Something is Drinking 50% of the Colorado River's Water

[@allatamusic]

It is so disconcerting how people are eager to scream ' Climate Change' and not look at the main source of water usage/waste and their own personal daily consumption of resources. People do not really want to take responsibility on this level yet.

[@someguy2135]

Climate change is worsened by meat and dairy production. Ending animal agriculture as we know it is needed to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreements of 1.5-2 degrees Celsius. Switching to a fully plant based diet is the most effective way for each of us to minimize our environmental footprint.

[@someguy2135]

Each person switching to a plant based diet would save 219,000 gallons (829,000 liters) of water every year! "UNESCO Institute for Water Education: The production of a meat-based diet typically consumes twice the amount of water as compared to a plant-based diet. National Geographic: "On average, a vegan, a person who doesn't eat meat or dairy, indirectly consumes nearly 600 gallons of water per day less than a person who eats the average American diet." Diet change-a solution to reduce water use? (IOP Science): This 2014 research finds "reducing animal products in the human diet offers the potential to save water resources, up to the amount currently required to feed 1.8 billion additional people globally."-Truth Or Drought (Title follows- "How Would a Vegan Shift Save Water?")

[@ApexRevolution]

Because personal responsibility means nothing when 100 corporations pollute more than like 90% of the population? Stop being a liberal.

[@allatamusic]

@@ApexRevolution It means something to me and my community DESPITE knowing the above and limits to making big change. But thanks for the label, didn't know that's what I was *lol*.

[@palarious]

@@someguy2135 "the goals of the Paris Agreements of 1.5-2 degrees Celsius" You mean the goals that wouldn't actually stop climate change, just slow it, but would cripple the very economies that care enough to do something? Seems like it'd be a lot smarter to invest in space industry, lunar manufacturing, and launch a constellation of solar shades to a Lagrange point from factories on the moon

[@chrisconklin2981]

I spent a good deal of my working career measuring water flows on the upper Colorado River. In the West, water is a fighting word. Your presentation is top notch. You missed southern Utah and their desire to water golf courses and the lawns of California refugees. Otherwise you are spot on about the meat industry. Legacy water rights are a real problem. Thanks

[@josorzo11]

California refugees not longer have green lawns

[@someguy2135]

Each person switching to a plant based diet would save 219,000 gallons (829,000 liters) of water every year! "UNESCO Institute for Water Education: The production of a meat-based diet typically consumes twice the amount of water as compared to a plant-based diet. National Geographic: "On average, a vegan, a person who doesn't eat meat or dairy, indirectly consumes nearly 600 gallons of water per day less than a person who eats the average American diet." Diet change-a solution to reduce water use? (IOP Science): This 2014 research finds "reducing animal products in the human diet offers the potential to save water resources, up to the amount currently required to feed 1.8 billion additional people globally."-Truth Or Drought (Title follows- "How Would a Vegan Shift Save Water?")

[@user-no2mz9hl4f]

I agree that lawns and golf courses are an environmental issue. So are fast fashion and single-use plastic (for different reasons). But if someone is looking to make the biggest impact with just one lifestyle change, the switch to a plant based diet is the answer. I don’t even think, from an environmental perspective, it would have to be 100% plant based; I think upwards of 80% plant based would make a huge difference, which roughly works out to 4 or fewer meals which include animal products per week.

[@twogood4m394]

Please correct me if I am wrong but I was under the impression that golf course water was in the category of parks/recreation which only was about 8% of the water usage. It just doesn't seem to make sense to go after that when agriculture is up in the 80%+ of water usage.

[@chrisconklin2981]

​@@twogood4m394 It is true that agriculture consumes the vast majority of the available water. The assumption being that by reducing meat consumption, this will help to solve our water problem. This will require a tremendous modification of the traditional western perspective. You mention that golf courses are included along with parks. Maybe so, but if you tour the small towns of the west, each has a municipal green grass park and they are well used by the public. Golf courses are a more recent addition and are mostly private clubs. I guess it is the symbolism that this represents that concerns me.

[@jamieamodeo2551]

People would rather have meat than water. Craziness.

[@ConsciousBrosCommunity]

Its absurd. Animal agriculture must be abolished asap

[@The_Savage_Wombat]

Abolish all agriculture in the desert. It's an ecological apocalypse.

[@brandygibson5003]

I was born and raised in Arizona and I do not even know how to begin to describe the sadness I feel at the thought of the Colorado drying up. I do know, that when it is gone, some of the most beautiful parts of Arizona (and the world) will likely disappear too. All for what? For greed? And so people can continue to enjoy a food system that has been proven again again to be damaging to us in every way possible. I just feel so tired. Honestly. Tired and hopeless. I've known climate change was going to screw us all for a long time. However, it looks like it's going to happen even sooner than originally thought, because humans suck so damn much. And that just opens a pit of dispair.

