"About 97.5 percent of Earth’s water is salt water. The remaining 2.5 percent is freshwater, most of which is frozen in ice and snow." Robertson, M. (2017) p.90This quote struck me because the sheer abundance of saltwater on our planet is shocking when compared to the amount that is actually useful to us humans. A mere 2.5% of freshwater is usable which in relation to the massive amounts of saltwater in the oceans is truly a scary number when we all think about how much we already consume. You see people every day buying 24 or 35 packs of bottled water while their tap water at home is largely the same, it's absurd the amount of extra water we end up consuming which doesn't flow back into the hydrologic cycle as quickly as we consume it. This delay in refilling the hydrologic cycle causes a shortage of water and eventually will cause us to not have the amount we need to sustain ourselves.
The following quote is one that highlights the culture we have in the U.S of completely uneven distribution and unsustainable practices.
"In the US, most of the fastest growing cities are in regions with the least water: Texas, Arizona, California, and Nevada, and a large percentage of the nation’s irrigated agriculture is concentrated in areas with limited water supplies, including the Great Plains and southern California." Robertson, M. (2017) p.91
Usage of water for agricultural purposes in areas where they have no natural water seems like quite the oversight in proper conservation practices. I know recently there have been droughts in areas like California that have lasted many months and caused nearly catastrophic damage to many of the areas, and this uneven usage of freshwater has likely worsened that situation. Proper management and rationing of water for non-critical purposes in areas that are deprived of it as a natural resource should be commonplace. Not only would that lessen the environmental impact on these areas when they overuse water, but also their local ecosystems and hydrospheres would be more easily able to collect and refill their own stocks.The final quote I will be highlighting in this post is about the desalination of saltwater, which in my opinion, if perfected, could be a solution to our freshwater needs.
"Drinking water produced through either reverse osmosis or distillation costs 3 to 5 times as much as water from conventional treatment methods, sometimes more."
Robertson, M p.100
With the sheer abundance of saltwater on our planet, 97% vs 2.5% freshwater, you would think that instead of trying to conserve the amount of freshwater we should just take the salt out of the saltwater and create more freshwater instead. Unfortunately, the reality of this isn't that simple. According to the book, it is 3-5 times more expensive to desalinate salt water instead of just drinking fresh water. If this process is refined or some breakthrough in desalination occurs in the near future, this could potentially solve the water issues our planet will face when climate change begins to set in. If refined it could possibly cheaper and more effective to have plans in local areas providing clean fresh water to the populations instead of having to rely on either groundwater and/or aquifers to provide those resources. This would help keep the hydrosphere of these local areas completely intact as well as still being able to provide all the water needs of the local area. If we've only been using 2.5% up to this point, once we have access to the rest of the water we would have more than we ever need.Photo Sources: https://www.proptiger.com/guide/post/worldwaterday-10-ways-to-conserve-water-at-home
http://www.croplifeasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/CLI_FF_2012_A4_FNts_Pg4_Conserving.jpg
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