Water
Pollution alters patterns of rainfall, evaporation, and the hydrologic cycle.
Saltwater
We're polluting the seas. "150 million metric tons of plastic are ... in our oceans."
"Half of the oxygen ... humans breathe" is produced by oceanic phytoplankton.
The small planktonic organisms ingest microplastic, which can end up in seafood.
As pollution creates an atmospheric greenhouse effect, oceanic temperatures rise.
Water "around the equator has already become too hot for many species to survive."
CO2 pollution also causes Oceanic Acidification.
"This process harms [shellfish] and reduces the ocean's" ability to act "as a carbon sink".
When the saltwater warms, the world's magnificent coral reefs die.
Also horrible is Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing:
"On top of ... pillaging fish stocks, IUU fishing is associated with organized crime."
"Human rights abuses and forced labor ... are common."
For more on this, visit the Corruption page.
Freshwater
Nearly "half of the [USA’s] rivers and streams" are unfit "for swimming, fishing, or drinking."
Agricultural pollution is often the biggest culprit, i.e., from the (1.) raising and (2.) killing of cattle.
1. They’re fed grains from "fertilizer-intensive monocultures." "Excess fertilizer causes water pollution.”
2. Slaughterhouse pollution stimulates "algal growth, sucks up oxygen, & creates 'dead zones'."
Slaughterhouses "paid little to no fines for their illegal water pollution."
causes approximately
14,000 deaths per day,
mostly due to contamination
of drinking water
by untreated sewage.”
"Sand mining is already putting unprecedented pressure on rivers, floodplains and deltas."
“Gravel and sand mining ... has become the world’s largest extractive industry.”
"Water is becoming [more] scarce –
by 2050 ... half a billion people [may] be subject to water-stress."
“Millions of [groundwater] wells are at risk of running dry.”
As with clean air, access to clean water is often determined by economic inequality.
“Madagascar ... is experiencing its worst drought in four decades.”
In some spots, there's no water for crops, no water for livestock, and no water for humans.
It's “because of no rain ... and whenever it does rain, it's never enough rain.”
Droughts create
a variety of problems
"for the environment and
[for] human populations.
With diminishing precipitation ...
soils & crops dry out [or] die."
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To see a map of where water has been used a weapon, click on: Water Conflict Chronology.
Without clean tap water, people buy bottled water (if they can get it).
"Roughly 32-54 million barrels of oil went into producing ... bottled water." (USA 2007)
"It takes [7] liters of water to make a ... half-liter PET plastic bottle.” See Plastics page.
This not-really-recyclable bottle will end up in a dump, in our air (incineration), or the ocean.
Private companies (Coca-Cola, Nestle) try to profit from poor people’s lack of drinking water.
Investors have benefited from this, more than the less-well-off.
Three countries' citizens use more water, per person, than many others: Niger, Bolivia, and the USA.
For tips on how to conserve water, check out The Wildlife Trusts, or Waterwise.
How much water does it take to make beer?
Depending on location, the ratio may be: 300 to 1, or 45 to 1.
Soda-pop? “As much as 132 gallons of water to make a 2-liter bottle ...
and about 500 gallons ... to make a pair of Levi’s stonewashed jeans."
“Agriculture is both a cause and a casualty of water scarcity."
Crops such as coffee, almonds, cotton, and rice use huge amounts of water.
"A quarter-pound hamburger [needs] 462 gallons of water [including] cattle feed ...