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25 Shocking Facts About The Earth's Dwindling Water Resources

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,

War, famine, mass extinctions and devastating plagues - all of these are coming unless some kind of miraculous solution is found to the world's rapidly growing water crisis.  By the year 2030, the global demand for water will exceed the global supply of water by an astounding 40 percent according to one very disturbing U.S. government report.  As you read this article, lakes, rivers, streams and aquifers are steadily drying up all over the planet.  The lack of global water could potentially be enough to bring about a worldwide economic collapse all by itself if nothing is done because no society can function without water.  Just try to live a single day without using any water some time.  You will quickly realize how difficult it is.  Fresh water is the single most important natural resource on the planet, and we are very rapidly running out of it.  The following are 25 shocking facts about the Earth's dwindling water resources that everyone should know...

#1 Right now, 1.6 billion people live in areas of the world that are facing "absolute water scarcity".

#2 Global water use has quadrupled over the past 100 years and continues to rise rapidly.

#3 One recent study found that a third of all global corn crops are facing "water stress".

#4 A child dies from a water-related disease every 15 seconds.

#5 By 2025, two-thirds of the population of Earth will "be living under water stressed conditions".

#6 Due to a lack of water, Chinese food imports now require more land than the entire state of California.

#7 At this point, the amount of water that China imports is already greater than the amount of oil that the United States imports.

#8 Approximately 80 percent of the major rivers in China have become so polluted that they no longer support any aquatic life at all.

#9 The Great Lakes hold about 21 percent of the total supply of fresh water in the entire world, but Barack Obama is allowing water from those lakes "to be drained, bottled and shipped to China" at a frightening pace.

#10 It is being projected that India will essentially "run out of water" by the year 2050.

#11 It has been estimated that 75 percent of all surface water in India has been heavily contaminated by human or agricultural waste.

#12 In the Middle East, the flow of water in the Jordan River is down to only 2 percent of its historic rate.

#13 Due to a lack of water, Saudi Arabia has essentially given up on trying to grow wheat and will be 100 percent dependent on wheat imports by the year 2016.

#14 Of the 60 million people added to the major cities of the world every year, the vast majority of them live in deeply impoverished areas that have no sanitation facilities whatsoever.

#15 Nearly the entire southwestern United States is experiencing drought conditions as you read this article.  It has been this way for most of the past several years.

#16 Thanks in part to the seemingly endless drought, the price index for meat, poultry, fish, and eggs in the U.S. just hit a new all-time high.

#17 As underground aquifers are relentlessly drained in California, some areas of the San Joaquin Valley are sinking by 11 inches a year.

#18 It is being projected that Lake Mead has a 50 percent chance of running dry by the year 2025.

#19 Most Americans don't realize this, but the once mighty Colorado River has become so depleted that it no longer runs all the way to the ocean.

#20 According to the U.S. Geological Survey, "a volume equivalent to two-thirds of the water in Lake Erie" has been permanently drained from the Ogallala Aquifer since 1940, and it is currently being drained at a rate of approximately 800 gallons per minute.

#21 Once upon a time, the Ogallala Aquifer had an average depth of approximately 240 feet, but today the average depth is just 80 feet. In some areas of Texas, the water is already completely gone.

#22 Approximately 40 percent of all rivers and approximately 46 percent of all lakes in the United States have become so polluted that they are are no longer fit for human use.

#23 Because of the high cost and the inefficient use of energy, desalination is not considered to be a widely feasible solution to our water problems at this time...

The largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere is currently under construction in Carlsbad in San Diego County at great expense. The price tag: $1 billion.

Right now, San Diego is almost totally dependent on imported water from Sierra snowmelt and the Colorado River. When the desalination plant comes online in 2016, it will produce 50 million gallons per day, enough to offset just 7 percent of the county’s water usage. That’s a huge bill for not very much additional water.

#24 We have filled the North Pacific Ocean with 100 million tons of plastic, and this is starting to have a very serious affect on the marine food chain.  Ultimately, this could mean a lot less food available from the Pacific Ocean for humans.

#25 One very shocking U.S. government report concluded that the global demand for water will exceed the global supply of water by 40 percent by the year 2030.

Sadly, most Americans are not going to take this report seriously because they can still turn on their taps and get as much fresh water as they want.

For generations, we have been able to take our seemingly endless supplies of fresh water completely for granted, but things have now changed.

We are heading into a horrendous water crisis unlike anything that the world has ever experienced before, and right now there do not seem to be any large scale solutions capable of addressing this crisis.

Hundreds of millions of people living in North Africa, the Middle East, India and parts of China already deal with severe water shortages as part of their daily lives.

But this is just the beginning.

If nothing is done, the lack of fresh water will eventually be deeply felt by nearly everyone on the entire planet.

 

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Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:03 | 4876440 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

In a nutshell -- let's dump some chemicals in the water that's left to drink.  The Japs have their slushy not-quite-frozen radiation dome over their groundwater reserves?  Fuck them.  We can do better than that!

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:08 | 4876478 A Lunatic
A Lunatic's picture

Sounds like you need to be drinking more flouride........

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:12 | 4876500 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

If there's one thing I learned from television, it's that teeth matter more than brains.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:17 | 4876515 maskone909
maskone909's picture

Sure not enuff water to wash your hummers or flood the lawn. I think we will make it just fine. That is, those of us who are accustomed to having 40% less already.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:25 | 4876550 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

Get ready to have 99.99% less.  Or actually, you already have that but it's okay because it's normal and they earned it.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:27 | 4876555 BandGap
BandGap's picture

I used to respect your posts.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:30 | 4876570 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

I never respected yours.  

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:33 | 4876575 BandGap
BandGap's picture

I'm actually happy after ready that. Thanks.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:34 | 4876581 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

Good for you for being happy after ready.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:46 | 4876612 Slave
Slave's picture

I bet BandGap didn't vote for Obama even after he said he supported the bailouts, like you did Rand.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:52 | 4876633 BandGap
BandGap's picture

HAHAHAHA

Don't hog the kool-aid.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:55 | 4876644 Slave
Slave's picture

Don't worry, she admitted to it.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:57 | 4876653 Greenskeeper_Carl
Greenskeeper_Carl's picture

i wasnt here(ZH) during the 08 election, did he really say that?

