Choose an issue of importance to you-the issue could be personal, school related, local, political, or international in scope-and write an essay in which you explain the significance of that issue to yourself, your family, your community, or your generation.
Since the beginning of time people have been harnessing water. The great Egyptian civilization, depended fully on the Nile, the romans were the first to build huge aquifers to transport water to citizens. Today technology has made water readily available to almost anyone in the world. In the United States clean water is available to many people, but this is not the case for many developing countries, where water is much greater appreciated and they don't take for granted the use of water like many Americans. We live in a world where water is used so much that it is actually being overused and the world cannot replenish it as fast as the people are carelessly using it. We are in what we can call a global water crisis.
There are two major issues with water that I would like to emphasize. One is water is being used at a super fast rate in which the world cannot replenish it. We pump so much underground water from aquifers. The Ogallala Aquifer is the biggest aquifer in the United States and it spreads through eight huge states, which just happen to be agricultural states. Farmers are pumping so much water that hydrologist predict if we keep pumping at this extraordinary fast rate that the aquifer will be dry in about fifty years. When we over pump this of course causes effects to land. The land sinks since the water holding the land at that current level will collapse and this could cause huge devastation to buildings, roads, and farm fields. We are taught in school that water is a renewable resource and that we will never run out because the water cycle will replace it. This is not the case with population growing and more necessities for water than ever, currently there is no way aquifers can get filled and be replenished as fast as we use them.
Second water is being privatized and controlled by giant corporations, who make water, a natural resource a consumer product. What do you need to buy consumer products? Money. If you don't have money you simply cannot afford the water and corporations can control whole nations, since they own the water rights of that city or state or even country. Developing countries are the ones that suffer the most from this water privatization. These countries are unable to build infrastructure for clean water delivery because they are forced to grow cash crops to get out of a debt to the where these crops have no tariffs and export huge quantities and they make no money, thus they stay poor and pay the hiking water prices of privatized water.
What can we do to help the cause of the global water crisis? We must convince policy makers to change legislation and make water globally a resource all humans should be able to obtain at reasonable prices. We must use sustainable crops suited for natural environment in which less water will be used. We must find ways to conserve water and our natural springs or aquifers and not let corporations be able to privatize water. Citizens must speak out against big corporations and governments who support this type of behavior. The bottom line is that we are running out of water and it is something we all need to live.
Since the beginning of time people have been harnessing water. The great Egyptian civilization, depended fully on the Nile, the romans were the first to build huge aquifers to transport water to citizens. Today technology has made water readily available to almost anyone in the world. In the United States clean water is available to many people, but this is not the case for many developing countries, where water is much greater appreciated and they don't take for granted the use of water like many Americans. We live in a world where water is used so much that it is actually being overused and the world cannot replenish it as fast as the people are carelessly using it. We are in what we can call a global water crisis.
There are two major issues with water that I would like to emphasize. One is water is being used at a super fast rate in which the world cannot replenish it. We pump so much underground water from aquifers. The Ogallala Aquifer is the biggest aquifer in the United States and it spreads through eight huge states, which just happen to be agricultural states. Farmers are pumping so much water that hydrologist predict if we keep pumping at this extraordinary fast rate that the aquifer will be dry in about fifty years. When we over pump this of course causes effects to land. The land sinks since the water holding the land at that current level will collapse and this could cause huge devastation to buildings, roads, and farm fields. We are taught in school that water is a renewable resource and that we will never run out because the water cycle will replace it. This is not the case with population growing and more necessities for water than ever, currently there is no way aquifers can get filled and be replenished as fast as we use them.
Second water is being privatized and controlled by giant corporations, who make water, a natural resource a consumer product. What do you need to buy consumer products? Money. If you don't have money you simply cannot afford the water and corporations can control whole nations, since they own the water rights of that city or state or even country. Developing countries are the ones that suffer the most from this water privatization. These countries are unable to build infrastructure for clean water delivery because they are forced to grow cash crops to get out of a debt to the where these crops have no tariffs and export huge quantities and they make no money, thus they stay poor and pay the hiking water prices of privatized water.
What can we do to help the cause of the global water crisis? We must convince policy makers to change legislation and make water globally a resource all humans should be able to obtain at reasonable prices. We must use sustainable crops suited for natural environment in which less water will be used. We must find ways to conserve water and our natural springs or aquifers and not let corporations be able to privatize water. Citizens must speak out against big corporations and governments who support this type of behavior. The bottom line is that we are running out of water and it is something we all need to live.
