Thirsty? How 'bout a cool, refreshing cup of seawater?

Thursday, March 29, 2012
By: Howard Perlman
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/drinkseawater.html

Summary of Article:
 This article is about the desalination of water. First it explains that desalination is the process by which we turn ocean or saline water int fresh drinkable water.  Then it explains how in some parts of the US fresh water is hard to get so this method becomes useful.  Also this article talks about classifying how salt is in water.  If water has a concentration of more than 1000 ppm of dissolved salt then it is technically saline water.  This article also talks about how water will continually be harder to get in the US so this technique of getting water will be very useful.  Next the author talks about the process of desalinization and how it is an ancient method of getting water.

Opinion:
This article made me realize that if we run out of natural freshwater we won't be totally dead.  It also made me realize that we have the ability to mass produce fresh water.  We could distribute it to third world countries or places that need water.  I'm also glad that this means we probably won't be running out of water for a very long time.  Something else I found interesting was that that in ancient times this technique was used to get water.


Questions:
1.  Do you think this could solve world thirst problems? If so how?
2.  If we ran out of natural fresh water could this method be used to provide all of our fresh water? How?
3.  Do you think this will ever be the worlds only way of getting water? Why and if so how soon?
4. Should Nam be allowed to add a random question if one is not already present?

I've Got 99 Problems and My Thirst Is One

 The Future of U.S. Water Supplies is Anything But Certain
By Climate Control (Not really sure if this counts as the author)
http://news.opb.org/article/the_future_of_u.s._water_supplies_is_anything_but_certain/
 
Summary:
The author believes that the water availability in the United States is decreasing. This is due to factors such as global warming, pollution, a rising population, and natural droughts. While most people associate access problems to third-world countries, the US may also be getting problems. For the last ten years, the US Southwest has been suffering from droughts and high water demands. Because the Colorado River is being overused, water distribution arguments have sprung up. In the Southeast, water has been highly restricted due to resource overuse, population boom, and poor weather. This is all foreshadowing for future issues. As polar ice melts into the ocean due to global warming, the sea water will start to rise. This will mix it with the country's drinking water supplies. This is a problem because of how polluted sea water has become and how high the salinity level is.

Opinion/ Reflection:
I found the article shocking when it said that we may be having water problems in the US since when we think of water issues we think of Africa or India. The problems that are the cause of the water issue are all things we are/ will be learning about. We already discussed how human population growth may be a problem, but we didn't discuss how the water supply in America may be affected. We will be talking about global warming later. I found it interesting that the biggest problems were in the Southern part of the United States. This means that if global warming continues, we in the North may also be getting water shortages. With temperatures like last summer, water shortages may not be that far away.

Questions:

1. Is there any way that we could prevent a United States water shortage?
2. How concerned should we be with this issue?
3. Is it too late to prevent an issue/ Were there any warning signs to hint to a possible water shortage?
4. Do we have responsibility to supply the drought areas in the US with water?
5. Do you like green eggs and ham?

Water Supply Conflicts in Africa

U.S. Intelligence Report Warns of Global Water Tensions

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/23/world/us-intelligence-report-warns-of-global-water-tensions.html

Summary:

It seems now that the lack of drinkable water in some countries is not only a health crisis, but a political one too. Overpopulation leads to a lack of enough drinking water to support a population, and rapid climate change causes many key rivers to flood. Along with poor management of what little usable water there is, and these problems cause the countries in North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, to break into conflict. Structures once used to positively affect a region, such as irrigation and dams, are now used to keep key water sources out of reach from competition. The already deteriorating state of water is expected to continue to decline in the next ten years. At this rate, facilities such as desalination plants are feared to be targets of terrorist attack. In already impoverished nations, this could lead to irreparable economic and political failure.

Opinion/Reflection:

This kind of ties in with what we learned in Global Studies about Africa. There have always been many hardships and conflict for the continent due to its complicated past. After the Europeans left and African countries gained independence, most did not know the first thing about governing themselves, and that is shown by the poor management of their water supply. Even though the situation seems like it could only get worse quickly at this time, I believe these countries are important to the Unites States, and we will not just sit back and watch. The U.S will mostly likely take action soon, but I am curious as to how we will take action.

Questions:

1.       Will the U.S. get involved in this issue? If so in what ways could we lend help?

2.       What factors are causing this deteriorated state of water in these regions?

3.       Are other places in the world likely to experience similar problems with their water supply? If so, what kinds of problems?

4.       What economic benefits do these countries gain by cutting of their rivals’ water supply?

5.       THE HUNGER GAMES WAS AMAZING AND NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.