 

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:05 | 4876666 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

Yes, I voted for Obama in '08 because I was still in the red/blue paradigm.  I thought McCain was a douche, that Bush broke the country, and I thought a black guy from Chicago would change things.  I was wrong.  Have you ever been wrong?  Have you ever admitted you've been wrong?  I have -- and do again here -- admit my mistake.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:07 | 4876685 BandGap
BandGap's picture

I don't care who you voted for, just get back to where you were before. Try being clever again.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:10 | 4876701 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

I'll try to lay off the flouride, for you.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 10:32 | 4877789 funthea
funthea's picture

In all seriousness, how could you not have seen Obamas downfalls before he was ever elected? I don't claim to be all worldly, but I am amazed at how many people never bothered to vet that piece of shit.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:52 | 4876626 BandGap
BandGap's picture

What happened to you? Like not dyslextia my?

Go back to not being a dick. Thanks man.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:53 | 4876637 Slave
Slave's picture

The Teatards were right about a couple things. Democrats don't like that.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:51 | 4876845 Stuck on Zero
Stuck on Zero's picture

I'll add another shocking statistic: Nearly 99% of murders were committed by people who had consumed water shortly before the muder.

 

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 00:14 | 4876899 TBT or not TBT
TBT or not TBT's picture

Dihydrogen monoxide kills.  

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 10:35 | 4877805 funthea
funthea's picture

Yes, and they're even dumping it in the rivers. It's everywhere. Next thing you know it will even get in the rain.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:44 | 4876605 Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day's picture

Number 23 is quite interesting, 1 billion for a water desalination plant. So if we stopped the q e program immediately we could build about 100 of them with the future q e money putting engineers, accountants, constuction workers etc to work and increase GDP by having real economic activity

Nah let's just give it to the banks, they'll know what to do

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:10 | 4876697 stacking12321
stacking12321's picture

"25 Shocking Facts About The Earth's Dwindling Water Resources
By the year 2030, the global demand for water will exceed the global supply of water by an astounding 40 percent "

i clicked on the article, only to comment that the only thing shocking here, is the writer's economic illiteracy - demand cannot exceed supply! for every buyer, there is a seller...if not, the price goes up.

but then i saw the article's writer was the low-grade moron named "michael snyder", ok, that explains it.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:31 | 4876780 Terminus C
Terminus C's picture

Umm,

Demand can exceed supply when it comes to water, or food...

If supply doesn't meet demand, eventually demand will fall to meet supply (people die off...).  I will agree that most of this artical was crap.  I don't usually click on the "1 million reasons X" articals and now I know why.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 00:27 | 4876929 stacking12321
stacking12321's picture

not quite... "demand" has a specific economic meaning.

demand cannot exceed supply - the price is where the supply curve and the demand curve meet.

if there's someone who wants to sell a loaf of bread for $1, and there's 1 buyer at that price, then no problem, supply and demand are balanced.

if there's 9 other potential buyers who suddenly decide they want bread too, and there's still only 1 seller, the price goes up, maybe to $10, or whatever the buyer who wants the bread the most and has the ability to pay, will dictate.

the 9 other potential buyers who only want to pay $1 or $5, are not "demand" in the economic sense, as there is a higher bidder, and they are not willing or able to pay market price.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 06:34 | 4877238 buyingsterling
buyingsterling's picture

And when you read the article with that definition in mind, is that what you think the author meant? That the economic definition of demand, which only UTTER FUCKING DOUCHEBAGS would reference in this context, is what matters, when you're talking about human beings needing water?
Or do you suppose he meant what any sane person would suspect, that there's going to be more people wanting water at a sane price than will be available? That's my guess, but that wouldn't have given you the go ahead to shit on this author.

How many of the items on the list were you aware of, and why the hell are you here reading this article?

Then you malign the author by suggesting that he misread the study on the 40% figure. Here's the quote, and it makes you look a twat:
"The document predicts that by 2030 humanity's "annual global water requirements" will exceed "current sustainable water supplies" by forty percent."

Now, be a prideful little twat and get further bent. Or be a gentleman and a MAN and apologize to the author, who is doing something to make a difference while you do FUCK ALL.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 07:23 | 4877276 udaman
udaman's picture

i agree with you, fuck stacking12321

 

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 07:51 | 4877315 TBT or not TBT
TBT or not TBT's picture

Define "need"    Americans use way more water on decorative landscaping than for hygiene(toilet, bathing, dishes etc) and we take pretty luxurious showers and baths, regularly.  The amount we drink is just laughably tiny.   Add agricultural uses into the mix and all the preceding uses look tiny again.   And agricultural water use is currently mispriced.   By government/political intervention.   We can farm using a lot less water.  And we will, if "needed"   

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 14:36 | 4878764 stacking12321
stacking12321's picture

hey, stupid moron, it is THE AUTHOR who is bringing up supply and demand, without understanding what the terms mean.

and they are not difficult concepts, anyone who has taken econ 101 and actually paid attention in class understands the concepts.

as far as this:

"The document predicts that by 2030 humanity's "annual global water requirements"

you still fail to grasp the concept...what exactly are humanity's annual global water requirements? watering the lawn in a desert environment like phoenix? filling up the backyard pool? running the water park down the street?

life is about choices, and opportunity cost.

so, no, i will not apologize to the alarmist and half-wit michael snyder, i have no respect for him, he's not very bright or insightful, and i don't like the dishonest ways in which he presents information or spins it.

it's fine to highlight issues like the depletion of fresh water resources, but it should be done by someone intelligent and informed, who knows what they are talking about.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 01:31 | 4877013 PT
PT's picture

26.  Water.  We drink it.  We piss it out.  IT IS STILL FUCKING THERE!!!!  Okay, yes, now it needs to be purified again.  But it doesn't actually disappear.  Not like when you burn octane with oxygen and it turns into carbon dioxide and WATER, and you have to wait a few million years for the carbon and hydrogen to be turned back into plants and refossilised back into oil (or however it works).

27.  If I remember rightly, concrete ties up water for a little while.  Anyone care to elaborate on that?

28.  The sun shines 24/7 (although it only hits half the earth at a time) and is a free, natural desalination plant.  As long as we got the sun, we got fresh water.  You may need to go where the rain is.  Failing that, I guess you need to go where the clouds are.  Failing that, perhaps it is not a good idea to have more people than the sun can water each day.

