Water - We depend on it
About 60% of our body is made of water. Every child learns this in school but people forget this truth very fast, especially when they open the tap of the kitchen or rest room and water magically appears. We forget that for the water to come inside our home or office a huge chain of natural and artificial process must occur.
Basically the natural process involves evaporation, rain, winds - called hydrological cycle - and artificial processes that involve water extraction, purification and distribution.
But this cycle has been broken. The water pollution, global warming, waste, corporations and very bad government management are destroying this such important natural resource.
In 2010 an ONU resolution defined water as a right of human beings. This resolution put pressure on governments around the world to develop water projects for poorest people and taking care of water pollution.
But a resolution isn’t sufficient to protect our water!
Agricultural activities are the most dangerous ones for water. An estimate shows that between 70% and 90% of water is consumed by industrial agriculture. From this quantity the biggest part is lost in water evaporation or polluted by fertilizers and pesticides. Nobody from industrial agriculture takes care because in general the water is abundant and cheap… for now.
There is a strong lobby from this sector that keeps the environment unprotected. Family agriculture is not encouraged and in some cases the water that feeds little farms are polluted by the big ones.
Good examples from industrial agriculture come from Israel and some places in Brazil.
Israel uses drip irrigation to produce fruits into desert and sell them to Europe.
The melon production from Brazil’s northeast is fed by drip irrigation too. Few years before that there was abundant water for melon culture but recently the water has become sparse. The only way to keep production and business was to invest in technology.
The Groundwater is a kind of emergency source for bad times. A recent study of NASA revealed that the situation of groundwater is very worrying. With a special equipment in satellites the American agency made a mapping around the world and discovered that the groundwater is disappearing. This source is going away because the greed of companies, excessive groundwater pumping for agricultural irrigation, people with lack of ambiental awareness, terrible ambiental laws, forest devastation, pollution and global warming.
Groundwater needs time for recharge - in some case thousands for years - but the human hunger for natural resources isn’t allowing.
It Is correct to say that the population doesn´t profit from ambiental destruction or water crisis. When a river or a lake goes dry or polluted where do we go to quench thirst? Probably in a supermarket to pay for a product that was for free. But paying for water is for those who have money. And what about the families that have no money? It’s simple: they drink polluted water and die of water diseases.
The water pollution and shortage are very profitable for companies that bottle water or that own properties under clear water sources.
For such corporations, the water disaster is profitable and desired.
If the communities don’t fight against this threat, our survival is going to be based just on a monetary relation with companies. But in a certain sense, today we live in this way… don´t we?
If a resolution is not the definitive solution for the water problem what is it? The solutions are ourselves, taking care of water at our home and work, putting pressure on authorities, not helping corporations to control the water sources and teaching our children the importance of water and environment.
Don’t give up!
Barlow, Maude - Água, futuro azul, 2015 - Editora M. Books
Nature - The global groundwater crisis - http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v4/n11/full/nclimate2425.html
Globo Rural - Plantio do Melão -
http://revistagloborural.globo.com/GloboRural/0,6993,EEC1696067-4529,00.html
Revista Globo Rural, Agricultura em Israel - http://revistagloborural.globo.com/Revista/Common/0,,ERT292798-18281,00.html
Text Revision: Fatima from Idées www.idees.com.br
Basically the natural process involves evaporation, rain, winds - called hydrological cycle - and artificial processes that involve water extraction, purification and distribution.
 |
| The Hydrologic Cycle |
But this cycle has been broken. The water pollution, global warming, waste, corporations and very bad government management are destroying this such important natural resource.
In 2010 an ONU resolution defined water as a right of human beings. This resolution put pressure on governments around the world to develop water projects for poorest people and taking care of water pollution.
But a resolution isn’t sufficient to protect our water!
Agricultural water waste, the biggest villain
There is a strong lobby from this sector that keeps the environment unprotected. Family agriculture is not encouraged and in some cases the water that feeds little farms are polluted by the big ones.
Good examples from industrial agriculture come from Israel and some places in Brazil.
Israel uses drip irrigation to produce fruits into desert and sell them to Europe.
The melon production from Brazil’s northeast is fed by drip irrigation too. Few years before that there was abundant water for melon culture but recently the water has become sparse. The only way to keep production and business was to invest in technology.
Groundwater is going away
The Groundwater is a kind of emergency source for bad times. A recent study of NASA revealed that the situation of groundwater is very worrying. With a special equipment in satellites the American agency made a mapping around the world and discovered that the groundwater is disappearing. This source is going away because the greed of companies, excessive groundwater pumping for agricultural irrigation, people with lack of ambiental awareness, terrible ambiental laws, forest devastation, pollution and global warming.
Groundwater needs time for recharge - in some case thousands for years - but the human hunger for natural resources isn’t allowing.
Who profits with environment destruction and water crisis?
It Is correct to say that the population doesn´t profit from ambiental destruction or water crisis. When a river or a lake goes dry or polluted where do we go to quench thirst? Probably in a supermarket to pay for a product that was for free. But paying for water is for those who have money. And what about the families that have no money? It’s simple: they drink polluted water and die of water diseases.
The water pollution and shortage are very profitable for companies that bottle water or that own properties under clear water sources.
For such corporations, the water disaster is profitable and desired.
If the communities don’t fight against this threat, our survival is going to be based just on a monetary relation with companies. But in a certain sense, today we live in this way… don´t we?
Conclusion
Don’t give up!
References
Nature - The global groundwater crisis - http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v4/n11/full/nclimate2425.html
Globo Rural - Plantio do Melão -
http://revistagloborural.globo.com/GloboRural/0,6993,EEC1696067-4529,00.html
Revista Globo Rural, Agricultura em Israel - http://revistagloborural.globo.com/Revista/Common/0,,ERT292798-18281,00.html
Text Revision: Fatima from Idées www.idees.com.br
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