No water no us

Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.

- Jacques Yves Cousteau -

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It's somewhat inconceivable to think the world could run out of drinking water, a concept few probably ever think about, and yet scientists say it's a possibility; obviously that'll not go very well for humankind...yet we treat our waterways as garbage dump sites, waste gigalitres of water in various ways, divert and dam rivers, cover the ground with concrete and are generally careless with it...one would think it's an endless resource, but it is not.

I was chatting with a friend and this topic came up as he's just returned from a country where supply of clean drinking water was sporadic at best and regularly non-existent at worst. I asked him what it was like and he looked at me with a deadpan gaze and said, it was fucken thirsty bro. Yep, I get it.

Have you ever been thirsty?

I don't mean in need of a little sip of water, I mean thirsty to the point of dehydration and incomprehension; I have and it's not a nice feeling. Three days later, if one doesn't drink fluids, most are dead and those that push through...well, a human can't go without water for much longer than three days; and yet, we treat our water with such contempt.

My buddy was telling me that fifty percent of the worlds' freshwater is spread throughout only six countries; I'm not sure on the validity of that claim but it sounds about right; google could probably confirm it I guess.

There's entire countries that don't have clean potable (drinkable) water readily available and other countries that permit commercial operations to pollute and kill watercourses forever changing the landscape and the lives of those who rely on the water. Acid rock drainage, heavy metal contamination, erosion and chemicals that come as part and parcel of many mining and industrial operations are some of the culprits, but so are we, you and I, every time we waste water, or overuse it.

I'm not an environmental crusader, far from it, but I'm human so care about the environment, look after it as best I can and focus on methods of doing so including using less water generally, storing rainwater instead of letting it run down the drain and basically having an awareness of what I can do to be a help rather than hindrance to the planet. How successful am I? Well, a fuck load more successful than someone not doing those things.

It's not difficult for me to do those things although it's harder to do them than not do them, some effort is required which is why many do not I guess. The reward? I should think that's pretty clear right?

I captured all the images in this post in New Zealand when I was there last. Two are of oceans and the others are freshwater and it looks like there's plenty of it. Even knowing that fresh (potable) water is not an endless resource it's difficult to imagine there not being enough but that's exactly where we're heading despite what it may look like in a few places around the globe.

I wonder who will run out first, which country, and what will be done about it.

Will the lack of drinking water make certain places unlivable and where do those people go (if they survive the lack of water issue), do they overcrowd and overuse other locations causing similar problems there? Do humans fall like dominoes lined up, one after another? I don't know, but I surmise the answer to be yes, certainly if some (massive) action is not taken right away.

I don't know who is to blame: Governments, corporations or every human on the planet for living lives that take away from the planet more often than they give - it's probably all of the above.

I know people may respond to this saying, but this or that organisation is doing this or that to help the situation, and I know some are, but not enough and they're not all pulling in the same direction at the same time. In case you don't know, corporations fund some of those environmental groups, pay them to hide facts, lie and deceive, oh yeah, caring for the environment is big business...but how much care is being given, how much wholesale positive action? Have a look around and the answer is plain to see I think, not enough...but humans are really good at self-delusion, greed and selfishness huh?

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Do you have any thoughts on this matter? Do you think everything's going great and the planet is in good shape? I don't mean your neighbourhood here, I mean the entire planet generally.

Do you think we're mistreating the planet and are not doing enough to deal with the damage we're causing? Have you ever been so thirsty you cannot function? Have you been wasteful with water, treated our waterways with contempt? How do you think a world without sufficient drinking water would feel, what do you do to conserve water, have you had to cart water great distances just to have something to drink, which country do you think will be the first to die out of thirst? If you've got any thoughts feel free to share them if you'd like.