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Essay on the blue gold: world water wars
Importance of water management
The importance of water
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Recommended: Essay on the blue gold: world water wars
Blue Gold: World Water Wars, was an informative movie that explored various aspects of water issues around the world. Based off the book, written by Maude Barlow and Tony Clark, Water Wars first investigates what our current water problems are and how they affect the human race on a global scale. Next, the movie examines how both corporations and politics influence water rights. The documentary then researches water wars, as a basic human rights violation and finally looks at possible solutions to this global water crisis.
Water is essential for life. Without water, we would die within days. Early human civilizations were founded on rivers- without them, society would not have advanced and we would still be primitive hunters and gathers.
The land is being deforested, eroding away and then hardening to a level that water can no longer enter the ground, turning it into a desert. Besides the obvious environmental harm that desertification does, it also negatively affects humans who are relying more on groundwater for their source of water. We can only estimate how much groundwater there is left but water tables are quickly sinking. Sinkholes are appearing more often and whole cities have disappeared due to this sinking (Ubar). Aquifers are being depleted, it is estimated that we are pumping 15 times more than what we are retuning. Many farmers rely on this water for irrigation, if these aquifers were to dry up and not replenish in time, we would have a massive food shortage on our hands.
The movie also shows the destructiveness of dams. Water, such a precious resource, is being used for energy (hydroelectricity). But, we need water for more than energy. The water that is being held in the dams is essential to downstream ecosystems. Nutrients and sediments are held back, and this actually causes more erosion downstream. The nutrients in the surface water dies and creates an oxygen-less environment. This leads to water quality issues and releases methane (which contributes to climate change). Dams are the “clogging of the arteries” in the world’s heart
War over water has been going on for centuries, in fact, the word ‘rivals’ come from the word ‘river’, after those who fought over rivers. The US has not seen large water wars since 1934 when a group protested a new dam being created and the national guard was eventually called. However, in India, they are very common. Farmers fight each other over the Kaveri River, at one point the fighting led to a kidnapping of a Bollywood star. Many confuse these wars as religious wars but they are actually fought over resources-particularly water. The most impactful example the movie shows is that of the protests in Bolivia. Water had been privatized there, and the government enforced that privatization very strictly. No one could get their own water, including rainwater, without breaking the law. Water prices were very high and protests occurred against the company. The government protected the company with vigor, and when the protests turned violent police killed hundreds of innocent civilians. Eventually, through the hard work of the protestors, Bolivia ended their contract with the company and water was free. This was very severe, however, violence surrounding water isn’t uncommon. In fact, many believe that if we map out where there will be water shortages we will also map out where social unrest will
The negative aspects of Glen Canyon Dam greatly exceed the positive aspects. The dam’s hydroelectric power supply is only three percent of the total power used by the six states that are served by the facility. There is a surplus of power on the Colorado Plateau and with more and more power-plants being created in the western hemisphere, Glen Canyon Dam’s power is not needed (Living Rivers: What about the hydroelectric loss). Although the ‘lake’ contains twenty seven million acre feet of water, one and a half million acre feet of water are lost yearly due to evaporation and seepage into the sandstone banks surrounding the ‘lake’ (Living Rivers: What about the water supply?). The loss of that much “water represents millions, even billions of dollars” (Farmer 183). If the government were to employ more water efficient irrigation practices, as much as five million acre feet of water per year could be saved.
Over the years Glen Canyon Dam has been the spark for hundreds of debates, rallies, and protests. These debates have been going on for almost forty years now. The fact is that the dam created a huge lake when it was built, this is what bothers environmentalists. This lake is called Lake Powell and thousands of people depend on its tourists for income. The lake also filled up a canyon called Glen Canyon, some people say it was the most beautiful place on earth. The anti-dam side of the debate has its basis in the fact that Lake Powell is currently covering Glen Canyon. It was very remote so few people got to witness its splendor. This is probably the reason the dam was built in the first place, ignorance.
