Water was a challenging topic because ultimately water has one key factor which cannot be overcome: There is no substitute for water.
With most things, if you run out of something, you can always find a different, possibly more expensive substitute. There is no such thing, at the levels we need as a society, to be found in nature.
Humans need water to live. Quite a bit. At least 60% of the adult body is made of water. Where a Human can go without food for about three weeks, they can typically only last three to four days without water.
Water is the lubrication which allows society to exist. And we are taking it for granted.
The two greatest threats to water are:
Scarcity is a primary threat as aquifers continue to diminish as demand for water only grows. Technology for conservation is improving and a tiny part of the manufacturing industry is becoming more aware but a far greater portion of society remains wasteful and unaware of how to improve.
The subtle alteration of weather patterns due to climatic shifts brought on by rising ocean temperatures has begun to alter rainfall patterns, which can affect regions which depended on seasonal rains. This has also begun to affect snowpacks which fuel rivers as they melt in the spring and summer. It may also affect reservoirs which can also be supplied by those natural waters.
The second threat is through freshwater pollution via the oil industry’s hydraulic fracturing and profligate manufacturing processes which don’t care where they dump their toxic wastes. Said wastes are poisoning fresh water in rivers and in aquifers as well as creating dead zones and algae blooms at the mouth of rivers which dump into the oceans, affecting aquaculture, aquatic ecosystems, tourism, and local community health conditions as many algae blooms are toxic and dangerous to Human life.
That was quite a bit, I know. But even though we talked about ALL THIS, there was still so much more covered in the conversation.
The most important things to take away:
We also talked about permaculture and vertical agriculture as ways of changing our relationship to food and water use while beautifying cities and keeping them cool. Trees are good for cities too.
Our nations across the planet need to subsidize finding solutions, designing new conservation methods, and creating a National Stewardship Program funded by taxpayers.
The NSP’s job it is to create a national conservation mindset toward water, waterways, aquifers, and improved conservation methods.
It would also be tasked with creating a national program paying people to protect the environment rather than exploit it purely for profit. Reseeding forests, diversifying undergrowth and managing forests to protect ecosystems from Human development.
What’s Next?
Our community talks about WATER as part of our series on Climate Change by the Elements. Join our LIVE CALLS and you can be a part of the change.
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Here was the first of our conversations on Climate Change by the Elements:
There will be more. It’s up to us to spread the word about the impending apocalypse.
“Here’s the thing about The Good Men Project. We are trying to create big, sweeping, societal changes—–overturn stereotypes, eliminate racism, sexism, homophobia, be a positive force for good for things like education reform and the environment. And we’re also giving individuals the tools they need to make individual change—-with their own relationships, with the way they parent, with their ability to be more conscious, more mindful, and more insightful. For some people, that could get overwhelming. But for those of us here at The Good Men Project, it is not overwhelming. It is simply something we do—–every day. We do it with teamwork, with compassion, with an understanding of systems and how they work, and with shared insights from a diversity of viewpoints.” —– Lisa Hickey, Publisher of The Good Men Project and CEO of Good Men Media Inc.
Thaddeus Howze was a New York native and found his way to the West Coast as a consequence of his military service. He's a California-based technology executive and author whose non-fiction and online journalism has appeared in publications such as The Enemy, Black Enterprise Online, Urban Times, the Good Men Project, and Astronaut.com. Thaddeus Howze has published two books, Hayward's Reach (2011) and Broken Glass (2013). He maintains a nonfiction blog on science and technology at A Matter of Scale (bit.ly/matterofscale). He writes speculative fiction at hubcityblues.com.
