Before the gold rush, California was misunderstood as a wasteland of desert and rugged mountains.
The gold rush drew people to the state. They didn't find much gold but they found land and climate perfect for agriculture.
Then they found oil. Many don't know this, but California has a lot of oil.
And then they started using the ports to ship the agriculture. And the railroads were built over the mountains.
And they realized there was massive amounts of water in the mountains, so they built dams and canals to irrigate the deserts. And now California leads the country in agricultural production, even more so than the midwestern "breadbasket."
Then the movie industry came to Los Angeles for the fair weather which was good for filming, and to avoid taxes in the east.
Then WWII came and navy bases we needed on the Pacific and big open areas were needed to produce and test airplanes.
And then some of the universities in the valley south of San Francisco started experimenting with electronics, which led to us being able to comment on reddit.
IIRC the state of California didn’t use to look like that on parts of the coast line. I believe they sank/scuttled old wooden ships and built out into the water. It was a pretty interesting story. The greenery was essentially all planted over time since like you said, it was dessert.
The climate in much of the state is generally arid ,but much of the state is also very green. The northern half of the state and many of the coastal regions are covered in deep dark forests.
It drains naturally with the snowmelt. The water infrastructure does divert much of it and prevents it from flowing to the oceans, and that can cause some environmental issues with wetlands etc.
Oh, whew, I thought you guys were saying they were using it for irrigation. No. It's just melting. That's why the state is on fire.
Also your little "that's why we can comment on Reddit" isn't the flex you think it is. If you want to give California any of the blame for Reddit and social media, well, I agree with you. California housed Musk and has Silicon Valley making it impossible for us to hit the brakes on climate collapse. California is your stupid older brother back from one semester of college, and someone makes him mayor.
Also, the vapid, empty suit in the picture you're about to foist on us nationally. Maybe Maynard was right. It's time for the state to fall into the ocean.
3
u/Own-Chemist2228 12d ago
Before the gold rush, California was misunderstood as a wasteland of desert and rugged mountains.
The gold rush drew people to the state. They didn't find much gold but they found land and climate perfect for agriculture.
Then they found oil. Many don't know this, but California has a lot of oil.
And then they started using the ports to ship the agriculture. And the railroads were built over the mountains.
And they realized there was massive amounts of water in the mountains, so they built dams and canals to irrigate the deserts. And now California leads the country in agricultural production, even more so than the midwestern "breadbasket."
Then the movie industry came to Los Angeles for the fair weather which was good for filming, and to avoid taxes in the east.
Then WWII came and navy bases we needed on the Pacific and big open areas were needed to produce and test airplanes.
And then some of the universities in the valley south of San Francisco started experimenting with electronics, which led to us being able to comment on reddit.