Water

Water

 [|Water - Wikipedia]

Summaries

 [|World Water Day Focus on Global Sewage Flood]

March 22, 2010 Tasha Eichenseher National Geographic

World Water Day, a day to raise awareness of global water (in)security and quality, focused on Kenya this year - one of Africa's highest developed nations, and yet one of the worst. The polluted waters of Kenya, and the world, are deadly for the people who use them, but they have no other choice. They need that water to live. In Kenya, Kibera to be specific, human waste is the biggest polluter of water. The same water these people "do their business" in is the same water other townspeople use to bathe or even drink. Flying Toilets is another popular way to "do one's business" in Kibera, in which one puts their excrement in a bag and throws it on the ground - another form of pollution. In response to these grotesque conditions, the U.N. constructed a water station where villagers could use the lav, drink water, and bathe.

Although Kibera was somewhat of a success, still over 80% of waste water goes untreated and is dumped into clean(ish) bodies of water everyday. The U.N. believes it is the job of the local governments to provide clean water, a HUMAN RIGHT, to its inhabitants and to better educate them on water use and management.

 [|World's Largest Dead Zone Suffocating Sea]

March 5, 2010 James Owen National Geographic

Sweden's own archipelago has seen an increase in Eagle population in recent years due to the banning of DDT and other pesticides that threatened the majestic birds. But, they are now facing a new problem: a dead sea. The Baltic Sea has been taken over by a deadly algal bloom that deprives it and its inhabitants of much needed oxygen. The reason? The algae prosper by absorbing nutrients from phosphorus and nitrogen which are washed into the sea after rainfall as farm run off.

Some blame overfishing of a common cod. Why? Because the cod eats sprats which eat zooplankton which eat the algae. Well, with the decline of cod populations, the algae populations bloomed (algal bloom) and created various deaf zones.

In Sweden, during World Water Week, officials decided to take action, but it may just be too late to save the planet's youngest sea.

 [|The Global Fish Crisis: Still Waters]

Fen Montaigne National Geographic

The Bluefin Tuna has pleased Sushi lovers for decades, but now it's beginning to disappear from the planet's waters. Illegal overfishing has led these majestic stallions of the sea to the brink of extinction, and very little is being done to save them.

The Mediterranean was once home to many of these speedy giants, but after overfishing and little reproductive success, the species is "in danger of collapse." This situation exploits everything that is wrong with today's fisheries. But to call these fisheries "cruel" would be outlandish? Montaigne believes that we do not view the massacre of these species as cruel because we can not see them as we do terrestrial animals. These marine creatures are beyond different to us. But money is key in this bluefin tuna trade, just like in most other cases. On the Japanese market, millions of dollars can be made.

The author recalls a summer when he was aboard a purse-seine boat outside of Spain. There were a few other competing purse-seiners in the same region, on lookout for this rare fish. Once a school was spotted, the fish were split 50-50 amongst touching boats. This still proved lucrative. Once the fish were netted, they were released into a large pool-like sea cage. Montaigne was told he could swim with the fish, and he did. One large bluefin caught his eye. It had a hook hanging from its mouth. It was obviously a fighter. Once the fish were released, though, the last one out was the hooked tuna, and he had a friend (a diver that had been dragged along!) Now, this take of fish was just part of the annual legal quota of 32000 tons, which is usually a minimum for many fisheries. One man, Mielgo Bregazzi (on a mission to expose IUU - illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing), believes that the Mediterranean fleet has been fishing, on average, double the legal quota.

Croatia, an Adriatic Sea bordering nation, did not make it any better for the bluefin. In fact, they were the first to set up a tuna ranch in the Adriatic. Tunas that are sent to this ranch are usually young and are fattened for months or years and then killed. This lucrative business, however, is looked down upon by few. Bregazzi is personally disgusted with it and says, "The fish don't stand a chance."

If people fail to realize the importance of preserving biodiversity, the bluefin tuna will have no chance of survival, and all it will be is a form of money. Quotas must be stricter enforced, vessels must be removed from the vast sea, limitations on these vessels (how many can actually go after fish), and and the creation of sanctuaries can all help save the bluefin tuna.

 [|Toxic Lode]

Fall 2004 Madelaine Drohan Amnesty International

(Note: I only summarized the first half of the article, because it pertained to the water)

Congo, a developing nation in central Africa, has been plagued by civil unrest and poor condition for centuries. But now, the city of Likasi is being plagued by something environmental. The city's air and water are in such poor condition, that one would not want to breathe or drink them. Aside from the bacteria and diseases that exist in the water of developing nations, radioactivity pollutes the city's air and water. That's right. Likasi is in the proximity of Shinkolobwe, the mine that supplied the United States with enough Uranium for the A-Bombs dropped in Japan. This proves interesting, because this puts an indirect blame on the developed world for exposing the Congolese people to these radioactive materials. But in a nation so eager to develop, there was no turning back, and now they are paying the consequences.

The air and water aren't the only things plaguing the inhabitants though. The civil war has affected these civilians and has stripped them of many rights and life. The standard of living in Congo is very poor and harsh.

Drohan, who visited the region had this to say: //"I used bottled water to drink and brush my teeth. No such luxury is available to the local women. They fill huge yellow plastic canisters from a broken pipe on the street outside, and they walk home with the poisonous water balanced on their heads."//