So this semester is coming to a close, and it is time to wrap up my blog posts! To summarize all my blogs into one paragraph may be difficult because water is such a huge part of everyone's and everything's life. First, is something that we have talked about in class a lot - people only care about climate change when it is something they can see first-hand. We saw this in many cases in readings and in class. It pops up in government debates, and people just cannot seem to agree on whether our economic processes or the Earth is more important right now. This brings me to my second point, water has become a huge industry in the world. Something that the world has so much of is controlled by only a few, and then sold to the rest of the people at an exponential price. This causes huge problems because water is a basic need for human life and the fact that they are trying to sell this to people is disastrous. If people cannot afford to pay for water, how are they expected to live? Finally, as water shortages become more prominent, people are engineering ways in which to get more drinkable and usable water from new sources. This comes in the form of desalination plants, new water conserving irrigation techniques, new GMO (yes GMO) plants that are designed to not use as much water (i.e. GMO rice in Egypt to help conserve water in the time of the Ethiopian Dam concerns), and ideas such as the Sahara Forest Project.
The most influential thing that I learned through my research on water concerns throughout the world was something that I also stated in my film's essay. When a necessity to human life, such as water, becomes a luxury good rather than a public good, conflict will arise. This is seen in many parts of the world, such as Egypt and Jordan in which water is mostly sectioned off to the highest bidder (Tourism) or taken over by governments who cannot sustainably divide the good (Jordan and refugees).When people don't get access to something like water, people become sick, people will fight, people will die. In comparing the environmental and social impacts of water shortages, it is hard to understand why it isn't protected at a larger scale, but then you have to remember that water is money and money is power.

I was struggling to think of something to write this week, but as I was researching topics I came across something very interesting. As climate change starts to cause melting in the Arctic, the native communities there, such as the Inuit, have been noticing more illnesses. This is happening to many of the worlds tribal communities, not just the Inuit. This is because most of them live in areas where the effects are seen first and they spend more time with the environment which is being affected. These communities feel at one with the land and its resources, so even if they did have the technology that the rest of the world has to deal with these changes, they would choose to live their tradition way if possible (such as drinking brook water rather that treated water). This is causing waterborne diseases within these communities to skyrocket. So, when the topic of climate change arises, it is our duty to think not only about us (those who have the technology to get around the effects of the heating of the earth), but to also take into account these groups who traditionally live off the land and are being the most affected. They were not the ones who caused these problems, we did. Yet they are the ones bearing them for us already. Scientists often state that when we see a "4°C change" in temperatures, climate change disasters will start taking place. We don't realize, though, that these communities in the Arctic have already seen that 4° drop.

Brazil houses one-third of the world's rainforests, yet somehow parts of Brazil are in the middle of a terrible drought. One example of this drought arises in Sao Paulo, the country's largest city which is located near the coastline. It has been continuously raining in the city for a few days now, but if you visited you would never know. It has even been said that in order to make any difference the rain would need to stay for a few months. The city's reservoirs are dangerously low. Many of the residents are worried that things will get too bad to be fixed, but officials in the area are still slow to act. Part of the problem is the growth rate of the city. As the city grows, the government doesn't see the need to establish a growth in infrastructure. So, the question is, how did a place that produced around 15% of the world's water get into a water crisis and what will have to happen for the government to see this as a threat to the health, economy, and lifestyles of the citizens living in Sao Paulo.

I want you to think about a green field where wheat is grown. Done thinking? Good.

I suspect that you thought of something along the lines of Oklahoma or somewhere else along the Great Plains, but what if I told you to add Saudi Arabia to that list. Sounds weird, right? A desert growing wheat? Something seems wrong.

