Author: johntarantino1 Date: Thursday October 6, 2011 on theenvironmentalblog.org
http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/2011/10/water-contested-resource/
Some rights reserved on picture below by mikebaird
Picture: This picture is showing water that is streaming down rocks that could soon be scarce. This water and its easily availability could be scarce sometime in the near future.
Summary: Many People around the globe in most places believe that we should be more concerned about oil levels instead of water, but they are wrong. Fresh water is rapidly becoming more scarce than anyone realizes. There has been an estimate that half a billion and two billion people are under high water stress and is intended to increase at a rapid rate by 2025. The biggest reason for this problem is the rapid growth. It is estimated that by October 31st, our population will reah a whopping 7 billion. Due to the climate change mostly because of human impact, the water quality is suffering. Not only would we not have much water, but the water that is available is not clean enough to actually use. This could result in sickness around the world due to uncleanly water. The warmer air temperatures would melt polar ice which raises sea levels and could cause mass flooding. Note that the ice melting into the ocean is not drinkable; therefore floods would make matters much worse. There would be too much phosphurus in the water and major odor problems. It is known that one in eight people around the globe do not have acess to clear drinking water. Hopefully we can learn more on how we can prevent major climate changes and ways to quit polluting the water before our time is too late.
OPINION/REFLECTION: I am honestly not surprised that we will have problems with water availability in the future. We have learned about helping the environment but no matter how much we learn, we just will not quit progress. Humans just go go go but forget that they are affecting many other people, animals, and other organisms. No matter how much we help, there is someone out there that is still making matters worse. It seems that it is much easier to destroy than build and that is exactly what is happening here. With a low amount of water there would be competition between our own kind and it is very scary to think about. When we talk about competition in nature, we just think of wild animals or plants competing for sunlight. I bet that no one would have though we would be fighting for a resource such as water. I truly think that we are going to get much worse before anything gets any better.
QUESTIONS:
1) What problems other than what has already been said will occur due to low water availability?
2) Where do you think most of our water supply comes from? Why do you think so?
3) If you were the president, what kind of laws would you pass to preserve the environement and water supply?
4) What do you think is the major problem ocurring that is contributing to scarce water availability? Why?
5) Why do you think the media has not been covered more than other stories in the media?
http://www.theenvironmentalblog.org/2011/10/water-contested-resource/
Some rights reserved on picture below by mikebaird
Picture: This picture is showing water that is streaming down rocks that could soon be scarce. This water and its easily availability could be scarce sometime in the near future.
Summary: Many People around the globe in most places believe that we should be more concerned about oil levels instead of water, but they are wrong. Fresh water is rapidly becoming more scarce than anyone realizes. There has been an estimate that half a billion and two billion people are under high water stress and is intended to increase at a rapid rate by 2025. The biggest reason for this problem is the rapid growth. It is estimated that by October 31st, our population will reah a whopping 7 billion. Due to the climate change mostly because of human impact, the water quality is suffering. Not only would we not have much water, but the water that is available is not clean enough to actually use. This could result in sickness around the world due to uncleanly water. The warmer air temperatures would melt polar ice which raises sea levels and could cause mass flooding. Note that the ice melting into the ocean is not drinkable; therefore floods would make matters much worse. There would be too much phosphurus in the water and major odor problems. It is known that one in eight people around the globe do not have acess to clear drinking water. Hopefully we can learn more on how we can prevent major climate changes and ways to quit polluting the water before our time is too late.
OPINION/REFLECTION: I am honestly not surprised that we will have problems with water availability in the future. We have learned about helping the environment but no matter how much we learn, we just will not quit progress. Humans just go go go but forget that they are affecting many other people, animals, and other organisms. No matter how much we help, there is someone out there that is still making matters worse. It seems that it is much easier to destroy than build and that is exactly what is happening here. With a low amount of water there would be competition between our own kind and it is very scary to think about. When we talk about competition in nature, we just think of wild animals or plants competing for sunlight. I bet that no one would have though we would be fighting for a resource such as water. I truly think that we are going to get much worse before anything gets any better.
QUESTIONS:
1) What problems other than what has already been said will occur due to low water availability?
2) Where do you think most of our water supply comes from? Why do you think so?
3) If you were the president, what kind of laws would you pass to preserve the environement and water supply?
