I was reading Thomas Friedman’s book “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” for another class when I came across something that reminded me of my blog project. In one section of the book, Friedman discusses how global warming is making less water available becasue it affects the amount of water released when glaciers go through an annual melting period. Friedman notes that this creates rivals becasue people have to figure out how to share a decreasing amount of water. He talks to a climate expert Joseph Romm who says that “the word ‘rival’ actually comes from people who share the same river.” This shows that water is a very valuable resource and conflict can arise in how it is shared. The news article about water in Lesotho showed that water is such a valuable commodity in Southern Africa that revenue from selling water makes up 75% of Lesotho’s budget. What I’ve seen from this example is that when it comes to “sharing” water, it is often the people that can pay the most that are able to have their water needs met.

3 comments
Comments feed for this article
November 2, 2009 at 5:14 am
krmize
Something we discussed in my international studies class:
There is not a shortage of water in the world. The issue is one of distribution– obviously some places have more than others. And much of it is frozen in glaciers and the arctic and antarctic circles. Look at the US for instance- thirty minute showers, leaving the water on while you brush your teeth, sprinklers on every lawn, people simply dumping water out, the massive industry that is bottled water—
These things wouldn’t happen in other countries.
So the problem becomes trying to find a way to equally distribute the water that’s available…Not an easy task. You can’t really ship a freshwater lake to the Middle East.
November 2, 2009 at 9:10 pm
amfite
The last part of this where you mentioned how the people who can pay the most get their water needs met is very depressing. People either shouldn’t have to pay for water, or it should be cheap enough that anyone can afford it. I agree that it needs to be distributed much more evenly.
November 2, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Comments on Blogs « Education Situation
[...] Comments on Blogs 2 11 2009 http://ellberry.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/sharing-water/#comment-6 [...]