Nope! It is true. Saudi Arabia, a country made of mostly desert land is, in fact, practicing agriculture in the center of it all. This was all possible because of irrigation and it's not a new technique in fact. We practice the same thing in the United States, in areas like the desert regions of Nevada. This seems like a good idea for the economy perhaps (although it would take a lot to set up such a system), but what about the water supply? In these regions up to 90% of the water can be lost to evaporation. There is actually a new idea called the Sahara Forest Project which is an organization which is trying to create a sustainable way to supply water to desert regions on a wide scale. This would all be possible due to algae-based biomass cultivation, saltwater desalination, and solar thermal energy production. Sounds complicated right? Basically, the facilities would transform algae through photosynthesis into energy-rich biofuel. Still sounds complicated? Well, trust me, it is going to be cool.

Over the past years, we have seen a dramatic change in how water is being used throughout the world. Many people have socially constructed the view of water as something that is inexhaustible. This can be seen in various instances as people use water as a luxury rather than necessity.
If you were to ask a group of people to tell them something about Fiji, they would probably say something along the lines of, it's an island and it's a brand of water. People see this water bottle and put it into their heads that this water is somehow better than the water in their sinks, in terms of health and the environment. If they buy this type of water, which has a photo of the tropical nature of the island of Fiji (green-washing!), they think that it is cleaner and maybe even better for the environment and world economy (since they aren't giving money to American water brands, but rather the workers in Fiji.)
All of this in the end is a huge paradox though. The negative externalities of bottled water far outway the positive, First, water is essential for your health, but you don't need name brand water to fulfill that need. Second, bottled water can actually lead to more pollution through littering and from the transportation of the water to be sold. Third, people don't realize that the people who own FIJI Water are actually from Southern California. Finally, the most important thing people overlook is the actual lifestyle of people in Fiji because of this. Fiji has a corrupt totalitarian government that welcomes foreign investment. The FIJI Water company, along with help from the Fiji government, is stripping the country of its resources and it's doing so without being taxed. Not only that, but they are literally "protecting" the resources, such as water, from the citizens by force of artillery. There is a total struggle to live over there because of this company, and Fiji's citizens are left struggling with hunger and poverty.
Next time you go to the store and see someone looking at Fiji's water, which has largely been marketed as an "eco-friendly" product, tell them the true story behind the product.

The Middle Eastern parts of Africa are not only having unrest in society due to politics, but there is also outburst from the people on the water crisis. Egypt was given the rights to all of the Nile's water after a treaty was signed between the country and Britain that announced Egypt's independence. However, throughout the years, as more countries in the Nile River's location became independent, the river's water was split up, yet a large majority still remained in Egypt's rights. One key term to the new treaty was that any water projects upstream had to be approved by Egypt.
This is the problem facing the area today. Ethiopia has been building the Grand Renaissance Dam, which is said to be completed by 2017. As water in the region is not used resourcefully, the river has been dramatically losing water. For this reason, Egypt has not approved the new dam, but Ethiopia has begun construction anyways, and other upstream countries are on Ethiopia's side.
This is a large problem for Egypt, in which 97% of people in the country live along the Nile. Egypt's main sources of income are agriculture and tourism, both of which demand large amounts of water. With Egypt's political problems being as they are, the water crisis had been ignored, and now the region must face the consequences.
As the months go by we will see Egypt's reactions to the possibility of even more water loss caused by the dam. Will they act forcibly or try to compromise with the upstream countries?

If I told you to think about a water crisis, the United States may be the last thing you would think of. However, the citizens of Detroit wouldn't. In the last few months, thousands of people living in the city have had their water cut off. The city is one of the poorest in our country, and yet they also have one of the highest costs of water. 

So, what happens when citizens can't afford the water? It gets cut off. What happens when those people no longer have access to water? Outbreaks. 

Water riots, something that one would expect to see in countries like Egypt, have been taking place in our very own country. People can't clean themselves, flush toilets, or even cook. Many of these families without water are ones that have children. This is causing huge health concerns in the city. Some people who have come out of surgery recently can't even clean bandages or wounds. 

Not only is this a concern of health, but it's a debate of whether water is a right or a privilege. The United Nations stated that the scene in Detroit is, "a violation of the human right to water and other international rights." However, some people in Detroit disagree. The people who can still pay for water have seen a raise in the water bills to as much as $20 to help compensate for the loss of water users and also some have had problems with neighbors stealing water.