In PNAS, researchers led by Arizona State University ecologist John Sabo compared Reisner's predictions to available data. They found that Reisner's journalism "led him to the same conclusions as those rendered by copious data, modern scientific tools, and the application of a more genuine scientific method."
In the Cadillac Desert itself, a microcosm of the American west, the researchers estimate that humans now appropriate 76 percent of all fresh water flows. As that number rises, so does the likelihood of Reisner's ultimate argument: "That impaired function of dams, reservoirs, and crop lands, coupled with rapidly growing western cities, would eventually pit municipal water users against farms and catalyze an apocalyptic collapse of western US society."
Image: Crop damages due to increasing soil salinity./PNAS
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Citation: "Reclaiming freshwater sustainability in the Cadillac Desert." By John L. Sabo, Tushar Sinha, Laura C. Bowling, Gerrit H. W. Schoups, Wesley W. Wallender, Michael E. Campana, Keith A. Cherkauer, Pam L. Fuller, William L. Graf, Jan W. Hopmans, John S. Kominoski, Carissa Taylor, Stanley W. Trimble, Robert H. Webb, Ellen E. Wohl. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 107 No. 50, December 14, 2010.
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