29.  According to my state gummint and mainstream propaganda telescreen, putting an extra 250k people in a city doesn't matter because you can just turn down the water pressure.  Also, please note that these people still have their jobs.  Though currently employed, I have spent a fair amount of time without a job.

30.  According to stats published quite a while ago, 85% of water use is for industrial purposes.  So you can put in your water-saving shower heads and toilets, you can rip up your lawn, in fact you can shed half of your personal water use but all you have done is reduce overall water use by 7.5%.  Tell me again, how long does it take for your local population to grow by 7.5%?  Whoops, won't that extra 7.5% need some extra industry to accommodate them???

31.  The average human being contains about 70% water.  For a 65 kg human being, that is 45.5kg or 45.5 litres.  (Yes, yes, for a 130kg human that is 91 litres but we're talking averages, the world still has a few skinny, poor people and babies laying around).  When that human dies, the water is returned to the planet.  Now multiply 45 litres X 7 billion humans ... what?  Why did I mention what?  No reason.  <whistles innocently ...>

32.  Our gummint pays people to have babies.  But then sez we don't have enough water for them.

33.  Can I repeat that?
Our gummint pays people to have babies.  But then sez we don't have enough water for them.
Our Federal Gummint encourages immigration and pays people to have babies and then complains that we don't have enough water.  Our State gummint talks about increasing the capital city's population by 250 000 and then says we have to conserve water by turning down the mains water pressure.
WHY DO THESE PEOPLE STILL HAVE JOBS??????????????

34.  If you would like to go to university and study whatever you need to study in an attempt to solve any water shortage problems, you need to spend something like $50k, soon to be increased to ~ $120k.  (Feel free to check those figures - I heard them on the telescreen so they could be a bit rubbery.)  Err, that is just the "R" part of "R & D".  You might want to somehow scrape together some capital - you know, the "D" part.  Otherwise, the gummint will just hire some schmuck to tell everyone to use less water.  Don't worry all you capitalists out there.  Soon the gummint will "sell" the Water Authority to their mates and then private industry can tell us how important it is to not use any water.  Don't worry about it.  As people get thirstier, they'll be willing to work longer and harder in return for a drink...

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 01:50 | 4877058 Fiat Envy
Fiat Envy's picture

Those people wouldn't use the money to buy Tbills.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 08:49 | 4877435 Calmyourself
Calmyourself's picture

Better yet, spaceships to battle the aliens who are removing our water.  Its the only explanation to the failure of the water cycle.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 06:56 | 4877236 Reptil
Reptil's picture

Look at what this piece of warmongering shit said:

""RUSSIA IN SECRET PLOT AGAINST FRACKING

Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Russia was mounting a sophisticated "disinformation campaign" aimed at undermining attempts to exploit alternative energy sources such as shale gas

Russia is secretly working with environmental groups campaigning against fracking in an attempt to maintain Europe's dependence on energy imports from Moscow, the secretary-general of Nato has said.

Speaking at the Chatham House foreign affairs think-tank in London, Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Russia was mounting a sophisticated disinformation campaign aimed at undermining attempts to exploit alternative energy sources such as shale gas.

He said: "I have met allies who can report that Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called non-governmental organisations - environmental organisations working against shale gas - to maintain European dependence on imported Russian gas. That is my interpretation."

Mr Rasmussen did not say what form the Russians' engagement with the environmentalists took or whether groups concerned were aware that they were dealing with Moscow's agents.

He said that improving energy security was of the "utmost importance" and required European nations to develop more diverse sources of supply.

"It also, in my opinion, involves the better functioning of the European energy market so that one single supplier is not able to able to blackmail one single nation," he said.

Greenpeace dismissed Mr Rasmussen's comments as "preposterous".

A spokesman said: "Greenpeace had thirty of its people locked up in Russian prisons last year, threatened with fifteen years in jail.

"The idea we’re puppets of Putin is so preposterous that you have to wonder what they’re smoking over at Nato HQ.

"Mr Rasmussen should spend less time dreaming up conspiracy theories and more time on the facts.

"Fracked gas will probably cost more than Russian imports, there’s little chance fracking will generate more than a small fraction of Europe’s gas needs and it won’t even do that for at least ten years.

"Greenpeace has detailed plans for energy policies which would remove the need for any Russian gas imports to Europe entirely."

Andrew Pendleton, the head of campaigns at Friends of the Earth, said: “We’ve consistently urged the Government to end our dependence on dirty fossil fuels from abroad by developing Britain’s home-grown renewable energy.

“Perhaps the Russians are worried about our huge wind and solar potential, and have infiltrated the UK Government.”

The Department of Energy and Climate Change said it will not be commenting on the matter.

Mr Rasmussen made the comments as he confirmed that thousands of Russian troops are amassing on the border with Ukraine.

Urging member states to increase their defence spending, he said the international alliance had intelligence that Russian forces were gathering and insisted Nato would "not hesitate" to take further steps to ensure security in the region.

The alliance chief said it was vital that members committed to investment in defence, as he revealed Russian spending has increased by 50 per cent in the last six years, while Nato allies decreased theirs by a fifth.

After a speech on the future of the multi-national alliance, he said: "I can confirm that we are now seeing a Russian military build-up along the Ukrainian border."

He said that "at least a few thousands more Russian troops" are now deployed to the frontier and troop manoeuvres were being seen in the "neighbourhoods of Ukraine".

"I consider this a very regrettable step backwards, and it seems that Russia keeps the option open to intervene further into Ukraine," he said.

"I do believe the international community would have to respond in a firm manner if Russia were to intervene further in Ukraine.""

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/fracking/10911942/Russia-in-secr... No you genocidal scum, it's exactly the other way around, your actions are targeting Russia's gas supplies to Europe, only to "promote" an already failed technology.
Shale Gas is nothing but an ATTEMPT TO CONTAMINATE WATERSUPPLIES.
It's not even profitable!
Shale Gas in the Ukraine serves an important purpose: to fuck with the chinese investment in food production there. (which is substantial)
http://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-china-leases-farmland/25114812.html

Your petty wargames are not in our species' interest. FOCH and his insane masters need to be kicked off this planet. FAST.

grrr

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 09:17 | 4877530 tonyw
tonyw's picture

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, lapdog of the US and head of Nato said:

Russia was mounting a sophisticated "disinformation campaign" - unlike Nato, WMD anyone.

