Water - Our Thirsty World

Excerpts from the National Geographic Society Magazine

“The amount of moisture on Earth has not changed. The water the dinosaurs drank millions of years ago is the same water that falls as rain today. But will there be enough for a more crowded world?

Nearly 70% of the world’s fresh water is locked in ice… most of the rest is in aquifers that we are draining much more quickly than the natural recharge rate… two-thirds of our water is used to grow food… with 83 million more people on Earth each year, water demand will keep going up unless we change how we use it.

Americans use about 100 gallons of water at home a day… millions of the world’s poorest subsist on fewer than five gallons… 46% of people on Earth do not have water piped to their homes… women in developing countries walk an average of 3.7 miles to get water… in 15 years,
1.8 billion people will live in regions of severe water scarcity.

One out of eight people lacks access to clean water… 3.3 million die from water-related health problems each year.

The weight of China’s Three Gorges Reservoir will tilt the Earth’s axis by nearly an inch… the longest water tunnel, supplying New York City, is 85 miles and leaks up to 35 million gallons a day…the Itaipu Dam in South America Cost $18 billion and took 17 years to build… Dam projects have displaced up to 80 million people worldwide.

In Florida, 3,000 gallons are used to water the grass for each golf game played… USA swimming pools lose 150 billion gallons to evaporation every year.

We have been slow to give up on the myth of Earth’s infinite generosity. We pumped aquifers and diverted rivers, trusting the twin lucky stars of unrestrained human expansion and endless supply. Now water tables plummet in countries harbouring half the world’s population. Rather grandly, we have overdrawn our accounts.”

Water is life. It’s the briny broth of our origins, the pounding circulatory system of the world. We stake our civilizations on the coasts and mighty rivers. Our deepest dread is the threat of having too little – or too much.
-BARBARA KINGSOLVER

The time has come to stop wasting this life giver, to realize that it is not a renewable resource.

In this tiny little place on Earth, we are so lucky to have water, clean water. But we are facing the situation where pursuit of individual self-interests will lead to collective ruin. It is still possible to stop the madness… the strength is in numbers – join IT’S ABOUT WATER.
www.socm.ca


Eva Hans
Cavan Ward