[@berniv7375]

🌱🙂🌱

[@NeneChan203]

I share your same exact feelings of tiredness, hopelessness and frustration. It's so, so saddening, watching this unfold and still seeing most of people laughing and joking about it, dismissing it, posting childish "eating a steak rn watching this" and "i'll eat double the meat so your efforts won't matter" comments, so on and so forth. Human beings are killing this beautiful planet, the only planet we have, along with billions of beautiful animals that go through unmeasurable suffering, because of selfishness and greed. Because they can't give up their addiction to corpses and they demand more and more. It's really disheartening. Sometimes it really gets to me and it becomes hard to accept to live in a world like this. Sorry for the rant, I wanted to support and share your feelings. I hope somehow things will change.

[@suicune2001]

@@NeneChan203 Trust me, I get it. I've been feeling the same way the last few months. With everything that is going on politically and watching the world fall apart, knowing we're basically on a 30 year countdown timer, it REALLY makes it hard to give a crap about anything. Heck, I'm even publishing a book soon and while that gave me a little hope for a little while, I don't honestly expect it to have a big impact. I should probably go to a therapist but then I'd just make the therapist vegan and depress the heck out of them too. lolci. Part of me wants to get back to eating super healthy and lose a little bit of weight for my book release and put out a good face and the other part of me wants to screw it and eat vegan cheesecake.

[@NeneChan203]

@@suicune2001 I'm really sorry to hear that you're going through so much. It's amazing that you've been working on your own book though, that requires a lot of effort and skills, so great job for doing that. :-) It's an incredible accomplishment. As for the rest, I try to hang onto the little bit of hope that I can find. I try to think that through online activism, more and more people are seeing the horrible truth of animal ag and turning vegan, even though, regrettably, it's still a very very small percentage of people... We can only hope and stay strong. I wish you the best of luck though, and a great success.

[@suicune2001]

@@NeneChan203 Thanks,! I just requested a proof copy of my book from Amazon. It should be coming in the mail tomorrow. If everything looks good then actual publishing should be in a couple weeks. I want to make an audiobook as well. I have some equipment to record it but I don't actually know how to publish an audiobook and neither does my publisher. I want to give my e-book away for free if Amazon lets me. I don't want anyone to claim they can't afford it or I'm just publishing it for money. Part of me wants it to get enough attention I get asked for interviews but the introverted part of me HATES that idea. lol. But if I have interviews then that means more exposure for people to read it and more potential people to go vegan. My book is very different than most books. I go hardcore into the science, the government regulations, and reports AND I provide direct links to my references. I don't just state "99.7% of milk contains mastitis and 79% contains E. coli." I also provide the link to the USDA 2014 Dairy Report so they can see it for themselves. I'm hoping to gross them out with the truth. Disgust is a very strong motivator.

[@LouisGedo]

*Create a Better 🌎 and a Better You by...............Living Vegan* 💜

[@thearchitecturegirl]

I read “when the rivers run dry” by Fred Pearce before I went vegan, and I’m sure having that information in the back of my mind helped me switch. Really eye opening book, although quite old now.

[@kennickel878]

The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi

[@kevinouellette5316]

So you won't eat hunted or privately owned small farm meat because of mass agriculture?

[@iscovidoveryet7828]

If you're wondering where the water went, you need to look no further than the plastic bottle of water produced by Nestle. We have the same problem with them in Canada. The Grand River west of Hamilton is only 2 inches deep in most places because they're sucking up the aquifer for fractions of a penny on the dollar.

[@raycooper9116]

This is unbelievably awesome that you put this together. I knew about some of this as I hiked from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon via the Arizona Strip in April 2021. I saw the low level in Lake Mead. What was evident also is the Arizona Strip which is roughly all the state of Arizona above the Grand Canyon is suffering from 150 years of cattle ranching. It’s dying. This was marginal grazing land even at its best, spring fed desert. There were once ranch houses that are now derelict. The leases were purchased by one or two who are trying to hang on but it’s futile. That’s the only good news, otherwise they’ve destroyed the landscape. Nature will come back. Thank you for doing this!

[@raycooper9116]

@Nicegram-Me-MictheVegan Hi Mike Thanks for reading my comment If you like I can send you some 82% Cacao Organic World Peace Chocolate. Would love to get your input. The business is growing. We will create a non-profit vegan arm of the business. Moving to Portland Oregon later this year. Please provide shipping address. Chocolate needs to be chilled and served cold.