"Urged member states to increase their defence spending" - not that that's in his interests of course purely co-incidental.

"so that one single supplier is not able to able to blackmail one single nation" - yet pressurising Bulgaria into stopping work on the pipeline that will reduce dependency on a bankrupt and corrupt ukraine through which most gas transits and has previously stolen gas.

"Greenpeace says it has detailed plans for energy policies which would remove the need for any Russian gas imports to Europe entirely" - but that of course is not in the interests of US hegemony nor MIC.

"Mr Rasmussen made the comments as he confirmed that thousands of Russian troops are amassing on the border with Ukraine." - how dare they congregate so close to their own border and near the many foregin bases of the mighty US/Nato.

"he revealed Russian spending has increased by 50 per cent in the last six years, while Nato allies decreased theirs by a fifth." - but did not reveal Nato spending is ten times higher than russia's nor that as a percentage of GDP is slightly higher than the US (4.1% vs 3.8%).

"a few thousands more Russian troops" are now deployed to the frontier ...it seems that Russia keeps the option open to intervene further into Ukraine" - meanwhile US/Nato has many foreign bases with the ability to intervene anywhere.

 

For another view try  http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.ca/

 

 

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:00 | 4876428 Notsobadwlad
Notsobadwlad's picture

Yes, and based on predictions 20 years ago we were supposed to be out of oil and in a mini ice age by now.

How stoooopeed do they think we are?

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:05 | 4876461 Miffed Microbio...
Miffed Microbiologist's picture

You have obviously never lived on a well and had the tap be dry. Reality hits home hard. If you ever have this experience, you will discover the lack of oil pales in comparison.

Miffed;-)

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:24 | 4876545 MeMongo
MeMongo's picture

Mongo has a well 75 ft. Very rarely runs low, but then again he has no hose for watering or cleaning cars and such. No big deal on that shit cuz the water is ice cold, clear and no smell whatsoever. When there is no water usually do to electric issues or sump pump problems Mongo is much appreciative of close family and friends nearby. 2 ten gallon stainless containers for basics and 2 rain barrels for flushing. Hence the saying "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down" theres risk and theres rewards. And here in the woods thats the way it goes!

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:32 | 4876573 BandGap
BandGap's picture

I live 1.4 miles from Lake Michigan. My well is 44 feet down. We still make conservation a pratice.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 02:11 | 4877072 COSMOS
COSMOS's picture

Worse thing is having water and not being able to use it because of Fracking contamination, a growing trend in Frackutopia. Not to me personally but the news stories out there are a worrying.  And one wonders how much more there is that is being suppressed by the energy lobby and its pressure on big media via advertising dollars.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:52 | 4876848 Proofreder
Proofreder's picture

I know now that Mongo is from Col e forn nia - lots of Brown there.

Explains a lot.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 04:54 | 4877188 MeMongo
MeMongo's picture

Two words about ecoli for you proof!

Legg Lake!

Ps. Mongo said if it's brown flush it down, NOT put it in your sock drawer!

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 05:02 | 4877193 StormShadow
StormShadow's picture

Why does Mongo feel the need to talk about himself in the third person?

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 05:06 | 4877194 MeMongo
MeMongo's picture

Never given it much thought! To be honest I doubt it has any real significance other than simply a tool to illustrate differences here and there. Hope that helps:-)

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:31 | 4876778 NuckingFuts
NuckingFuts's picture

We have 2 artisan springs on our 200 acre parcel. One of which is our only home water source, never dry, never even slows in drought. That's why I bought the fucking place, not for the view. People who choose to live away from good, cool, easily accessible water have very different priorities then I do I guess.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:40 | 4876816 NuckingFuts
NuckingFuts's picture

But still I mostly drink bourbon.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 02:13 | 4877075 COSMOS
COSMOS's picture

What state are you in NFuts?

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 09:20 | 4877537 tonyw
tonyw's picture

depends how much bourbon he has drunk :-)

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 09:30 | 4877571 NuckingFuts
NuckingFuts's picture

Middle of the coninental US (more or less).  In a low area of river bottom.  Used to travel a lot of the midwest in my younger years so know the great lakes region pretty well also.  I live south of there now, not where I was born in Wisconsin.  Sorry, to be so cryptic but there are a few members who would know who I am with too much information and I would rather keep my postings herre private from my business/personal life.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 15:01 | 4878884 COSMOS
COSMOS's picture

No problem, anonymity is best :)

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 01:01 | 4877002 El Vaquero
El Vaquero's picture

My irrigation well is 32' and after several years of drought, the water table is still at 6'.  I don't know about now, but it used to be that you could get potable water out of a 15' well.    Knowing that I can get water no matter what is really nice.  I know that I can have water to grow crops and, while I've never truely been dehydrated, I've been out in the desert in triple digit temps where I didn't have water for a few hours enough times that I know that I want nothing to do with dehydration. 

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:34 | 4876578 sylviasays
sylviasays's picture

In drought stricken California, Central Valley farmers get no water and residents in Sacramento are on mandatory water rationing, but the Delta smelt fish get all the water they need and more...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/13/us-usa-california-water-idUSBR...

 

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 00:11 | 4876896 Proofreder
Proofreder's picture

Obviously the fish are more worthwhile than some stinkin' farmers.

I mean, whose water is it, anyway?  Fish die immediately without water.  Takes a lot longer for a farmer to croak.  Besides, farmers have legs.

Build some desalinization plants, already.  Get the salt out, buy an iceberg.  Stockpile snow in Fargo.  

There is plenty of water, most of it has a bit of salt, some more, some less - but it is mostly in the wrong place.  Or in the ground, deeper some places than others.  

Drive along a Western Kansas farm road; stop, and listen.  Never quiet for the 500 horsepower unmuffled auto engines running 24/7 pumping the Ogolala reservoir down 10 feet a year.  When it's gone, what then ?  Wheat and Corn only grow with irrigation pipe spraying water and fertilizer on fields, rotating monsters leaving huge circles one can see from every aircraft crossing the flyover country.  Without water, it's a bowl of dust.

