A Future Without Long-Haul Vacations

The Atlantic ^ | September 2, 2019 | Henry Wismayer

[C19fan]

The sun was still beating down when, one late afternoon earlier this year, I arrived at a dust bowl of baked earth where there should have been water. Lake Abbe, a soda lake on the border between Ethiopia and Djibouti, wasn’t where it was supposed to be. The local Afar people told me that an Ethiopian dam had stanched its inflow to irrigate a sugarcane plantation, and now the shore had receded to the horizon. Lake Abbe is the endpoint of the Awash River, a vital source of water in an ecosystem that is growing drier as local temperatures rise and the global climate crisis deepens.

[C19fan]

Back to the Future in the sense that these people want air travel to go to the era when only the rich could afford to travel by plane.

[gr8eman]

WTF is a soda lake? Does that mean if you drop a bunch of ice cream in it, it’s a Cheerwine Float lake (or whatever). My son would love that, but considering this is Africa it likely has turds floating in it as opposed to ice cream!

[cuban leaf]

One thing that area has needed for a century is dams. The problem in areas like this is that they get huge rain storms and the water just drains away to the oceans. But if they can dam it. They can save it and put some stability in the water supply, control flooding, and green the whole area.

[hal ogen]

I stopped reading at “...global climate crisis deepens...” Hogwash.

[DesertRhino]

I’ll cut back on travel when I see global warming conferences not happening in the farthest corner of the Earth, being served by a fleet of several hundred private jets. When I see presidential motorcades of electric cars. When I see Leonardo DiCaprio, Democrat politicians, Al Gore Etc living in tiny houses until then, GFY.

[old curmudgeon]

How did the author get there?

[PapaBear3625]

I’ll cut back on travel when I see global warming conferences not happening in the farthest corner of the Earth, being served by a fleet of several hundred private jets.

I regularly have video meetings with people thousands of miles away. There is no reason why these people so concerned with pollution shouldn't minimize their personal pollution contribution by doing likewise.

[1Old Pro]

local temperatures rise and the global climate crisis deepens

The media can cry sky is falling, but like their constant over-use of "racist" I no longer pay attention.

[cgbg]

the global climate crisis deepens.

We have a global crisis that is deepening for sure--it is a crisis of media pushing propaganda instead of reporting fact.

[GSWarrior]

Very few folks read The Atlantic.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Very few folks read The Atlantic.

And the ones who do won't be foregoing their ritzy vacations, I assure you.

[Grampa Dave]

The elite tell us that we can't take long haul vacations to save the planet. Yet, the elite greenies like Prince Harry fly in private planes to tell us we can't fly on long trips.

Prince Harry resembles another royal loser. Hank the 8th. The original founder of his Queen for a Day routine, until that new queen lost her head.

[moovova]

“...an Ethiopian dam had stanched its inflow to irrigate a sugarcane plantation...”

Holy cow. The river was dammed to support crops, and the writer blames the resultant dry lake on climate change.

[Right Wing Assault]

The World Department of Exceptions will have a drawing each year that will allow the winners to use fossil fuel transportation to go anywhere in the world. You can come back home only if you win the drawing again.

Good luck! There will be 1,000 winners a year in the peon ranks.

Politicians and beloved famous people are exempt from any travel rules.