[@All_Things_Out_Doors]

Out east, we are perfect for growing hay....but big solar is taking up farm fields for solar panels. Yet in the bright sunny west, we are planting hay and no panels ....makes sense. Smh

[@suicune2001]

It seems the human race is willing to go without water for ourselves rather then stop giving it to animals. That has to meet the definition of insanity somewhere.

[@0861USMC]

Saudi Arabia owns massive hay fields in Arizona. They get to use as much water as they want. That hay is shipped back to Saudi Arabia.

[@The_Savage_Wombat]

They got a lot of money. Laws and common sense don't apply to them.

[@allisonmae3445]

Absolutely amazing video!!! Thank you for putting this together. I knew the Colorado River was not in good shape, but I didn't realize it was this bad. There really aren't words to describe the level of frustration for this. Lately, I've been extra angry about corporate greed and have been getting more and more bothered seeing people mindlessly eat meat. For something like this to be happening because people are making bank killing and exploiting animals is next level.

[@kevinouellette5316]

People have been eating meat since forever?! Mindless eating meat? The Earth's climate changes constantly, always has. Should we kill all animals that eat meat since they are being mean to other animals? Also I'm sure this guy's facts could be argued with other facts that contradict his point of view

[@laurieparis2203]

Can't watch more than five minutes as this topic is giving me a severe anxiety attack. Humans are destroying our planet and all we can do is sit back and watch while policing our own wasteful habits. Thx for bringing this topic to the fore for those with stronger constitutions than mine. 🌱

[@thecakeisalie652]

As a teen I visited the grand cannyon, colorado river and hoover dam and the location where storm cathrina wiped the skywalk away (I am from Germany and it was the 1st and the last time I visited that impressive land). At 17 my English was mediocre but we talked to the Hualapai folks there and they reported the same thing as the guide at Antelope Canyon. The build of the hoover dam did a tremendous damage to the landscape after damming the river. Depending on the place we visited, the tone changed from criticising the building because of the damage it did to the environment up to plain "yay we got water" attitude at the info cards at hoover dam. This trip changed me since then to appreciate nature more because it can be destroyed easily. It is sad to see that there are even more issues -- not the ones that were espectec by global warming in 2005 when I was there but on top that water deal is mortifying IMHO. Just why...? I highly recommend anyone who can reach this land by car - go there, look at that little river, talk to the lokals what it means for them. It will have an impact on you, because you have so much beautiful nature that is worth protecting.

[@svettaa.8784]

This is so informative! Thank you for the video, Mic.

[@heatherh.946]

Another incredible video! Thank you for all of your intense research and time that you put into providing this information.

[@AbsolutePerspective]

Thanks

[@bohditony]

🙏 this topic is not mentioned in reports too often. As animal farmers see its their right to the use(abuse) of the water. Even if it leaves millions of people with out water.

[@JasonJrake]

As a school kid on the 80s, I know Arizona was already taking this seriously. In 4th grade the science hour was about xeriscaping (low water landscapes) and other ways to not waste water at home or in places like school and church. We also learned that we had to be careful with water and electricity because most of what is produced goes to California. Unfortunately the Electronics and Farming industries are given special deals there which causes them to not take these limited resources seriously. From what I understand, many of the suburbs of Phoenix actually rely on abundant ground water sources.

[@MictheVegan]

That's awesome, it seems like the residential education is there but the political resource management is...not as you can see by the Arizona section of the view! Thanks for sharing :)

[@JasonJrake]

@@MictheVegan I should clarify that I grew up in a Mormon-controlled part of the Phoenix area, which in hindsight had private-level public schools as a side effect of the religiously motivated “meddling” of so many parents. A couple years later the same school was the trial for a sixth grade environmental/ecology curriculum. Other school districts may not have been as forward thinking. But the 4th grade state-history curriculum definitely made a point that Arizona-California is one of the few interstate water disputes that broke out in shooting (possibly while AZ was still a territory) and that’s how serious water is to survival. Thanks for covering this ticking time-bomb problem! It never hurts to bring more light.

[@jeffk464]

Water wise is low water landscaping and in my opinion can look more lush. Xeroscape is supposed to get by without any irrigation, so just rainfall, basically a cactus garden.

[@The_Savage_Wombat]

@@jeffk464 Eliminating all irrigated landscaping might save about 1% of the lower Colorado River water. But people won't have lawns to throw a frisbee or pools to swim in. The rate of obesity and diabetes would skyrocket. People need a place to exercise safely. Otherwise, they just sit in front of the TV playing video games or on the computer typing comments on KZbin.

[@tnijoo5109]

So crazy to think of how much food could be grown if alfalfa wasn’t being grown.

[@someguy2135]

Switching to a fully plant based food system would feed millions more people. I have seen the study.

