This week, people around the globe recognized March 22nd as World Water Day. This important day of acknowledgment brings up stories of limited water resources in many countries, due to droughts, limited rainfall, or contaminated water supplies. However, we also see areas that are impacted by deluges of water brought about by floods, overextended dams, and sometimes limited infrastructure. “Globally, floods and extreme rainfall events have increased by more than 50% over the past decade, occurring at a rate four times greater than in 1980 (EASAC, 2018). Climate change is expected to further increase the frequency and severity of floods and droughts (IPCC, 2018).” states the United Nations World Water Development Report 2021 On Valuing Water.
The science of water
Water is a powerful life force that all living things depend on. I recall going to ROM’s (Royal Ontario Museum) “Water: The Exhibit” a full decade ago. It was the most informative and interactive exhibit I’ve seen about the global community’s primary resource. Entering the main hall, I saw a circling sphere. Suspended from the central ceiling hub of all related activities, it illuminated the blue and green of the earth, asking viewers to reflect on “why” this exhibit is so important. It is the world we live in, the only one which supports us due to the existence of water. As Neil DeGrasse Tyson states in a recent interview on PBS’s Amanpour & Co. “…every place on Earth where we find liquid water, we find life, even the dead sea.”
Everyday Water
As I toured the exhibit, I learned many things that day. One resonant point that stayed with me to this very day is the amount of freshwater that exists on earth. For the entire globe, “freshwater makes up only 3% of the planet’s surface”. Consequently, freshwater is what we depend on to survive. So, “how do we manage it?” was a question that made me pause. Since gaining this piece of knowledge, I have constantly been cognisant of how I use and misuse the water that runs through my life. This is a list of activities I have direct control by me. These activities keep the resource at the forefront of my mind:
- Brushing my teeth/washing my face
- Showering or bathing
- Boiling water for tea/coffee/dinner
- Washing clothes
- Cleaning floors/walls/etc.
- Watering plants/garden/lawns
- Flushing the toilet
- Washing a car
- Power-washing
- Going swimming
Each time, I do any one of these things, I remember that I am extracting a portion of the 3% freshwater that we all need to share. Now, I am mindful of how long I run the water and how much I am using it.
In the end…
It has contributed to one of the reasons this website was initiated. Thus, I decided to find and connect with others who have this same respect for water and the world; people who want to make a difference. In the coming months, I will be searching for those who are making this difference.
We are all broaching a New Year and a new way of looking at our future. As the Spring blossoms let us look for new ways of seeing our world.
By Theresa K. Howell