So you're saying Russia has failed so completely, and Ukraine is so strong that they are able to amass enough troops on your border that it scares you. This is what you mean, correct?

As a dad with his little girl growing up past dolls, this is sad. But good.

Properly disposed is the key, but recycling is not the amazing solution plastic/oil companies made it out to be. Do you want to see a waste of plastic? Look at dollar stores, the seasonal section of Target, Wal-mart, etc. Nearly all of it is useless or unneeded. Single use plastic going to countries that can't/wont handle the waste properly is a problem for oceanic plastic.

Plastic is technically recyclable, but practically, it's not. Food and medical plastic can not use recycled plastic ( recycled plastic is not sterile). That's a huge part of the plastic market. There are a lot of different plastics in the market. Mixing the types of plastic makes it unrecyclable. Colored plastic of the same type can not be mixed. Most of this can be solved with manual sorting, but that is labor intensive (expensive), and the end goal is not to recycle the plastic waste stream, but to cherry pick the stream as it feeds into the incinerator.

I wouldn't say plastic is a CO2 sink. Being a sink makes it sound like CO2 was pulled from the air to make the plastic, and then it was buried. Burying plastic just keeps it from causing a lot of trouble that burning it or dumping in the ocean causes.

I made a simple comment based on a childhood opinion that happened to be fact based. I was told "no that didn't happen." I provided background links. Basic response I get- "nuu- uhhh. California is perfect.40 million people can't be wrong. " Sensationalism? Presenting state supplied data is sensationalism? It doesn't get more boring. I'm sorry you're your offended. Other than Alabama Crimson Tide levels of state pride, California looks like a great state to visit.

Part of me thought it would be exciting to visit. Try to outrun a fire by diving into a flooding river only to have the river vanish into an earthquake fault. Wait, that was the Land of the Lost.

I didn't understand why people wanted to live in California when I was a child of 10, 11 years old. My opinion didn't change much as I grew older, 15,16, because there really wasn't a need to review this opinion and the news hadn't really changed all that much. As an adult, my opinion of California changed, but the facts of California's rain/snow/drought remained the same.

"Nobody cares if it blah blah" yet they cared to make the OP. Somebody cared enough to comment about "not all at once." Some cared enough to say my recollection didn't happen. I really don't care about today's weather in California. What bothers me most about all of this is that on a science sub, good data supporting my opinion is provided and disregarded by so many. It was a harmless childhood opinion based on facts. It's not that my opinion is being dismissed. It's that it's being dismissed when data is provided to support the opinion. I might as well find an Arizona based MAGA science sub to follow (I know, science and MAGA don't mix) if relevant supporting data is going to be dismissed.

None of this discussion matters if we are going to bring the world extremes such as Pakistan and Somalia into play. Somebody almost always has it worse.

I agree with you. Most areas have an undesirable aspect. Those that don't probably don't have desirable aspects, lol. I would love to visit. California has much to offer. My area is prone to oppressive heat and humidity, along with tornadoes.

Yes, I have. Traveled out of the country as well. I would actually like to visit California. The state looks magnificent.

"So basically you claim " look at all my comments. Flood, snow, drought, and fire comments are backed by state of California data.

This is the second time I have pointed out to you that I included links to data supporting my opinion.

As I said in my original response and the response that triggered you, it is a childhood opinion, based on facts that I have posted links to.

If you read all of my comments, drought is where California is heading.

I don't know either. I lived in Florida for a while, 2 minute walk to the beach. The beach lost its magic and became just another place.

Northern California and Southern California are so different in environment and politics they could easily be 2 states.

California drought cycles are huge and extreme. The last 150 have been very wet, yet there was a 200 year drought about 500 years ago that was worse than what we are seeing today. As dry as the last 20 years have been, it needs to continue for another 100 years to get California back to its long-term normal.

I would still love to visit. 200 years is way past my expiration date.

Reread my comments. Now read them again. This isn't my personal experience. It's what I saw on the news in the 80s. Look at the post. See the blue words? Those are links to data from the state of Caliirnia that support what I claimed to have seen on the news. See the link to the Sierra Nevada snowfall? See how low relative to average it is becoming? That snow pack is where LA gets a lot of water. LA might have nothing but pretty weather, but LA is getting thirsty.