[@johnlopez5031]

Ya no thanks i eat meat always will

[@Reeeeves]

@@johnlopez5031 🙄 Then continue your destructive habits and mindlessly going about your life. Sad, strange little man.

[@UnlimitedHangout1]

@@johnlopez5031 Ya thanks, I eat Johnny Lopez and his friends n family and I always will.

[@ElvenClaw]

@@johnlopez5031 it’s that attitude that has us all in this predicament

[@teamground0229]

I am a meat eater. That said, I learned something from your analysis. Irrigating for beef does seem silly, better produced elsewhere. Dairy is kind of a local product. Betting those ag interests are well lobbied and lawyered. Wonder what pricing ag gets for its water vs. residential/commercial.

[@SmokingGouda]

It sounds like we've doing something a lot like China has, where we've been trying to grow and do things in areas where nature is categorically against it... Seems like we may have the numbers to put together a national plan to grow and raise crops and animals where they work best in concert with nature? That and to find and encourage the use of feed crops that use less water?

[@soupysoup931]

5:40 even if California is flooded which is a sorta normal thing in winters, it's all gonna dry like crazy in heatwaves in the summer when shit can get as high as 100+ down there in the desert so it's as good as useless. Thanks for the coverage.

[@07MoPower]

74.1 gallons of water to produce one pound of avocados.

[@russellwilson5246]

here in australia the CSIRO say dairy uses 50% of allocated water.we have the media blaming china and almonds too.seems thats a animal product industry destraction bit like sugar makes you fat.

[@brentbaumgartner1198]

Excellent video, again. Thanks for all the work you put into getting the facts out in a very clear way. You may have done a video on this topic before, but I hope you can update it--I'd like to know how legislation in the farm bill, in particular, prohibits people from challenging agriculture in the law, making changing laws nearly impossible. Thanks for you and your channel!

[@MictheVegan]

Yes I really need to do an Ag Gag law video!

[@jackpanella3285]

How do you expect it to rain or snow without evaporation? Approximately 85% of atmospheric moisture evaporates from the ocean. The rest comes from evapotranspiration on land. When moisture from the Pacific climbs the Cascades or Sierra Nevada, precipitation is going to fall on the way up. When the air continues down the other side, the relative humidity drops as the air heats up. If you want precipitation on the other side, the moisture has to come from land and inland surface waters. Evaporation is good. Without it you're cutting off large regions of the country. By the way, I ended the drought, by removing obstructions to atmospheric circulation near Snowflake, Arizona. Look at the current Drought Monitor. The end of the drought starts in Arizona.

[@berwinenzemann3468]

Whatever the cause is, I bet the solution is veganism.😁

[@animatorstanley]

What about those ppl that wanna eat bugs? Ew.

[@berwinenzemann3468]

@@animatorstanley They've gone astray. Eating bugs is absolutely disgusting!

[@traveler65]

The more plants the better. For health, compassion for all animal and the planet. 😊

[@PercivalBlakeney]

@@berwinenzemann3468 Veganism may not provide a complete solution but there's no complete solution without it. 🌷

[@The_Savage_Wombat]

Not farming in the desert and not letting millions of people migrate to the desert might help too.

[@deutziana4370]

Thanks for this information. You presented a very persuasive case for how switching to a vegan diet is an effective way for individuals to conserve water. I made the switch five years ago to improve my health. Protecting the environment is a compelling reason for me to stay committed to eating plants.

[@tofutuesday]

Living in Phoenix I know about this issue all too well. Even though animal ag is the main issue, I'm always amazed at the fact that the Phoenix metro area has zero water restrictions and surprised at how many people insist on planting and watering lawns. It's completely unnecessary in the desert

[@annieo2766]

Excellent information, thanks, Mic!

[@annieo2766]

Sorry, cant figure out what to do...

[@meandyouagainstthealgorith5787]

Arizona sunshine is great for growing lettuce in winter, and Mexico (often forgotten, but equally dependent) grows green onions and other greens that are mostly shipped to the US. The alfalfa could be grown elsewhere. Cotton is disappearing for other reasons.

[@palarious]

It seems extremely weird to me to see people watering grass production. In east Texas, we don't usually irrigate it. Seems like it'd be smarter to grow grass in more accommodating climates and ship it.

[@Tonii080]

California barely rained for years until now. So, it’s weird for people to think that it made a big difference. Like another commenter said, it will dry up soon enough with how hot it gets.

[@thatsalt1560]

I follow a gardener in California and he seems to really use the sources of water he has to the max, both rain and "grey". It seems to working well, but it does cost to arrange it.

[@The_Savage_Wombat]

@@thatsalt1560 Grey water use is illegal in Las Vegas. Only the large casinos are allowed to use it.

