Word: aridity
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...could this politically backed, popularly supported solar surge spiral into eco-disaster? That's what some say is happening to the Carrisa Plains, a sparsely populated swath of arid, sunny and relatively cheap land in eastern San Luis Obispo County, where three of the world's largest solar plants ever proposed are under review. Together, the Topaz Solar Farm, California Valley Solar Ranch (both photovoltaic projects) and the Carrizo Energy Solar Farm (a solar thermal operation) would provide energy to nearly 100,000 Golden State homes, but only by covering roughly 16 sq. mi. (41 sq km) of the ecologically...
...technology will allow miners to get the uranium safely, the mine would offer much-needed jobs to 300 people, and the uranium would fuel new reactors and help the nation kick its foreign oil habit. Opponents point out that almost all uranium mining in the United States occurs in arid, sparsely populated places out west that are geologically unlike anything in Virginia. In the water-rich Old Dominion, they argue, radioactive materials from uranium such as thorium-230, radium-226 and radon-222 could shake loose and leach into the groundwater. Meanwhile, the large piles of mining debris known...
...easy to forget that before man added his own catastrophe, life in Darfur was already a gathering natural disaster. To live on the arid soil of the Sahel is an eternal struggle for water, food and shelter. In the past, nomad Arab herders and settled farmers (Arabs and Africans) worked together: the farmers allowed the herders' livestock on their land in exchange for milk and meat. But as good land became scarcer, the two sides began to fight over it. "You might laugh if I say that the main reason of this issue is a camel," said Libyan leader Muammar...
...Ebert on The King of Comedy: Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy is one of the most arid, painful, wounded movies I've ever seen. It's hard to believe Scorsese made it; instead of the big-city life, the violence and sexuality of his movies like Taxi Driver and Mean Streets, what we have here is an agonizing portrait of lonely, angry people with their emotions all tightly bottled up. This is a movie that seems ready to explode - but somehow it never does...
Another nod to antique and modern movie tradition is The Girl: the lovely flower in an arid ethical landscape who wins the hero's heart and puts him in jeopardy. Here Ferris falls for a Jordanian nurse, Aisha (Golshifteh Farahani). In a movie like this, a love interest has two functions: eye candy for contrast and sympathy, hostage bait for the plot. (Yes, Mr. Ferris, you may kill many and risk your own life for your mission. But what if I told you we were going to, heh heh, rough up your girlfriend...