Now go eat your Cheerio's and think of the water it took to create that crop of oats.  Make it 20 times that for your fast food hamburger.  Eat less, flush less, and let the lawn go brown.

And remember, it's for the Children.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 00:23 | 4876923 TBT or not TBT
TBT or not TBT's picture

The smelt dealt it   

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 02:17 | 4877080 COSMOS
COSMOS's picture

That Ukraine soil is looking pretty good right now isn't it LOL.  I was just reading a story where they said Ukraine has 30% of the BEST agricultural soil in the WORLD.  Guess once Kansas dries up the big AG companies can grow their GMO shit in Ukraine and ship it back to the USA at high prices.

This whole move into Ukraine also happened because the Chinese were doubling down their bets on 99 year leases of for a substantial chunk of that farmland.  As a matter of fact the contracts were signed and three billion were already payed before the Revolution in Kiev.  I think the Chinese are pursuing the matter in International courts but they are stocked full of EU and Americanski judges.  The Chinese will get nothing........

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 09:55 | 4877647 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

Hey Notso,

Only in your mind and the science section of the National Enquirer...

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:03 | 4876450 Squid Viscous
Squid Viscous's picture

another good reason to buy more ES tomorrow, I will buy any dip starting at 4am...

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:07 | 4876475 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

 I keep thinking it's Saturday.  The dreaded (3rd Friday) witching Q-2 debacle.  Squid you handled things nicely the other night.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 05:08 | 4877196 StormShadow
StormShadow's picture

All this time I thought BTFD was US Smokeless Tobacco's new slogan. What the f*** am I gonna do with all this Copenhagen now?

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:05 | 4876463 A Lunatic
A Lunatic's picture

You can stop reading at "according to one government report".......

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:12 | 4876493 nmewn
nmewn's picture

Exactly.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:08 | 4876479 alexcojones
alexcojones's picture

If humans gave up war and professional sports for ONE year, they could probably solve all or most of the problems besetting - humans.

Water is just one of them.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:17 | 4876514 syntaxterror
syntaxterror's picture

As long as it's not a world cup year, I'm good.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:11 | 4876488 potato
potato's picture

Global warming will return the Earth to the tropical paradise it once was.
Warmer water evaporates faster, and humid air is less dense than dry air, so as it ascends it cools and water condenses into clouds and we will get more rain. 

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:49 | 4876842 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

And the rain will fall on our global garbage dump and distribute poison hither and yon.  Yay.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:11 | 4876489 nmewn
nmewn's picture

I thought sugar & salt was one of the Four Horseman of the Bloomberg apocalypse?

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:11 | 4876490 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

Any lakes for sale in Canada?

But seriously, Detroit, Buffalo etc... will once again demonstrate why they were among the first places settled....

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:20 | 4876530 litemine
litemine's picture

Transportation.    Waterways were used for Transportation.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:21 | 4876534 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

High quality fresh water for industry and human consumption...

 

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:50 | 4876843 DaveyJones
DaveyJones's picture

also the great lakes areas had some of the most fertile land

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 02:19 | 4877083 COSMOS
COSMOS's picture

But you gotta like licking your ice for water when you got no more fossil fuels to keep you warm or to melt your water for ya.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 11:36 | 4878067 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

Whoa, go easy on that stuff...

I warned you about about overdoing the stupid sauce, 1/2 a jigger is enough to get comedic relief, anymore than that and you start making an ass of yourself....

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:51 | 4876847 TheReplacement
TheReplacement's picture

Many were settled at transportation junctions due to the need to transport salt.  It is far easier to find water than salt.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:12 | 4876496 yellencrash
yellencrash's picture

How many desalination plants could the bank bailouts have built? 

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 00:11 | 4876894 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

How many solar panels?

Pretty much enough to satisfy total demand when the sun shone....

And the infrastructure for an improved grid....

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:14 | 4876504 navy62802
navy62802's picture

Thankfully, I live on navy ships which make their own drinking water from seawater.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:25 | 4876756 MOB666
MOB666's picture

That worked out well for the Regan yeah?

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:18 | 4876520 rum_runner
rum_runner's picture

This is not the liquidity that you are looking for ..

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:19 | 4876526 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

 Up thar in Karlsbad Kali, just south of the Nuke plant,(San Onfre) They're going to desalinate some water/some day.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:28 | 4876559 oddjob
Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:39 | 4876812 Terminus C
Terminus C's picture

3+ meters of rain (Prince Rupert in that catagory as well) is fucking crazy.  Though the forests that weather produces are amazing.  I put my hands on a 1600 year old Cedar in Tofino.  That tree was a sprout at the fall of the Roman Empire, and I had a thought that it would likely die (they figure it won't live too much longer) upon our collapse.  Full circle bitchez.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 11:38 | 4878082 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

Is the Captains Quarters still serving awesome Halibut and Chips?

I also always enjoyed the Roy Vickers Museum...

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:42 | 4876599 dexter_morgan
dexter_morgan's picture

# 26 this is a government reports and therefore is propaganda that can be safely ignored.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:54 | 4876638 mrpxsytin
mrpxsytin's picture

Yesterday I finally called the local council to report a broken toilet cistern in one of the public facilities. It was pouring thousands of litres a day down the drain. Water shortage..? Go out early morning on a summer's day and you will see hundreds of busted garden reticulation systems pouring water down the drains.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 22:54 | 4876639 PennilessPauper
PennilessPauper's picture

I have to many other things to worry about,  than running out of water on a planet that is covered by 80% water.  If we continue to mismanage our resources on war instead of clean water plants maybe we deserve to go extinct.

 

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:15 | 4876720 tony wilson
tony wilson's picture

i drinks frack spring waters

it tastes sweet

 

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:19 | 4876738 alexcojones
alexcojones's picture

23 Freshwater Factoids (found on the 'Net)

Mike Synder Failed to Mention (We are Running Out of Land!)

 

1. Most of the earth's surface consists of water; there is much more water than there is land.

2. Water can not only be found on the surface, but also in the ground and in the air.

3. There is the same amount of water on earth as there was when the earth was formed. The water that came from your faucet could contain molecules that Neanderthals drank…

4. The overall amount of water on our planet has remained the same for two billion years.

5. There are two kinds of water; salt water and freshwater. Salt water contains great amounts of salt, whereas freshwater has a dissolved salt concentration of less than 1%. Only freshwater can be applied as drinking water.

