Before we moved to Seattle, we thought hard about moving to San Diego. One of my concerns at the time was water.

It was well known to me that the southwestern states (CA, AZ, NV, CO) have less water and more people every year. This week I heard that the southwest is in the 8th year of drought and the past 7 years have been the lowest levels of water in the Colorado river in recorded history. Water is a serious problem for all the people in that region, even if they are oblivious of that fact for the moment.

What I have not heard people talk about is the impact we have already have on Mexico. By using up all the water from Colorado River, there is little water left (and a lot of pollution) by the time it drains in the gulf of Baja. This has destroyed the fishing industry there. Sorry Mexico.

What I had not heard about was the same thing is happening in the Great Lakes.

Lake Superior is massive. It is deep and cold. I went camping there in the 1990's. Coldest place I have ever tried to swim. Insane cold.

Now I heard that the lake is so warm, locals are swimming in the Fall and the lake does not cover with ice in the winter. Without a cover of ice, the water evaporates all winter. Water is leaving the lake faster than rain is replenishing it so the lake is shrinking. The water level has already shrunk over a foot! That is a LOT of water.

It has been raining a lot up here in Seattle. But even here we are having water problems because there is less snow. Snow is a basically a water battery. Snow and ice store water in the winter which slowly runs off during the summer. These days the battery is smaller in the winter and melts faster in the summer so even the Pacific NW is seeing climate change due to less water in the later summer.

Take a moment to think about this.

If these changes have happened already, what will things look like in 20 years? How bad will things be when my daughter is in college?

Our actions are changing the Earth that we depend on for life. Take a moment to think about your contributions.

Are you doing enough to stop climate change? Are you doing anything at all?