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fifasy
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23 Jun 2015, 3:39 am

Middle America has long, cold winters and oil and gas are running out. So is it only a matter of decades before cities like Chicago, Milwaukee and Cleveland are ghost towns?

And how will that impact upon the East and West coast? I wonder if people are prepared for a future of limited resources.



Jacoby
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23 Jun 2015, 5:59 am

What proof is there that we are running out of oil and natural gas? The US has enough to support itself for generations even without importing anything. There is also nuclear and other alternate energy sources to that can be utilized. I'm confident in mankind's ability to adapt, no those northern cities will not be abandoned.



arielhawksquill
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23 Jun 2015, 8:08 am

Water will run out for Americans in the Southwest and California long before oil runs out for the Midwest. And even if energy runs low to heat Midwestern homes in the winter, people will abandon the rural areas before the cities will empty out. Big modern buildings use electricity (from nuclear and wind sources as well as coal) to run their heat and benefit from economies of scale; but it might eventually become too expensive to buy heating oil for single-family homes.

Remember that Native Americans lived here despite the cold winters for thousands of years. It seems likely from current trends that the area around the Great Lakes will become MORE densely populated due to climate refugees from the drought stricken areas.



Marky9
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23 Jun 2015, 10:58 am

From what I have recently read, a sooner economic impact may result from depletion of that big aquifer that irrigates so much of Midwest agriculture. I doubt it will be catastrophic, but may need to be dealt with in some way. This is something I want to learn more about.