2 of 5

Write now Article Tools

The line, "Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink" comes from the epic 19th Century Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, and it refers to the life-or-death situation faced by the protagonist. He is stranded at sea on an Antarctic voyage, surrounded by water as far as the eye can see, yet unable to slake his thirst because the salt water would kill him. This is the situation faced by millions, arguably billions of the world's population if the worst of the global warming predictions come true.

Global warming aside, fresh water is already threatened by the natural forces of desertification and soil erosion, and the heavy burden of pollution our exploding population has created in the last couple of centuries, from cross-oceanic travel, factory and farm run-off, etc. It is estimated that just over a billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water (1), including at least 400 million children (2). Water shortages have been linked to wars, even genocide, as the world was horrified to see recently in Darfur where fighting over water has been linked to the deaths of over 200 thousand people (3).

Many of those facing water shortages are having the same problem as our Ancient Mariner. They live on or near oceans or seas, yet are unable to tap these vast resources for the one thing they most need to survive, because it is in an unusable form. Certainly the technology exists to remove the salt and make the water perfectly drinkable, as is done in the Middle East, which accounts for 75% of the world's capacity for water desalination (4). However, the process is expensive and energy-intensive and developing countries lack the resources of Middle Eastern oil giants like the United Arab Emirates, and so could never hope to meet their daily water requirements through artificial means. Even were the process more affordable, it leads to a conundrum. It is a step backward to burn fossil fuels to ease a water crisis due in part to the burning of those same fossil fuels.

The solution to our problems, if they are to be found, won't likely come in the form of improved desalination infrastructure. Perhaps the answers, as with the problem, can be found in the words of the poet. Our species is not unlike the Mariner. In the poem, the Mariner grows impatient with an albatross that flies with them, and defying the tradition that the bird is the spirit of a departed fellow seaman, he kills it, cursing himself and his horrified crew. It is only after an ordeal and through his resulting appreciation for all living things, that he makes it out alive. Like the mariner, we have seen an omen and ignored it, most likely at our peril. We have abandoned our traditions and turned our backs on those who have struggled before us to bring us to where we are today. But also like the Mariner, we are capable of learning from our own mistakes, and of spreading love and appreciation, and perhaps, just perhaps, of avoiding being the captains of an empty vessel.

Sources:

1. 2006 United Nations Human Development Report, as cited at

http://www.globalissues.org/ar ticle/26/poverty-facts-and-sta ts

2. State of the World's Children, UNICEF, as cited at

http://www.globalissues.org/ar ticle/26/poverty-facts-and-sta ts

3. The Independent, 20 December, 2006.

http://www.independent.co.uk/n ews/world/africa/darfur-genoci de-without-borders-429338.html

4. Scientific American, September 2007, as cited on Wikipedia under the listing for "Water desalination".

Learn more about this author, Ryan Robert Hallett.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

Add your voice

Know something about Water shortage: Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink?
We want to hear your view. Write now!