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Monday, May 18, 2009
OUR MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE:

By A.Burt

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations network of scientists, said this year that by 2050 up to 2 billion people worldwide could be facing major water shortages.

The U.S. used more than 148 trillion gallons of water in 2000(Common Dreams News Center, Aug 12, 2001 by Timothy Egan).



Witnesses included Daniel Teitelbaum, a medical toxicologist affiliated with the Colorado School of Mines and the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Teitelbaum said he was taken aback by the lack of research into the health effects of oil and gas exposures. (Drilling operations reshape landscape, Dec 10, 2007 by Todd Hartman-Rocky Mountain News)

About 4,500 wells operate on the state's federal lands today, and an analysis of government documents by The Wilderness Society found that another 22,000 wells could soon be permitted on federal lands in the next 15 to 20 years.

Even so, that pales in comparison with wells on the state's private lands, which now total above 29,000. Private lands include a big part of the Roan Plateau — 44,000 acres — where drilling has commenced full-bore even as fierce debate continues about how or whether to drill on the Roan's 73,000 public acres. (Drilling operations reshape landscape, Dec 10, 2007 by Todd Hartman-Rocky Mountain News)

"We see a federal agency acting on behalf of only one user group: the energy industry," said Steve Belinda, with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, a heavily Republican hunting-oriented conservation group that is fed up with intense oil and gas development on federal lands. . (Drilling operations reshape landscape, Dec 10, 2007 by Todd Hartman-Rocky Mountain News)

The drought is now hurting Atlanta, a city boasting one of the worst environmental records in the US and whose political masters are among the least enlightened when it comes to climate change. Atlanta is teeming with Fortune 500 companies - including Coca Cola - and growing rapidly. (The Big Thirst: The Great American Water Crisis, Nov. 15, 2007, by Leonard Doyle-The Independent/UK)

Georgia’s state assembly recently organized a climate change summit in which three of the four experts invited were global-warming skeptics.

“It’s very backward here,” says Patty Durand, head of the Georgia branch of the Sierra Club, one of the largest environmental groups in the US. “It also has to do with money as almost all the politicians here are funded by big polluting industry. There is little awareness of the environmental impact of industry. (The Big Thirst: The Great American Water Crisis, Nov. 15, 207, by Leonard Doyle-The Independent/UK)

One reason environmentalists give for the state’s poor record is Southern Company, a huge electrical utility that wields huge influence all the way to the White House. More than any other company, Southern has been responsible for steering President George Bush away from action to halt global warming. It has done so by spreading largesse - $8m (£4m) on contributions to politicians in the past nine years, an amount far outweighing the political contributions of any other utility. (The Big Thirst: The Great American Water Crisis, Nov. 15, 2007 by Leonard Doyle-The Independent/UK)

Hillary Mayell
for National Geographic News

June 5, 2003

The amount of water a person needs can vary; a person doing manual labor in the tropics will need more water than someone sitting at a computer in a temperate zone. WHO suggests 2 to 4.5 liters (0.5 to 1 gallon) a day for drinking, and another 4 liters (1 gallon) for cooking and food preparation are the bottom-line limits for survival. This doesn't take into account water needs for growing food.

Hillary Mayell
for National Geographic News

June 5, 2003

In many regions of the world, fresh water, both groundwater and surface water, is being used faster than it can be replaced. West Asia faces the greatest threat. Over 90 per cent of the region's population is experiencing severe water stress.

But the problem is not confined to the developing world. In the United States, 400 million cubic meters (520 million cubic yards) of groundwater is being removed from aquifers annually in Arizona; about double the amount being replaced by recharge from rainfall. In Spain, more than half of the nearly 100 aquifers are over-exploited

Hillary Mayell
for National Geographic News

June 5, 2003


The amount of water a person needs can vary; a person doing manual labor in the tropics will need more water than someone sitting at a computer in a temperate zone. WHO suggests 2 to 4.5 liters (0.5 to 1 gallon) a day for drinking, and another 4 liters (1 gallon) for cooking and food preparation are the bottom-line limits for survival. This doesn't take into account water needs for growing food.

The minimum quantity of water recommended by the U.S. Agency for International Development for household and urban use alone is close to 100 liters (26.4 gallons) per person per day.

Census and world population estimates.

It is hard to determine the actual weight of body water due to the different amounts in various areas. Estimates have been shown from 90% to 70% depending on body fat. Fat holds less water.

Let’s take a reasonable estimate of 80% body weight and the average size of the human to be around 120 lbs. considering those weighting well over 200 lbs. and those hitting the scales of 100. Note these are very rough estimates.

In 1980 the world’s population was 4,400,000. In September of 2007 it was 6.6 billion with estimates of 9 billion by 2050.

As said earlier the minimum quantity of water recommended by the U.S. Agency for International Development for household and urban use alone is close to 100 liters (26.4 gallons) per person per day. And the World Health Organization suggests 2 to 4.5 liters (0.5 to 1 gallon) a day for drinking, and another 4 liters (1 gallon) for cooking and food preparation are the bottom-line limits for survival. This doesn't take into account water needs for growing food.

SHORTAGES:

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dec. 8, 2007 by Mike Lee

FORT WORTH -- Outdoor watering restrictions would kick in sooner and be consistent from city to city under a drought plan being considered by the city Water Department.

Fort Worth is working with Arlington, Mansfield and the Tarrant Regional Water District to make sure that residents throughout the region have a clear set of rules to follow during a drought. Arlington has a year-round restriction, and Mansfield is considering one.

The droughts in 2005 and 2006, during which local lakes dropped to 63 percent of capacity…

US water supply in Jeopardy, The Associated Press, by Brian Skoloff, Oct, 28, 2007

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — An epic drought in Georgia threatens the water supply for millions. Florida doesn't have nearly enough water for its expected population boom. The Great Lakes are shrinking. Upstate New York's reservoirs have dropped to record lows. And in the West, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is melting faster each year.

Across America, the picture is critically clear — the nation's fresh-water supplies can no longer quench its thirst.

The government projects that at least 36 states will face water shortages within five years because of a combination of rising temperatures, drought, population growth, urban sprawl, waste and excess.

"Is it a crisis?

(exceprt)

Copyright A. Burt 2008

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