by Chantalle Ivy

Created on: October 11, 2008

The earth is over seventy percent water, so why are we having shortages? We have oceans, rivers, lakes, streams, brooks, and rainfall all over the globe. Don't we? Are we mistaken about how much we have been using and misusing our freest resource? Could it be possible that we overlooked something? Have we been more wasteful than we have been acknowledging? Yes, we have. With our carelessness, we have done damages to our own environment that we may not be able to work our way out of. We expected nature to take care of everything, but we did not take our own pollution and overusage into consideration. Did we? No, we didn't even care to notice.

Now, with global warming creeping up on us, we anticipate the glacier ice and polar caps melting. Keep in mind we will also have less rainfall, and more water usage. Also, water is polluted, and old riverbeds have dried up leaving deserts behind in their wake. This has been happening in front of us and around us, but we have chosen to ignore it. Also, when the ocean water evaporates, only about two-thirds of the water rains back into the oceans. The rest of the water rains onto the land.

For many years we have been taking water for granted as a free resource that will never run out, an endless supply. We won't have that kind of luxury anymore, and scientists have been warning us to conserve water. Our lack of conservation efforts are taking their toll all over the world, with draughts all over the globe.

According to an article on 1H2O.org, "Ethiopia: Water, Climate Change, and Conflict," the water in Ethiopia is drying up. The video article also stated, "Water use has tripled since 1950. Agriculture uses the most water." The video article was from www. pulitzercenter.org.

Also, according to an interview with Jeffrey Sachs on 1H2O.org, in a video article entitled "Jeffrey Sachs Looks To The Future: No One Will Take Water for Granted," Jeffrey Sachs stated clearly, "Close to the equator is where it's the worst. Dry seasons last longer and rainfall is erratic."

It's time for people to get concerned about our water shortage. We look around us and see oceans overflowing with water, so we say we have plenty. But we need to see the big picture, that the water we have left right now is less than nature previously intended. We have been too careless with our resources, and it's time to start taking care of our resources before our resources stop taking care of us.

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