No. Not always. The last 150 years have been historically (as in fossil record) wet. 500 years or so ago, there was a 200-year drought that was more in line with the long-term record. The drought from 2000 to now is some of the driest years.

What does all this mean? My original opinion, developed as a child, is that California is either getting flooded, crushed by snow, or having drought fires is backed by state of California data, and the fossil record shows that California has since 800 swung between 200 year droughts and floods.

Yes, I would certainly like to visit. There is so much natural beauty. But judging by all the comments, Californians are easily offended and don't need facts to back their opinion.

Oh, I agree. California looks like a great place, and yes, most parts of the country have natural negatives. I would love to spend 5,6 months just visiting. Adult me sees the whole picture. Kid me says no, lol.

Look at one of my responses. There is data issued by the state of California that shows the years I formed this opinion were, in fact, rainier, more snow, and more fires that were normal.

Edit. Hit enter too quick. Yes, every state has a problem. All of this hostility is because I had the audacity to point out that my opinion was that parts California either had flood years or drought years. Then I had the audacity to back my childhood opinion with facts.

Why terrible?

I would absolutely love to visit California. Preferably on a 6 month plan. Wouldn't mind living there either. For the most part, all states have their built-in pros and cons.

Unusually wet.

Go back up the comments. I have backed my observations with Calufirnua supplied stats.

Ok. I'm getting really tired of people reading part of my comment and comprehending less, so I will walk you through it. I said, " When I was growing up," which would imply 12-21. Old enough to be becoming aware of the world, but not an adult. I also said, "in the 70s and 80s," which covers 20 years, but we only need 10, so I grew up 78-88 or so. Which is exactly right.

This is the snow I saw. Most years showing well above average and one year showing double the average. It fits with my comment of "crushing snow"

This is the rain I saw. The beginning of my time frame marks the beginning of a significant increase in rainfall, a state wide increase that lasts years. Except I don't have the stats available to show that it is an increase, so this is California normal.

[This is the fire I saw](http://Long-term trends in wildfire damages in California https://emlab.ucsb.edu/sites/default/files/documents/wildfire-brief.pdf) My idea for California's fire scene also developed on a peak period. It dropped off in th 90s before climbing.

My interpretation of California being a snow bound, flooding, burnt to hell state is statistically backed up for the time frame relevant to me, as was stated in my comment. Looking at the data I posted, California is drying out, getting less snow, and burning more. The Central valley has sunk 28 feet due to ground water not being replenishec.replenished.

You are establishing a drying out, dying environment as the great normal. This is how environmental destruction spreads because too many people today ignore older people who talk about how different their childhood was. You believe their experience is the ideal normal.

I don't know the actual stats for the 90s, but it did seem as though California didn't make the news so often by th 90s. But, by then, I was finishing school and newly married, so my attention was elsewhere. And CNN/HNN/Weather Channel were showing freak weather from around the world. 70s-80s, 20 years of rain. 90s 10 years of transition, 00s-10s 20 years of drought. Now the 20s transition back to rain for the 30s and 40s. Time will tell.

I do. In the 70s and 80s, this weather pattern was common. There was also no talk about the rains being unprecedented, indicating that while not necessarily normal, it was within the normal, expected range. That's just the normal for the west - flooding rain or drought with little in between.

That is just how it works. Growing up in the 80s, I always wondered why people wanted to live in California, with fires all summer, mudslide causing flooding rains and massive snow dumps in the winter and earthquakes whenever. In the 2010s, the flooding rain and crushing snow vanished, and California discovered drought. Still don't know why people want to live in California, but it seems like California has two modes-flooding rain and crushing snow or drought.

Edit: (looks at downvotes) gee. I guess child me seeing all the news of fire and flood and earthquakes and me not wanting to live there has offended Californians, lol. People interviewed saying they worried every summer about fire. They've been burned out several times and lost homes to mudslides. Weird that an 12 year old might think California isn't the best of places to live.

Sounds like a plan to me. They must be getting close to the firing pin hitting an empty chamber.