The use of turbines from dams to provide power was a brilliant idea until water levels started running lower than normal. The water waste from humanity is directly contributing to portions of it, aside from drought conditions affected by pollution, widespread fires battled, and more adds to the depletion thereof. When humanity is relying on power provided from dams to handle the demand, they are essentially relying on the assumption that water levels will always be there to provide it. The Hoover Dam provides power to the southwestern portion of the USA that has a large number of people.
“Last Call at the Oasis” is a documentary about our world’s water crisis. The film discusses how many large cities in America are getting closer to use up their available water, how many areas across the globe do not have access to drinking water and are forced to drink contaminated water, how water shortages are causing acts of violence and are causing stress to agricultural communities, and a possible solution of using recycle water to stop us from wasting so much water. The film goes around the globe to talk to scientists who are studying contaminated water, people who have become very sick due to this water, and to the agricultural community in Australia where, unfortunately, some farmers have take their own lives due to water shortages.
In the beginning of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, there were several problems. There were several protestors and opinions about the dam before the Three Gorges Dam project was even started.1 China has had history of several dam failures in the mid-1970s that were responsible for thousands of deaths. The three gorges (Xiling, Wu, and Qutang) have scenery that is a tourist attraction.2 The dam was going to be a little over 600 feet tall, 7500 feet wide, and hold over 97 trillion gallons of water. Because of all of the population increase, China started using coal power plants1 and shipping, which causes acid rain over the region making the Yangtze River is one of the most polluted rivers in the world.4 It does not help that the Yangtze River runs right through Chinas industrial heartland. Using the river to transport their goods to other parts or China adds to the pollution.2 Pollution from mines, hospitals, and garbage dumping is another big problem for the river because the pollution is building up around the dam.1 With the Three Gorges Dam will come landslides because of the rising water tables and the large slopes with unstable soil from local farming causing more sediment being added to the river.3 And because the dam lies on a fault line there will also be an escalation of earthquakes. There is a huge decrease in sediment discharge; which caused a 90% sediment load into thousands of other reservoirs. Before the dam was operational, it was retaining water and sediments.4 The water levels were rising faster than anyone expected, therefore, the finish date had to be moved up.1 Scientists even projected that 70% of sediment discharge would be trapped for the first two decades and 44% would be store...
set in a hot country, where there is a shortage of water, as told in
Drinking water is essential and indispensable to life itself possible on the face of the earth, it is much more than a well, a resource, a commodity, drinking water is specifically a human right of first order and an element essential national sovereignty itself and, most likely, whoever controls the water control the economy and life in the not so distant future.
Summary: Without water, there is no way that life would be sustainable on this planet. It is without a doubt our most valuable resource.
Water is the most important substance in our evolution and our daily lives. Without water,
The paragraphs below will prove that the construction and presence of dams always has and will continue to leave devastating effects on the environment around them. Firstly, to understand the thesis people must know what dams are. A dam is a barrier built across a water course to hold back or control water flow. Dams are classified as either storage, diversion or detention. As you could probably notice from it's name, storage dams are created to collect or hold water for periods of time when there is a surplus supply.
The fresh water is very important for all humans, animals, and all living organisms. After the air, water is the most essential component on the earth to sustain life. The main sources of water on the earth are rivers, lakes, underground water, springs, glaciers etc. The total amount of water required for drinking depends on the age of the humans, environmental conditions (eg. summer, winter), availability and the quality of water etc. All living things require water for the survival. Water is used for several activities like drinking, cooking, washing cloths and cleaning floors , gardening and industrial purposes. Water is not only used for the drinking purpose but it is also used for growing vegetation
... drinking water such as Bolivia and Ghana. In the documentary, Flow the experience of poor Bolivians was shown. The water corporations provided unclean drinking water that was full of pollutants. The water cost more than the poor could afford. As a result the citizens rioted and protested against the private water company.
Water is the most vital part of life. Water is needed from humans, to plants and other organisms, and to do basically everything. Water allows our bodily functions to work and to remove waste from our bodies. Plants need water to grow, and humans need plants to gr...
One main causes of water scarcity is water mismanagement worldwide. Water mismanagement has become a crisis of governance that will impact heavily ...
Water is our main source of our life. We need it to live, drink, bathe,