We are running out of water.

Hi.

Sit down and have a nice cold glass of water.....while you still can.

Water scarcity already affects every continent. Around 1.2 billion people, or almost one-fifth of the world's population, live in areas of physical scarcity, and 500 million people are approaching this situation. Another 1.6 billion people, or almost one quarter of the world's population, face economic water shortage (where countries lack the necessary infrastructure to take water from rivers and aquifers).

www.un.org...

By 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world's population could be living under water stressed conditions.

www.un.org...

I want to discuss a topic that most of the people of the world take for granted.

Fresh potable water.

I think we should be more concerned about running out of water than running out of oil. I understand we need oil. I also understand the economic impact of high fuel prices so I care even though I don’t own a vehicle. I rely mostly on public transportation fun times. Of course I have family and friends who drive and I always chip in for gas, I don’t mind. Of course it sucks when I think of the money I spend on gas.


Back to the topic.

Here is some basic information from the world health organization. It is dated 2009 but in my opinion if anything it is worse today not better.
www.who.int...

WASHINGTON — Drought, floods and a lack of fresh water may cause significant global instability and conflict in the coming decades, as developing countries scramble to meet demand from exploding populations while dealing with the effects of climate change, U.S. intelligence agencies said in a report Thursday.

www.washingtonpost.com... story.html

An assessment reflecting the joint judgment of federal intelligence agencies says the risk of water issues causing wars in the next 10 years is minimal even as they create tensions within and between states and threaten to disrupt national and global food markets. But beyond 2022, it says the use of water as a weapon of war or a tool of terrorism will become more likely, particularly in South Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

www.washingtonpost.com... story.html

So maybe we should all cut back on water usage. Someday we may wish we had that water we watched go down the drain.

Peace.

reply to post by cavalryscout


When the polar caps melt they raise see level a few millimeters. I don't think that the water level is decreasing despite those reports.

reply to post by cavalryscout


While I agree that we should watch our fresh water usage, I dont think there is a huge water crisis. We can remove salt from the ocean and are only getting better and better at it. I guess what we should be really worried about is maintaining our Ocean....which we have not done. (Oil Spills, garbage gyres, Radiation)

Good post.
Someone once said "In the future wars will not be fought over oil but water" and I believe him/her.

I did the same post showing a video "World Without Water" a year ago, and am headed out the door you will have to hunt up either the video (Google I think) or my thread.

Yep, we're messing up this planet big time and the next 50 years, if we survive that long as a species should be interesting.

We already have to filter our drinking water and water prices have gone up.

Funny, water should be free..............but companies, corporations polluted it and now make us pay to clean it up.

That's another thread I did, "Why do I have to pay to live on a planet I was born on"

Because greed knows no limits.

And the majority simply let the elite few get away with robbery, murder and the suppression of real humanitarian technology.

We put all our technology to the build up of weapons and a pittance goes towards ecology and human services.

Enjoy that glass of water, your grand children may be paying a fortune for it and O2 (Like in Total Recall).

You are absolutely correct in your opinion that it's more important than oil. My sister works in this industry and it's absolutely a problem around the globe. I think that desalination (remove the salt and other minerals from water) is a good option for many areas, but it takes a great amount of energy, resources, and money to perform. I don't know a lot of details of it off hand, but I know it's not as easy as it sounds.

Vegas, Phoenix, etc. man those areas are in trouble eventually...

Bottom line- too many people, not enough resources. Something has to give.

Great post-

VB

water>food>energies

period.





those things run human kind.

Originally posted by wlasikiewicz
reply to post by cavalryscout

 

When the polar caps melt they raise see level a few millimeters. I don't think that the water level is decreasing despite those reports.

Water expands 10% in volume when it freezes. I.E., when it melts, it takes up 10% LESS volume. If you want to consider the ice that is above water level, then you'd have a push at most with regard to sea levels once it all melts.

The whole "ice cap melting = sea levels rising" argument is a hoax.

Re: OP... the earth is 71% covered with water, 3% of that as fresh water. We are not running out of water. We are not keeping up with the ability to purify/desalinate it. The tech is there to do it.

