World running dry

addict · #1 (**permalink**) 24th-August-2008, 01:30 PM

“WATER is the oil of the 21st century,” declares Andrew Liveris, the chief executive of Dow, a chemical company. Like oil, water is a critical lubricant of the global economy. And as with oil, supplies of water—at least, the clean, easily accessible sort—are coming under enormous strain because of the growing global population and an emerging middle-class in Asia that hankers for the water-intensive life enjoyed by people in the West.

Business and water | Running dry | Economist.com

macgardener · #2 (**permalink**) 24th-August-2008, 01:53 PM

Some interesting, and sobering, information in that article.

include · #3 (**permalink**) 25th-August-2008, 08:49 AM

Pretty scary stuff. Water wars anyone??

gerrit · #4 (**permalink**) 25th-August-2008, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by include

Pretty scary stuff. Water wars anyone??

A major conflict between the U.S. and Canada seems inevitable also. The shared Great Lakes, according to Great Lakes Environmental Directory: extensive information regarding Great Lakes environment, represent 95% of U.S. surface freshwater.

Karl · #5 (**permalink**) 26th-August-2008, 02:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by include

Water wars anyone??

Sure. Bottled water from the Americas is better than bottled water from the Oceanias!!!

gerrit · #6 (**permalink**) 28th-August-2008, 04:40 PM

Water supplies are about to get even more strained in the Great Lakes. President Bush has indicated that he'll sign the Great Lakes Pact in the fall (Detroit News Online | Detnews.com | Thursday, August 28, 2008 | News, sports, features, blogs, photos and forums from Detroit and across Michigan) August 1/2008. Although the pact claims to disallow removing water by "bulk diversion", no cap has been set on the amount of containers an enterprise can sell. If this pact is okayed, then it will be very hard to stop corporations like Nestle (Perrier), Pepsico, Coca-Cola etc. from taking as much water as they'd like.

Big corporations have deep pockets. They can tie up their battles in court for a very long time and they can influence government through sponsorship.

shaddelick · #7 (**permalink**) 30th-August-2008, 10:42 AM

A lot of people don't realize that water is a major cause of diseases. Around where I'm from in NY, studies have found traces of pharmaceuticals drugs in drinking water. Major damage!

gerrit · #8 (**permalink**) 30th-August-2008, 04:19 PM

the water-intensive life enjoyed by people in the West.

Business and water | Running dry | Economist.com[/quote]

There are those who believe that North America will experience critical water shortages by the year 2015, and that a gallon of water will then be worth more than a gallon of gas.

These opinions are expressed in the 2004 PBS documentary film, "Thirst."

Greenrewards · #9 (**permalink**) 2nd-September-2008, 02:09 PM

what's going on with water? why is less and less - is it just due to the 'overpopulation'? And maybe it's all hoax with this water paranoia and in fact it's still the same amount of it in the earth and in the sky. This predicted 'shortage' is due to global warming, as well?

gerrit · #10 (**permalink**) 2nd-September-2008, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greenrewards

what's going on with water? why is less and less - is it just due to the 'overpopulation'? And maybe it's all hoax with this water paranoia and in fact it's still the same amount of it in the earth and in the sky. This predicted 'shortage' is due to global warming, as well?

The global water crisis is not a hoax. I suggest that you do a little research.