The Water Shortage Issue
Jun
23
The two main environmental news stories of the past year or so have been the twin impending disasters of global warming and water shortages. There is a scientific consensus that global warming is occurring, and many governments (including, belatedly, the Bush Administration) have taken steps to address the problem.
But the more pressing issue is water; people can live with global warming (and have been for some time), but people cannot live without water.
While drinking water is the most obvious need, everything around us takes water to produce, from food to telephones to tires. Not only is agriculture dependent on water [the U.S. Geological Survey estimates it takes about 1,300 gallons of water to grow a hamburger] but so is virtually every industry. Even energy production needs water, in hydroelectric dams and nuclear reactor cooling towers.
Demand soars
The barrage of news reports warn of a dire water shortage, and provide sobering statistics:
The global demand for water has tripled over the last 50 years, while water tables are falling in many of the world’s most populated countries, including the United States, China, and India.
Many of the world’s great rivers are a fraction of the size they once were, and some have dried up completely.
Earth’s lakes are vanishing at an alarming rate; the Aral Sea, for example, is less than a quarter its original size. Nevada’s Lake Mead is half its original capacity; a recent study concluded that there is a 50/50 chance that the lake will be gone in less than fifteen years.