6. Water consists of three atoms, 2 Hydrogen atoms and an Oxygen atom, that are bond together due to electrical charges.

7. The weight of a water molecule depends on the number of moles present, as it is 18 grams per mole.

8. Water moves around the earth in a water cycle. The water cycle has five parts: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, infiltration and surface run-off.

9. In a 100-year period, a water molecule spends 98 years in the ocean, 20 months as ice, about 2 weeks in lakes and rivers, and less than a week in the atmosphere.

10. Groundwater can take a human lifetime just to traverse a mile.

11. Most of the earth's surface water is permanently frozen or salty.

12. Water regulates the earth's temperature.

13. Water freezes at zero degrees Celcius.

14. Water vaporizes at a hundred degrees Celcius.

15. Water is the only substance that is found naturally on earth in three forms: liquid, gas, solid.

16. If water changes phase its physical appearance changes due to parting of water molecules. In the solid phase the water molecules are close together and in the gaseous phase they are the furthest apart.

17. Frozen water is 9% lighter than water, which is why ice floats on water.

18. A litre of water weighs 1.01 kilograms.

19. It doesn't take much salt to make water "salty." If one-thousandth (or more) of the weight of water is from salt, then the water is "saline."

20. Saline water can be desalinated for use as drinking water by going through a process to remove the salt from the water.

21. When water contains a lot of calcium and magnesium, it is called hard water. Hard water is not suited for all purposes water is normally used for.

22. To determine water quality certified agencies take samples that are tested in a laboratory. The samples are tested on various factors, to determine if they suffice water quality standards.

23. Each country has its own water quality standards that determine to which degree water should be purified, depending on the purpose it will be used for.

Read more: http://www.lenntech.com/water-trivia-facts.htm#ixzz3596C3WiB
Fri, 06/20/2014 - 00:04 | 4876878 teslaberry
teslaberry's picture

most water trapped on earth is actually trapped as hydroxyl groups that are under deep pressure rock---mineralized in the pores and molecular bonds of pressurized rock in the crust and/or mantle rock. 

 

as some of that rock circulates upwards towards the top of the crust, it depressurizes and releases the hydroxyls which then create masseive amounts of water. 

 

there is more water in the rock of our planet by far, then there is in the oceans of our planet.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 01:21 | 4877028 El Vaquero
El Vaquero's picture

Well, I know now that Linntech is not a company I want to do business with. 

 

1. Most of the earth's surface consists of water; there is much more water than there is land.

And most of that water is salt water, not fresh water.  Try watering your crops with it or drinking it to survive.

3. There is the same amount of water on earth as there was when the earth was formed. The water that came from your faucet could contain molecules that Neanderthals drank…

4. The overall amount of water on our planet has remained the same for two billion years.

They state that there is the same amount of water on the planet when it was formed, then say that it has remained the same for 2 billion years.  The approximate age of the earth is 4.5 billion years.  So, did it change before that 2 billion years, or not?

 

7. The weight of a water molecule depends on the number of moles present, as it is 18 grams per mole.

Um, no.  A mole is 6.023 x 1023 MOLECULES, irrespective of the weight (mass) of the molecules.  The weight (mass) of the MOLECULE is completely independent of the number of moles.  The weight (mass) of the molecule is determined by the number of electrons, protons and neutrons, along with the binding energy holding those nuclei together, and to a very much lesser degree, the energy binding the molecule itself together.

 

14. Water vaporizes at a hundred degrees Celcius.

Put a calibrated and accurate thermometer into a pot of boiling distilled water at my house and it will most certainly read lower than 100C.  100C is the boiling point of water at one atmosphere pressure (average pressure at sea level.)  If you come up to my altitude, we have somewhere around 15%-20% less pressure and water will boil at around 202F-203F, or roughly 95C.

If they are in the water business and they fuck their shit up this bad, I want nothing to do with them.

P.S. Desalinization takes energy, meaning that it is expensive water.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 03:33 | 4877144 mrpxsytin
mrpxsytin's picture

I wonder if desal is as expensive as converting natural gas to LNG?? Considering that all the LNG hubs being built in Australia all have their own desal plants I suppose it isn't. Therefore, desal may actually be cheap considering all the LNG plants that Russian pipeline is going to render unprofitable. 

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:24 | 4876745 Jack Burton
Jack Burton's picture

Brother can you spare a glass of water? I can, Lake Superior just out side the front door. Water treatment instituted by the USA and Canada has brought back the quality that was being lost by the 70's, the 80's stabilized, 90's improved and 2000's it is back to quality not seen for a century. Blame greenies if you like, but the demand for regulations and water treatments has brought back a resource the world is going to envy going forward.

China would piss itself if it had such a body of fresh water fit for drinking. 

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:46 | 4876834 NuckingFuts
NuckingFuts's picture

China would have ruined it by now and for a thousand years.

Nice to be near the lake, have taken many a nice cold swim near Ashland wi in July. The water is still fucking freezing, and clean.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 00:25 | 4876928 Proofreder
Proofreder's picture

Yes. you can see your toes turn blue at the Apostle Islands "beaches".  

Coldest swim ever, ond only once.

The natives dive in through the ice on New Years.  Bold people.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 01:26 | 4877034 El Vaquero
El Vaquero's picture

Bold?  I think you mean insane!  I don't even like to stick my hand into the water to scoop out slush when ice fishing. 

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 02:52 | 4877092 COSMOS
COSMOS's picture

The Russians can sell the Chinese all the water they need.  There are three major rivers in Siberia that run from South to North

http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/his241/notes/geography/SiberianRive...

And let us not forget Lake Baikal in Siberia which has twenty percent of the world's fresh water in the world's oldest and deepest lake...

