climate and health must address overproduction of plastics and head off the petrochemical and plastic industry’s planned expansion.

fracking pennsylvania cancer

Residents say Pennsylvania has failed communities after state studies linked fracking to child cancer

Last year Pennsylvania Department of Health studies showed increased risk of childhood cancer, asthma and low birth weights for people living near fracking. Advocates say not enough has been done since.

The fossil fuel industry is disproportionately harming low-income and minority women: Report

The fossil fuel industry is disproportionately harming low-income and minority women: Report

“Women, in all of their diversity, must be at the center of climate and energy decision-making.”

homelessness climate change

Op-ed: People need shelter from climate change — their health hangs in the balance

The discourse on climate resilience must include affordable housing policy solutions.

U.S. Steel Pennsylvania pollution

As Biden prepares to block the sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel, pollution concerns persist in Pennsylvania

“Pennsylvania steel communities have lived with dangerous air quality for generations. That needs to end.”

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.