[@78cheerio]

I really like your thoughtful analysis, visuals, attitude and insights. You can pick any number of topics as far as I’m concerned. Likely your audience is intelligent and curious too, so perhaps they wouldn’t mind either.

[@AdamTLyon]

Literally LOL’d at that Colorado transition. Loved this video and your thumbnails are always so good.

[@jaenmartens5697]

Water is going to Big Ag (not sustainable of course) The rains are controlled. THAT’s the big prob.

[@Mark4Jesus]

My sister sent me a link to carnivore Paul Mason and I was bored so I watched. He said it's not true that raising cattle wastes water because they pee and water the fields. 🤣

[@kamaliancirranoush1916]

Wow lol. I guess he forgot about the food they eat!

[@CristinaAcosta]

Ai yi yi

[@davidthescottishvegan]

The Colorado River is probably running out of water due to the animal agricultural industry and the Almond industry ( not the most sustainable nut due to the water issue) Thanks for another awesome video Mike.

[@markbelanger5754]

It's amazing what a no brainer the fix is. And it's sitting right out in plain site. The Beef industry, meanwhile is pushing out all of the small ranchers and monopolizing into four large companies (or already has)...Seems like they are on a crash course trajectory. Thanks for keeping up the great work Mike!

[@Human_Herbivore]

People defending animal agriculture always tell me I have no idea because something, something, something green, blue water.

[@vegmoto]

Last summer, I rode a motorcycle with galloping buffalo in a salt flat that used to be covered with water of the Great Salt Lake. At the time I thought it was really magical and romantic, and now that I know about the Great Salt Lake's fate, it feels more tragic.

[@joeycmore]

Well presented. Thank you for opening my eyes.

[@miken1463]

Mic great presentation. Nice use of spreadsheets. Appreciate all the research that went into this. People need to understand this crisis for what it is. All the cities that you listed as the main consumers are huge progressive bubbles with progressive values. If you did a door to door poll asking questions like: Do you care about the health of our nations rivers. Do you care about the wildlife that depend on these rivers. Do you want to make a difference in creating sustainable rivers? The answers in Portland, SF, LA and Denver would be Yes Yes Yes. So we have another example of cognitive dissonance. Where a person’s beliefs and their actions are not aligned. You and people like you need to be on a bigger platform speaking these simple truths in 3 minute news bites and start chipping away at the overwhelming ignorance on this subject. Sorry 20 minute presentations are way too long. But I enjoyed every minute of it.

[@someguy2135]

I favor doing both long videos and excerpts from them for the new KZbin shorts feature. Those clips could also be used on Tic Tok, etc.

[@Spyrit2011]

You do realize vertical farming can be used for livestock, there is a dairy farm in Utah that has this. The cows are fed nutrient dense grasses, and it is 95% more efficient on water than agriculture.

[@rebeccawatson9284]

I hope you enjoyed your visit, anyway! We're colorado proud in our beautiful state! ✌️

[@michaelspano4067]

i understand that the walmart conglomerate has invested over 2 billion dollars into the scheme to privatize the water from the colorado river. i gather no moves have been made yet to privatize the rainfall but once this privatization occurs and water prices skyrocket we will no doubt need to increase the taxpayer funded subsidies to the animal agriculture industry so we can continue to use animals for our dining pleasure.

[@The_Savage_Wombat]

I don't understand how you can privatize the Colorado River when it has an overarching agreement which controls all of it.

[@lexmedved]

how many of these alfalfa fields etc are owned by Saudi Arabia and china. They send the crops back home along with OUR water...

[@libertadvalerio870]

It’s so frustrating. Vegan food is delicious. There are replacements for everything now a days! We are going to lose so much and for what?!

[@kellykelly7747]

You might check to see if the Nestlé Corporation is using waayyy more than they are alotted!

[@kamaliancirranoush1916]

Good video Mike! I like it 👍🏻

[@olallaeddy]

It was almost dry in the early 70s in Yuma AZ and no water made it to Mexico. The golf courses look great in every state sucking water out.

[@soupysoup931]

11:10 "water almond concerns been blown out of the water now" - lmao

[@NeneChan203]

This is disheartening. This kind of information should be aired everyday on TV. People need to know, but they don't want to know, because truth is inconvenient and most people don't want to give up their animal corpses and animal bodily fluids addiction. We only have one beautiful planet and we're killing it because of greed and selfishness.

[@fernandocifuentes9258]

Love u mate, the world needs people like you

[@parkereatsplants]

It's the end of the world as we know it.

[@reason3581]

Of all elephants ever being in any room throughout the entire history of elephants in rooms, animal agriculture has to be by far the biggest.