Below link is a nice description by some guy who vacationed there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTvVDkYAGzM

A cool video of a car being removed from Baikal after falling through the ice, very ingenious

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtxNaB_NI4M

the above was obviously close to shore and not in a deep part of the lake which is 5,387 feet deep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W648-RnHkWE

above link is of some french people who took a trip there, some nice scenery shots from around the lake towards the middle and end and cool soundtrack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_axjCkbhDY

Below is a link from Euronews getting a hard on for Russia's resources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8BJd--JfTQ

Another euronews clip on the transiberian railway kind of nice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQjls3EWyok

 

 

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 00:00 | 4876870 mrpxsytin
mrpxsytin's picture

Type 'lake baikal' into google.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 00:08 | 4876887 Flakmeister
Flakmeister's picture

  I remember the air before the EPA....

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 02:40 | 4877104 COSMOS
COSMOS's picture

I agree, before those catalytic converters became mandatory there was a lot of that burnt lung feeling at the end of the day playing outside in LA in the ozone smog.  Air has definitely gotten a LOT better.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 09:47 | 4877617 NuckingFuts
NuckingFuts's picture

Yeah, stupid Libtards and environmental-wackjobs with their guvment regulations taking away my freedom.  They Hate Merica.

/yeah sarc/

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:24 | 4876749 MOB666
MOB666's picture

.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:27 | 4876761 PenguinMan
PenguinMan's picture

We have a fundamental problem today and it is not over population, or lack of resources but economic and political systems which enforce under development that prevents the development and application of technology. If you want a space station like the one in Elysium the movie, stop giving bankers 140 trillion in economic resources and put it in the hands of regular people to work out these problems.

We have wonderful advances and potential in energy and water supply technology, but they will not come to fruition with cave man like thinking such as Malthusian economics.

Some starting points:

1) Stop telling people they can't do a job unless they hand over 150K for a degree to a banker.

2) Let people grow their own food locally.

3) Disband corporate states and charters.

4) Allow Free men and free markets to be fair markets.

5) Decentralize the currency and the Banks.

6) Insure that decentralized money is based on a unit of labor, industrial output. Setup a fair exchange between industries again and have a REAL stock market.

7) Using technology for sensless consumerism and gadgets and weaponry should be eventually banned.

How we get there will require a society built through compassion, understanding and sound principles we already have many answers to.

I could go on, but all of these ideas have already been thouroughly tested and they work.

The real problem is long term corruption of these systems, which you won't stop.

I don't have an answer for that one. We will either grow up as human beings or the technology WILL destroy us.

Looking at history it would seem the human spirit is broken in some way and we might not be able to fix it ourselves.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 03:38 | 4877149 Thomas the Crane
Thomas the Crane's picture

The solution to the problem of long term corruption of the system is for the people to understand that we are the components of the system in relationships to one aonther; thus the only way to change the system is for each one/person to change self in relation to one another; thus becoming the change so to change the system.  

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 21:54 | 4879756 acetinker
acetinker's picture

We don't need to ban anything.  We don't need to raise a hand against the tyrant(s) who control us.  Apparently, it's so simple and so hard to do in practice, that it will never happen.  Where does the tyrant gather arms to beat you with, if not from your own ranks?  Where do the weapons he uses come from if not from you?  Where does the tyrant's income derive, if not for you?

Everyone praises Bastiat, but he was an economist.  Boetie' went much further into human behavior, which is the foundation of economics.

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:31 | 4876779 Radical Marijuana
Radical Marijuana's picture

I started worrying about these trends when I was a teenager, several decades ago, and I have been attempting to work towards "some kind of miraculous solution" ever since. However, after several decades of looking at these problems, my current conclusions are that the criminally insane ruling classes that control civilization are deliberately planning on causing "war, famine, mass extinctions and devastating plagues."

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:49 | 4876840 Terminus C
Terminus C's picture

These things are profitable.  Sharing of resources in an equitible fashion (free market or otherwise) does not increase one's power base.  Egoism drives the sociopath and the sociopath, generally, works well with the "laws" of nature (evolution).  However, eventually the lust for power drives people too far (Iccarus) and it fails, evolutionarily... 

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:51 | 4876844 UrbanBard
UrbanBard's picture

Hysteria. There are problems with water; the biggest is that there is no free market in the stuff. If we knew what it was worth, we would utilize it better. We wouldn't waste it like Nancy Pelosi is doing to save the Pacific Smelt in the bay Area.

America is undergoing a periodic drought. The indications are good historically that the drought will broken in two years as we move further into the warm phase of the el Nino cycle.

The problems with Africa are that clean water is unavailable. How do you clean it when there may be no electricity? Here is a way which is just getting started.

http://www.popsci.com/article/science/pure-genius-how-dean-kamens-invent...

 

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:55 | 4876853 Stuck on Zero
Stuck on Zero's picture

I like this part:  ...  Ogallala Aquifer since 1940, and it is currently being drained at a rate of approximately 800 gallons per minute.

A single decent sized farm pump will lift 800 gallons a minute. 

 

Thu, 06/19/2014 - 23:59 | 4876866 Jorgen
Jorgen's picture

So, in the long run, fracking is a part of population control scheme.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 00:02 | 4876871 teslaberry
teslaberry's picture

the threat of death from starvation scares everyone into thinking these water problems are all serious problems.

water is a local problem because life is a local problem. so when there is not enough water in some places , the chips will fall where they may.

and some people will starve to death.

THIS ISN'T THE PROBLEM ITS THE SOLUTION NATURE INTENDED. STOP WORRYING AND JUST GO WITH THE WATER FLOW, UNTIL IT STOPS, THEN DIE. this is how it has always been and always will be.

de toqueville himself noted how much water america uses when he visited philadelphia.

enjoy the water while we still have it. we won't have it forever!

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 00:05 | 4876882 Oreilly
Oreilly's picture

More of this water b.s. ... the only places in the U.S. lacking freshwater are deserts and cities with corrupt and poorly run water departments (and yes, everything west of the Mississippi in the U.S IS a desert).  I have made my living for the past 30 years as a hydrogeologist and it never fails to amuse me how people build their homes and cities in deserts because of the warm sunny climate and then complain when the water runs dry.  A word of advice to them .... MOVE!  And another idiotic situation occurs in our biggest cities where the water departments become bloated with excess personnel because they are one of the few remaining cash cows.  Most water departments are running at least 50% above in the number of employees needed to actually provide service, and all those extra salaries and pensions come straight out of the maintenance budget.  We're not running out of water in the eastern U.S. we're just plugging up all the water pipes with the fat asses of the public sector.

