Water - the next reason for conflict?

[Grumpy Grandpa]

An odd wee thought wandered through my head recently about the amount of water available to us on planet Earth and how much of that is being used up by our rate of procreation, so I had a bit of a Google...

Of all the water available, only 3% of it is fresh water. Of that 3%, around 70% of it is held in polar ice and glaciers and that's increasingly (for whatever reason,) melting into the sea, making it unavailable for consumption without distillation. (We'll leave aside the effect of all that fresh water in the North Atlantic on ocean conveyor currents for now...)

Of the rest, that which is in aquifers is being depleted at an alarming rate, including the deep (fossil and nonreplenishable,) aquifers, which are being reduced by levels of multiple metres per year. For example, in southern India, Coca-Cola draws 3.75 litres of water from the aquifer for each 1 litre of product it makes.

Consider then that on top of that, humans are made up of about 60% water and we are reproducing at an almost exponential rate (maybe a wee bit of an exaggeration but you get my drift,) so how long does it take until there simply isn't enough left? (I'm not attempting to answer that one, by the way...)

So - given that we need water a whole lot more than we need oil, how long might it be before water provides the next reason for conflict...?

[Binnie]

I wouldnt worry too much, its been said that you could fit every human being on the planet into loch ness.

i think water worries are mainly in african desert region where everyone there seems to insist on having 15 kids.

[Highlander]

People the world over have always fought over water and water rights, yet we all use far more water than we need to... if water ever gets that short we will reduce our water consumption to match,.. we only use the vast amounts that we do today,... because its there and we can

[NorthernRaider]

The Israelis and Pallies are already squabbling over the shared aquifer in the Golan , Parts of the US see one state taking the neighbouring state to court cos rivers like the Red River and the Canadian river being sucked dry before they leave Colorado into Kansas.

[Binnie]

could america be the new africa?

i can just see the ads on TV now "Hank doesnt have any clean water, he has to drive 5 minutes to reach the local supply, your donation of 5 gallons of fuel could prolong this suffering for generations, now here, have a gander at this fly covered kid with puppy dog eyes, if that doesnt make you feel guilty, nothing will!"

I dont get why people in africa live so far from water though, well they do if you beleive everything you see on telly!

[Barneyboy]

(4 June 2013, 02:20)Grumpy Grandpa Wrote: An odd wee thought wandered through my head recently about the amount of water available to us on planet Earth and how much of that is being used up by our rate of procreation, so I had a bit of a Google...

Of all the water available, only 3% of it is fresh water. Of that 3%, around 70% of it is held in polar ice and glaciers and that's increasingly (for whatever reason,) melting into the sea, making it unavailable for consumption without distillation. (We'll leave aside the effect of all that fresh water in the North Atlantic on ocean conveyor currents for now...)

Of the rest, that which is in aquifers is being depleted at an alarming rate, including the deep (fossil and nonreplenishable,) aquifers, which are being reduced by levels of multiple metres per year. For example, in southern India, Coca-Cola draws 3.75 litres of water from the aquifer for each 1 litre of product it makes.

Consider then that on top of that, humans are made up of about 60% water and we are reproducing at an almost exponential rate (maybe a wee bit of an exaggeration but you get my drift,) so how long does it take until there simply isn't enough left? (I'm not attempting to answer that one, by the way...)

So - given that we need water a whole lot more than we need oil, how long might it be before water provides the next reason for conflict...?

think you got a point there GG we do as a people take water for granted ,the USA are pulling up almond trees because of the water they take to grow so think there maybe a prob

[Steve]

Let's not forget the huge amount of water used for agriculture, especially in weather like we have now. I plan for adding 10,000 litres of IBC water storage this summer, but I'm not sure that will be enough, I might have to dig a pond by the spring too.

[Tarrel]

Someone on the news yesterday expressed the view that the Syria conflict is already partly about water, for the reasons NR cited above. It's certainly not about oil.

There is already a global trade in water. When China buys US or Russian grain, it is, in effect, buying their water. Water, and vast quantities of it, is essential to the running of our high input, high-yield agricultural system. You can't get something for nothing. The "miracle" of the green revolution was really just us figuring out how to turn oil and water into food.

[NorthernRaider]

Look what mismanagement of water did to the Aral sea, its now the Aral pond with ships stranded miles from the water.

[bigpaul]

I don't think we need worry to much about water in the UK-after all it comes out of the sky regularly enough but we all need to have a good catchment system in place for when it does rain.