[@starsaligninthesky]

Why don't people catch their own water? It boggles my mind that people pay for water when it literally is free.

[@cosmichef75]

They made it illegal in some states.

[@matwinner9708]

Whoever thought millions of surplus humans living large in a desert would cause any problems. Fascinating.

[@PBandJames1]

11:43 is an interesting chart. I wonder whether the dollar value output of a crop is really relevant to us as vegans from a big picture perspective. I also wonder if the alfalfa and corn listed here being assigned the rate the are sold as feed skews what the industry really values them for- the end result animal product.

[@steveberkson3873]

Its like the great un-said,nobody notices until their taps run dry. JW Powell told us 150yrs ago that you can’t use the SW desert the same as other parts of the country.

[@marzettik]

Wow, cows are thirsty, who knew? LOL

[@user-no2mz9hl4f]

I’m so glad I eat a plant based diet. On a positive note, I popped into a Starbucks the other day, and was pleasantly surprised to see a little placard with tips to help the planet; one of them was to choose a plant based milk for one’s drink!

[@scottalan4655]

Look up how much water is used growing almonds it's almost obscene

[@user-no2mz9hl4f]

@@scottalan4655 And twice as much water is used in the production of cow milk. Even more obscene.

[@chick-a-labstudent7982]

I live in Las Vegas. My family and I are making serious plans to relocate because the water end is near. What makes me angry is seeing the greed. Have we stopped growing and building. Absolutely fucking not. We see new neighborhoods pop up every month. I don’t even use my tap to boil water anymore. We’re into the sludge in Lake Mead.

[@kathivy]

This is an amazing breakdown of what is happening to the Colorado River. Thank you for digging into the details. I would have thought that human direct use would have had a larger percentage of the impact, but I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that our obsession with hamburgers is the biggest single culprit.

[@MictheVegan]

That was always the impression I was given!

[@AndrewLoui]

They should limit the amount of hay they can export to other countries.

[@Twisted_Cabage]

Love your vids Mic. Thanks for your hard work and critical thinking. Be well brotha!

[@timothyhoran9521]

Mick, excellent story that is devastating, dismaying and depressing. What a clear cause and effect relationship between animal agriculture and environmental crisis. I'm vegan, definitely a believer on multiple levels, but can we really do it? Can we change enough at scale, rapidly enough to prevent environmental collapse? Great presentation but I'm discouraged. I've been watching this unfolding story for years and you've done a very good job of identifying the primary parties that are responsible, especially and most importantly the people who demand the product that farmers/ranchers provide - meat eaters ! It always comes back to us individually and the choices we make.

[@kevinouellette5316]

Those dam evil meat eaters. Who do they think they are?! They act like humans have been eating meat for hundreds of thousands of years!! And who do all those meat eating animals think they are? Killing and eating everyday like monsters!

[@user-lu6cy7hm2t]

the alps are also pretty much snow less this year...had a flight few days ago above and there was not much snow at all...its frightening...the next 20 years will be crazy coming to water...

[@kevinouellette5316]

The Rockies are loaded with snow right now and there is going to be severe flooding from the melt this year.

[@seattleareatom]

Great video. THANKS!

[@unlimitedoutdoors3307]

I find it astonishing that no one is talking about the construction of a semiconductor factory being built in Arizona; a facility that’s production is 90%+ reliant upon water.

[@jpe1]

The percentage that is used is much less important than the total gallons used. How many gallons does that semiconductor factory use, compared to the many millions of gallons used for animal agriculture?

[@globalist1990]

People need to know about crops like chickpeas and and other legumes. These grow without watering in drought-prone countries. They are basically weeds.

[@junkandcrapamen]

Hemp too.

[@The_Savage_Wombat]

If farmers had to pay residential rates for water, this water "shortage" would be over immediately. Residents removing lawns and installing low flow toilets has almost zero impact on Colorado river water.

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

I just came across this channel on accident via this video. I've been telling people for years we eat too much darn meat. I don't eat much red meat, but I do consume other animal protiens, but slowly working on comverting my family to our own version of vegetarian, or at least highly limit our meat intake. I feel like growing something to feed to something, then eat that thing, seems like too many extra steps. It's innefficient.

[@efortunywhitton]

This is what is happening on the entire planet; humans have been systematically destroying everything for 70k years. It is absolutely amazing that even at this juncture, where they are seeing what is happening with their own eyes, and *still* no, one, is, addressing the actual issue... (animal ag). I really don't understand why our species believes itself to be so intelligent... Excellent work, Mic!!

[@MARILYNANDERSON88]

I tried probiotics. I took a couple and changed my life. Sleep, no more acid reflux, itchiness gone, regularity and abdominal tone improvement is astounding. I feel athletic again.