All of this peak oil/food/water/[insert your favorite apocalyptic commodity here] rubbish is just another attempt to force me to do what you want me to "because it's really for my own good".  If you're so afraid of these things then quit using fossil fuels, lose a few pounds, and go thirsty every other day.  After I see all the folks quoting these idiotic government statistics do without, I may just believe you and join in as well.  No, on second thought I probably won't.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 00:40 | 4876963 falconflight
falconflight's picture

It's really refreshing to read a scientist call out the politicized scientific community.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 01:35 | 4877049 El Vaquero
El Vaquero's picture

I live in a desert, but there is water right where I am and expect there to be water here long after I am gone.  One of the things that I have been grousing about since I was a teenager is that the local politicians have been telling everybody to conserve water so that more people can move in so that we can conserve more water.  Fuck that shit.  I was born here, and there was enough water until the everlasting growth paradigm fucked it all up.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 09:37 | 4877594 headhunt
headhunt's picture

The 0bama illegal alien 'everlasting growth paradigm fucked it all up'.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 04:17 | 4877172 Peterus
Peterus's picture

BTW agriculture is by far greatest consumer of water, than industry. It's possible to make huge savings in both. They are not made now, as water is cheap and it is economic to for example use a little less labor, but more water.

Isrealis can farm in the desert just fine, watering just the plant itself and not entire ground around it. Most vegetables could be farmed in very efficient hydro/aeroponic greenhouses that use just a fraction of the water needed for conventional agriculture. There's new technology under development (sahara forest project) to get a combination of techniques producing food and energy right on any desert coast. And so on, and on.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 04:36 | 4877182 CHX
CHX's picture

So,  simply relocate half the globe's population and TA DAA, no water problem? Bravo, Oreilly, that's ingenious.

Yes, that down arrow was me, even though you have made mostly valid and good points (I actually also up-arrowed you too!). But your "solution" is "no solution", at least not on a large scale. Moving out of the (semi-)deserts as a personal choice of protection is a "reasonable move" for individuals, but not entire cities and regions. In the long run, mortality rates take care of everything, so collapse will force new equilibria and more sustainbale ways and systems on many different levels, water being just one. 

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 00:32 | 4876942 AdvancingTime
AdvancingTime's picture

Sustainability means planning our future in a way that we do not set ourselves up to crash and burn at some future date. Long-term planning has not been something politicians excel at or are even good at. Our system is geared at getting politicians reelected and fulfilling the most pressing needs of today. 

Things like profit, greed, and quenching our unrelinquishing desire for growth are placed in front of longer term issues and needs. Mapping out a logical and sustainable long-term plan requires delving into some rather hefty philosophical questions like what brings real happiness. More on this important topic in the article below.

http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2014/04/planning-sustainable-future-for-m...

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 02:19 | 4877082 Puna
Puna's picture

I gots me some 180 plus inchs of rain a year to catch  Half of my small 800 sg foot roof fills my 10,000 gallon tank in two or three hard rains.  Never goes dry even during the rare drought. Sweet clean fresh.  Of course I am 1,00O's of miles from any where.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 02:26 | 4877090 orangegeek
orangegeek's picture

I thought water was more valuable than oil.

 

Oh wait, that was supposed to happen five years ago.

 

 

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 02:28 | 4877094 Runs-With_Toast
Runs-With_Toast's picture

By the year 2030,................we wont make it that far in the present form. There will be a deep reckoning way be for then

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 03:39 | 4877150 Calculus99
Calculus99's picture

All the more reasons for the development of Nucelar Fusion. The World can crack it within 20 years, then world hunger and thirst is ended forever. Free power + free sea water  = free freshwater.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 04:05 | 4877167 Peterus
Peterus's picture

Where do you have 'free' in nuclear fusion? You could as well call solar 'free energy', but you still need to build and maintain panels. It's just not going to run out in some decades, but it is certainly very far from free.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 04:18 | 4877173 CHX
CHX's picture

<<< A printing-press backed H2O-derivative issued by GS will take care of the problem.

<<< Ecology is a b!tch, it's one of those inconvenient "consequences of reality"

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 07:21 | 4877273 news printer
news printer's picture

lake mead water level

http://lakemead.water-data.com/

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 08:18 | 4877354 insanelysane
insanelysane's picture

This is an economics site???  There are oceans full of salt water and two polar regions covered with frozen water.  The world just hasn't hit a price point which makes it worth while to "mine" these sources of water.  Either that or the world is just waiting for global warming to melt the polar ice into the oceans, evaporate sea water into the air, and have the heated winds push the water ladened air over land masses, and rain.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 09:03 | 4877486 AGORACOM
AGORACOM's picture

1.  If it costs $1B to build a massive desalination plant ... then build 1,000 of them for the best return on a Trillion dollars the US has ever seen.  As someone else said here, you also get all the infrastructure economic benefits to go with it.  No brainer, unless I'm missing something.

2.  Sorry to say it again but ... move to Canada folks.

Regards,

George ... The Greek ... From Canada

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 09:33 | 4877579 headhunt
headhunt's picture

The amount of energy required for desalination is the big killer of these type plants.

But the $100's of millions of dollars pissed away on the democrats buddies solar plant manufacturers would go a long way on real research toward new energy and water sources - I know, crazy using logic.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 09:17 | 4877529 The Pop In
The Pop In's picture

According to a U.S. Government report ??? Oh, than it must be true.

I am sure that a U.S. Government report about the 40% shortage of air should be published any time now.

Nothing that eugenics and a world war or two can't solve ;-)

 

 

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 09:29 | 4877565 headhunt
headhunt's picture

It is shocking to learn that billions of people living in deserts and desert like like conditions are running out of water.

The global warming meme doesn't play too well if it is going to release billions of gallons of fresh water into our environment, and yes the fresh water supplies will increase not just 'raised ocean levels'.

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 10:40 | 4877819 SmittyinLA
SmittyinLA's picture

Amnesty duh

Fri, 06/20/2014 - 17:29 | 4879274 TNTARG
TNTARG's picture

The World has the capacity and the technology to produce as much as requaired to satisfy the needs of the World population. However, it isn't going to happen unless we evolve, because scarcity is just THE requirement for Capitalism to function.

 

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!