4) What do you think is the major problem ocurring that is contributing to scarce water availability? Why?
5) Why do you think the media has not been covered more than other stories in the media?
Opinion/Reflection: I agree with Casey. Everyone always talk s about helping the environment, but when we our environment actually start improving? To me it seems like our environment just keeps getting worse and worse. I am not surprised that the water is becoming scarce. I am not suprised about the water quality issue either. This reminds me of when i was about to buy a bottle of Dasani water and my sister said to not drink it because it is not clean water and that brand doesn't have good purified water. I didn't know if it was true but it's better to be safe than sorry. We will not survive without water and the scarceness is bad for humans, plants, animals, and many other things. This is a big problem that we really need to get under control.
ReplyDeleteAnswer to some questions:
1. Humans, plants, and animals would be in big trouble due to low water availabilty.
2. Our water supply comes from fresh waters after it has been purified.
Questions:
1. What do you think needs to happen to save our water supply?
2. What would happen if our water went completely scarce and how long would it take for that to happen?
Opinion/Reflection: I agree with Casey, because I am not surprised about this either. Going green has been an ongoing process but lots of people still waste fresh and clean water that we need. There have been many attempts to try and stop the over use of water but lots of people don't listen. They don't even do the simplest of things, such as, turning off the water when you brush your teeth. Some people need to realize that we need that water to live and without it we can't survive. Our drinking water availability is decreasing and we need to get it up before it gets too low. I hope that things will get better before our population gets a whole lot bigger. I remember my dad saying that the tap water isn't as clean as water that comes from a bottle or from our fridge.
ReplyDeleteAnswers to Questions:
1. Lots of other organisms need water as well and they couldn't survive without water either.
2. Our water comes from fresh water resources that then become
purified by using a few different resources, such as aqufiers.
3. I might pass a law that limits the amount of purified water per person/household everyday.
Questions:
1. How can we save our water supply from decresing, besides what has already been said?
2. Is there a way to turn salt water into fresh water, for a low cost, to make it drinkable?
3. How long do we have before the water supply runs out?
I agree with Casey. The clean water level is going down to a point where we should all start to realize it. Like Casey said, most people do not know about this situation. Most people say they are going to help the environment but that never happens. To me it seems as though the envionment is getting worse and worse and our water supply is going down. This is a huge deal and we should all work together and find a way to solve this.
ReplyDeleteAnswer to questions:
1) Some organisms will get wiped out because most living things need water in order to function.
2)I think our water supply comes for the ice caps, ground water and surface water because those are the main thpes of fresh water.
New Questions:
1)Is there any other way of saving our water supply from decreasing?
2) How would you help in this situation?
3) If the water levels did decrease, where would our water come from?
I knew that this was a problem...but not this bad! I was also shocked to hear that 1 in 8 people don't have access to drinking water. It makes you think how lucky we all really are. We definitely need to fix this problem and fast, because water is essentail to life, and like casey said I can't believe that we could be fighting over it in the future. I didn't really think of this until now, but this could affect me because I'm a swimmer. We obviously don't swim in drinking water, but it is drinkable before the chlorine is added. If this were to continue as a problem, public pools/pools could be closed so the water can be used to keep people alive. Another way it affects me is that I need water to live and without it, I could technically die so we will need a solution and fast...for all of us!
ReplyDeleteAnswer to Questions:
1. Most of the big ones were said, but the population could decrease because you need water to live and if you dont get it...you die. Another effect is conflict in the world between countries/states/cities fighting over whos water is who's.
2. I think most of our water comes from groundwater, or surface water such as rivers lakes and streams.
3. I would try to invent a water filter that could change undrinkable water into drinking water. I would also try to pass laws allowing people to not waste water, or have to have water "recyclers" installed in there house.
4.I think the biggest problem is the population because only 3% of the water on earth is drinkable, and close to 7 billion and even more need that 3%.
5. I'm confused by this but i think because it might not be something people care about, although they should because their lives could depend on it.
Questions:
How can this be prevented/make more available drinking water? Is that even possible?
What could be invented/redesigned to help reduce the amount of water wasted (water recycling, toilets without water, etc)
What about the animals in this huge problem? What could happen to the animals? Should humans get "first dibs" on the water?
If water scarcity becomes a problem, how is it decided who gets water and who doesn't? Should we go by Ghandi's philosophy everyone is equal?