[@DaAntMan303ffs]

After seeing this video I'm Sooo dang glad I own a little piece of cattle country with my own irrigation and well in Southern Colorado. I can say with almost absolute certainty that this young man only got to be where he's at through the consumption of quality red meat by his ancestors. We didn't get to be the top of the heap by eating only plants; that's what prey eats, simple biology. When I was born the world was less than 4 billion people and in my surprisingly short life, the population has Doubled. Maybe, just maybe that has some bearing on the biosphere, ffs, not just meat consumption.

[@Gra1i1ude]

We got where we are today with constant fighting, inter-tribal kidnap/rape/murder, should we continue? Fortunately there's greater understanding and choice these days. If you support exploitation, suffering, and killing; you can just keep it to yourself, or is it attention you're after? 🤔

[@DaAntMan303ffs]

@@Gra1i1ude you make no sense, and as for "attention", that's all this video is about, attention seeking and fear mongering.

[@jpe1]

What relevance does the diet of a person’s ancestors have to do with what constitutes a good diet today? Yes, our ancestors ate far less meat than the typical Western person eats today, but what relevance is that? The reason our ancestors ate relatively little meat was because it was very expensive (and I’m not just talking about a thousand generations ago, but also just 5 to 10 generations ago, it wasn’t until the agricultural revolution of the 20th century that meat became so inexpensive) it wasn’t because they were following some fad diet or thinking about how their consumption would impact the planet. If our ancestors had had access to inexpensive meat they would have eaten more of it, a fact easily inferred from the behavior of people in the 20th and 21st centuries, when meat prices dropped precipitously and consumption skyrocketed. Your assertion that we eat lots of meat today because that’s what our ancestors ate just doesn’t fit the facts.

[@DaAntMan303ffs]

@@jpe1 we didn't grow this gigantic brain eating plants. simple biology. We are built like almost all other land predators with our eyes facing forward so we can see in stereo. All "prey" animals, like cows, sheep, and even chickens have their eyes on the Sides of their heads because they get eaten by predators. It's amazing how the obvious is overlooked by the folks who live by emotions.

[@jpe1]

@@DaAntMan303ffs you are correct, the obvious is overlooked by people who live by emotions. For example, take yourself, you have an emotional reaction to the idea of people eating a plant-based diet, and concoct a fantasy about predators and prey that has little bearing on reality and is easily demonstrated as false with obvious counter examples, like the other great apes, all of whom are “predators” not “prey” in your childishly simplistic view, yet they eat very little meat. Your emotional response seems to have blinded you to the fact that we are not discussing the evolutionary history of Homo sapiens (a topic on which you have not demonstrated particular knowledge or insight) but rather we are discussing what constitutes a healthy and sustainable diet for modern humans in a modern world. What our ancestors ate is of little relevance to that question.

[@Thinker7217]

Human greed and selfishness are destroying the Earth.

[@Loohan7]

I'll have to think about this when I enjoy the cheap prices on alfalfa pellets that I fertilize my veg garden with...

[@mieliav]

no way to measure the flow to different places??? haven't they heard of meters? (there's one in my yard; they're actually pretty common.)

[@NewEnglandInSeattle]

I was at the Hoover Dam a month ago and you can clearly see a ring around the water where the level used to be and it's frightening to see where the water level was compared to where it is now. I will say that all the MGM properties in Las Vegas are now run on solar and most of the water used at the hotels and casinos is recycled water.

[@someguy2135]

The entire city of Las Vegas recycles all of the water used inside of buildings and houses, cleans it and sends it back to Lake Mead. MGM properties may be an exception, I don't know. Water used for outdoor watering is not part of this program and is lost from the system.

[@someguy2135]

The "ring" is now so far from the surface of the water, that you could put the Statue of Liberty on the surface, and still not reach the top of the ring!

[@The_Savage_Wombat]

@@someguy2135 Not all of it is lost. I know many streams flowing into the lake that now exist from irrigation becoming groundwater. All the washes around Las Vegas used to dry up completely every summer, now they don't.

[@LarryRichelli]

Arizona is a very corrupt state. Many people living on the land east of Tucson their wells have gone dry because of animal agriculture. I now live in Southern Calif and I am looking to get out of the Southwest. I just can't get myself to move to your state but somewhere in between.

[@kevintewey1157]

Cartoon app to wait 15 minutes for your argument it's arrogant to conceive that somebody has this time to wait

[@mikeharrington5593]

You can tear up the script when El Niño 2023/2024 brings its megafloods to the West Coast. Crucially, such destructiveness will be much harder to adapt to than megadroughts. If I lived out there I would make sure I had a lifeboat of some sort !!

