11-08-2022, 10:55 PM
(11-08-2022, 08:10 PM)JasonBlack Wrote: The Midwest is one of the only places in the world which is actually doing better because of global warming. The average temperature has risen, but, rather than seeing different ranges throughout the day, this has largely manifested as milder nighttime temperatures on account of higher humidity. This will likely be a boon to farmers and agricultural exports, as supply chains have made access to fertilizer difficult, and the soils of the midwest require relatively little compared to most other regions (nationally, and, especially, internationally).
Referring to the eastern Midwest, where the water supply is adequate (unless summer rains disappear; Mediterranean climates are great for agriculture if people can store water in deep, narrow reservoirs in mountainous terrain) the effect will be a longer growing season. There might be two crops in a year, which would support a larger population. The difference between a Cfa (mild-winters with all-year rain) and a Dfa or Dfb (real winters but all-year precipitation, including snow) climate is typically about 59 people per square kilometer and 118 people per square kilometer. Higher productivity of food makes life less costly than otherwise. Food is a big part of the cost of living, and if not food, then heating fuel and winter clothing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXpH4dEIkZA
The question in the western Midwest is where the climatic boundary between steppes and humid climates lies. On the dry side, wheat farming gives way to rangeland. Wheat is the grain crop most tolerant of dry weather. Everything else in the middle latitudes requires more water.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.