Water, Murder and Mayhem 1 Andy Barron / RGJ © Joseph L Shaefer 2015

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Water, Murder and Mayhem

Andy Barron / RGJ

© Joseph L Shaefer 2015


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Can we “find” more water?No. (At least really unlikely…)

◦The water in, on,◦ and above ◦the earth is fixed.

Mostly…

Aquifers? CAR Mya

Credit: The USGS Water Science School, Howard Perlman, USGS; globe illustration by Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (©); Adam Nieman.


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How Does Nature “Conserve?”


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Now That Humans are Here…In the US, How isWaterUsed?


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How Are We Told to Conserve?“Feel good” conservation: Fix Leaks /

Baths, Showers & Combat Showers / Wash only full loads

No grass? Leave the yellow pine pollen on your chairs? No – and don’t let them make you feel guilty! It’s 1%.

Want to really conserve? Less electricity / eat more potatoes/less meat… rice 400, wheat 130, potatoes 65, Big Macs 3000 / milk 750 / sugar 400 / coffee 10


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Real Water WastersForget Amateurs like you & me.

These are the PROs…


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Right Here in River CityTrouble with a capital “T”


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Is Desalination the Answer?No. Yes. Maybe. Sometimes…


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No, REALLY…How Can Humans Conserve?

#1 Stop Making So Many BabiesKill ethanol-for-gasUse less electricityChoose your food Get the whole picture: e.g., Buying

“Natural cotton” – wear oil, bamboo, hemp, etc. not cotton

PestilenceFamine War


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What If We Don’t Conserve / Recycle / Reduce Water Usage?

We’ll Die.

Pestilence -- 2 million die every year from waterborne infections

Famine – if we can’t grow the food, we die

War – the next (il)logical choice


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Who Has the Water?1000 cm3


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Who Has Enough for Their People?


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Water Is Not Dispersed Equally Across The Globe!


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The Tinder Box That is and is Likely to Remain: The Mideast


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200 Major Water Wars--History

2500 B.C. – Iraq600 B.C. & 430 B.C. – Greece537 -- Rome1503 – Leonardo da Vinci & Machiavelli1861-65 – US Civil War1907-1913 – LA Aqueduct1937-1942 – Japanese C/B Unit 7311978 – Present // Ethiopian dams2000 – Kenyan villagers vs. monkeys2009 – Indians die for a bucket of water


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War – Possible Flash PointsIn the Mideast, every major river

crosses at least one other “country’s” border

Da’esh closes dam gates on EuphratesKurdistanIsrael and the Golan HeightsSaudi Arabia: “food independence” =

water dependence.Ethiopia / Sudan versus Egypt


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War – Possible Flash PointsThe Zambezi and the Niger in sub-

Saharan AfricaThe Mekong and IrrawaddyWater vs Potable Water: India // wells //

water mafias

Ditto China: 21% of the world’s people / 7% of the world’s water – much now polluted and undrinkable. Tibet& Qinghai /// India, VN, Russia


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War – the Most Likely Outcome


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What Could Save Us?Fewer people.

◦ZPG / better economies.Conservation.

◦Redeploy waste water now, not when Nature normally would

Desalination & Technology. ◦Use less energy, create better filtration, deal with the side effects of desalination.

A Krakatoa-Sized Volcanic Eruption or a Giant Meteor Storm of Interstellar Ice.

Documents

Water, Murder and Mayhem 1 Andy Barron / RGJ © Joseph L Shaefer 2015