What about the ocean?

Desalinized water is potable and easy to refine. That being said, it's extremely lazy to say we are running out of water. There's also a nigh endless supply of underground wells that have yet to be tapped.... Soooo, ya. Not quite out of water yet.

reply to post by Jassu


I respect your opinion, but there is absolutely a huge water crisis on this planet. It's just a matter of time before, as someone already mentioned, wars will be fought over water and not oil.

VB

The threat of thermonuclear warfare is far greater than the drying of the rivers.

Originally posted by W3RLIED2
...it's extremely lazy to say we are running out of water. There's also a nigh endless supply of underground wells that have yet to be tapped.... Soooo, ya. Not quite out of water yet.

Are you kidding me? endless supply of underground wells?

For example, I live in Oklahoma and the state of Texas has been trying to purchase water rights from some native american tribes. There is not an "endless supply of underground wells" and any thinking in that direction is just irresponsible.

VB

With all due respect that is...I'm not one to argue with anyone. I like good, wholesome discussion.

To begin I'm sorry if I offended anybody who posted a similar thread.

Some say we can refine/filter polluted water. Sure we "can" do it but we as a society we value oil much more than water. So how much is really being done today to purify polluted water compared to refining oil?

We'll just wait until there's a crisis it is our nature.

Originally posted by AwakeinNM

Originally posted by wlasikiewicz
reply to post by cavalryscout

 

The whole "ice cap melting = sea levels rising" argument is a hoax.

edit on 28-3-2012 by AwakeinNM because: (no reason given)

If we only consider the Arctic then you are correct. BUT when you consider the ice above land in Greenland and Antarctica then you are are way way way wrong.

Total Greenland ice melt - sea level rise 7.2m
Total Antarctic ice melt - sea level rise 61m

NB It does NOT have to melt! It merely has to slip into the sea something that has been observed with some ice sheets.

In fact, here's a chart from the Pacific Institute that shows what conflicts over water have already occurred. It's very interesting:

www.worldwater.org...

Also I know some of us are a little scared of facts and data, but here are some statistics from the UN. The two I find the most interesting are that water use has been growing at more than double the rate of population increase in the last century. And our population rate is pretty big folks. Also, the fact that many of our world's groundwater supplies are being withdrawn faster than they can be replenished should scare folks...

www.unwater.org...


VB

As the human population rises, not only are we using more water day-to-day, but we're also polluting more. More human waste means more chemicals to clean and "purify." It also means more exporting and importing, which adds to the envoronmental pollution we're creating, and even if none of that is a factor (which it is)...

human beings are 60% water. Our blood is 92% water. Just our existence, and the increase of our population uses up water by default.

Let's throw a little math at this:

Saying that each human holds roughly 10.5 gallons of water in their body mean that 73,500,000,000 gallons of water are out of circulation at any given moment, with 4,900,000,000 needing to be replaced through normal loss every day.

reply to post by voyagerboy


Those cities and states and Mexico have already started fighting over the depleted Colorado.

That is what happens when you build massive cities in the desert.

But what is even worse is the citizens don't care and use water at greater amounts then those of us on the east coast where it is abundant.

So I have little sympathy for them.

You know, if we created a device that attracted hydrogen molecules and burned them, we could produce more water.

Also, our water isn't going anywhere. Matter cannot be created nor destroyed...so whatever water is being used, it's going to stay here until it is recycled or rediscovered. Barely any water is leaving our atmosphere.

Whatever water began here on earth, is most likely here to stay. Nice try, but it isn't going anywhere.

Now, if you're talking about CLEAN water, you should change your misleading title.

reply to post by cavalryscout


I think that we can still enjoy water the way we do, as long as we implement some form of population control.

That's the pink elephant in the room.

In 1968 I wrote a term paper on 'Investing in water'. I 'predicted' that Canada would become the new Saudi Arabia by selling water to the US. They have it and we (will) need it. Sell it to us cheap or we will invade! LOL