[@johnshinski2994]

Thanks Mic for the extremely informative and researched video. I am so glad I do not live in an area directly dependent on this water source. Crazy that our government will not step in and push for less meat and dairy consumption. But they will step in and increase subsidies to keep folks able to eat cheap beef and milk. WTF?

[@kevinouellette5316]

There is plenty of water from the Rockies to create man-made lakes in California and restore the Colorado River if resources were put into building the infrastructure. Creating tributaries to collect melt water and run them straight into the river. Connect the Missouri River to the Colorado River is also a plan being looked into. The rainy seasons and mountain melts alway flood the middle of California, destroying towns and washing away into the ocean without being used. Creating large lakes and forming and connecting existing tributaries and rives to collect as much of that water and form a lake much larger than Lake Mead. A pipeline from the Mississippi could help during dry times and wouldn't be very difficult since it would be almost entirely of flat ground to the Colorado River. People aren't going to agree that eating meat is bad and stopping people from eating meat is not going to happen. Do what's logical and easier other than holding on to a personal belief that isn't going to change anything.

[@michaeld4861]

Dang, nice breakdown!

[@BillBrinkop]

Thanks for some real data on almond water use. The propaganda against almonds in California has been crazy as it uses 20% the water as beef and dairy production pound per pound of production. You never hear about the water use for those industries but “evil” almond farmers are maligned daily in California as the main cause of our water shortage. Think of this: if you replace one pound of beef with a pound of almonds you just saved 1500 gallons of water. That’s based on UC Davis and Yale data, not magazine hit pieces.

[@st.peterunner8758]

Hope this video does as good as the Salt Lake video!

[@MJ-pm4zh]

Random question what are your thoughts on new age (yoga,meditation,energy healing, qi-gong,reiki, crystals)

[@veganvvarrior]

Is there any other answer than most of those are completely bogus and a scam?

[@MJ-pm4zh]

@@veganvvarrior yesterday i was s rolling on reddit and there was one study on pubmed showing reiki is more than a placebo...

[@veganvvarrior]

@@MJ-pm4zh doubt the legitimacy of that study. Energy healing is obviously nonsense.

[@raphlvlogs271]

Thats how the Colorado river became the Colorado wadi

[@byronmurphy1977]

Hey Mic, I enjoyed the holiday vlogs.

[@briancarroll3541]

it's me using all that water to flush my massive turds. my bad.

[@rev.donkbonkers3244]

I'm not concerned, if you want some water...move.

[@pohkeee]

1,847 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef = 1250 calories 115 gallons of water per pound of fruit = 115 calories 39 gallons of water per pound of vegetable = 290 calories

[@MichaelSuperbacker]

Lock Ness Monster?

[@Kristers_K]

Part of me wishes the rivers would go dry and the world fall apart for people to feel the consequences of their ignorance, that is, supporting animal industry in any way, their own gluttony and greed. But that part is driven by anger and revulsion towards the human race as whole. However that would solve nothing and as much as i wish to sit back and watch the world and everyone and everything in it burn, i'd prefer for people who remain ignorant to wake the hell up before everything goes to sh!t. Despite the growth of veganism, it might be too late already, too many people are unwilling to change.

[@qualicumwilson5168]

At 7:44, just do not buy that, I am sorry. The yearly AVERAGE temperature has increased by 2.8 degrees F But the WINTER temperatures alone have increased over 5.9 degrees. The land is frozen about 6 months a year so who cares if the "average" winter temp goes up 6 degrees, it is still below freezing and no snow is melted. The hottest summer on record, 2012, did increase by 4.1 degree so that might be the "source" of the 4 times 5% (ergo 20% decrease). But that only happened ONCE. Correct me if I am wrong. Now I am NOT saying that less water is crossing the Colorado/Utah border, it is decreasing. However if you take the yearly flow of water leaving Colorado and add the use of Colorado River water by Colorado state (even just use the City of Denver's increase of use) you will be surprised. Wyoming and New Mexico, the same. BTW Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico have NEVER used their allotment of Colorado River water share. Where does the water go? "Lake Mead loses over 600,000 acre-feet of water to evaporation each year, or about six vertical feet of water from the lake." So what? Colorado River has 15 million acre ft/yr (of which 10% is in the Gila River and des not go into Lake Mead, so 13.5 M Ac/Ft per year. In English, the reservoirs on the Colorado River are "using" well over 10% of the yearly flow. I think I found the lost water.

[@charlessexton5798]

Lots of good information, which the media don't give.

[@johnpurser2798]

Shared along with your Great Salt Lake video. I'm trying to influence some very intelligent but meat eating friends that we must rid ourselves of animal agriculture.