That is Some High Quality H20
Water is the make up of all life here on planet Earth. It is
the reason that Earth is inhabitable in comparison to the other planets in our
solar system. Water is the reason civilizations existed, evolved, succeeded and
perished. Water is the name of the game when it comes to surviving and thriving
in this world still to this day.
In ancient Mesopotamia empires would reign in places where
rivers were present. These rivers, specifically the Euphrates and Tigris, would
supply civilization with the necessary resources for survival and longevity. Major empires such as the Hassuna, Samarram Halaf, as
well as the Ubaid cultures all existed along rivers in the Fertile Cresent.
All of the modern world exists because of the irrigation techniques discovered in Mesopotamia.
Although other civilizations around the world at that time didn't
necessarily need as complex of an irrigation system, the benefits of having
flood defenses around the fertile crescent were necessary. According to the
Haywood text “the rivers could change course violently and unpredictably.” This
poses a whole set of new problems and issues for these civilizations and their
survival. Because of the extreme flooding, famine and diseases would run rampant
and wipe out vast majorities of people.
In addition to supporting the physical requirements of human
life, creating and sustaining a civilization demanded the establishment of an economy through trade. Waterways are the reason economies would thrive.
Ports for trading goods across long distances made people wealthy and states
boom. Thus prompting a demand for individualized skills and delegation of
resources. These delegations came from the king, emperor, or ruler of the empire.
Although a modern day democracy wasn't known at this time in this place, the
rulers would often times be more of a symbol of force as opposed to a symbol of
uniformity.
Not only do we see these trends for river and water
dependency thousands of years ago, it is something that is still very engrained
in our modern culture as well. Even a few hundred years ago, we saw cities like
London, Amsterdam, or Hamburg thrive as their entire economy and the economies
of hundreds of other cities depended on the trade coming in and out of these
ports. Then in fourteen hundred ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and
we skip another couple hundred years and see cities like New York and Boston
thrive because of the availability to trade and sustain life.
I don't claim to be a fortune teller, but based on the way
that we are living today, the next global crisis to occur will be with the
limited levels of fresh water available for consumption. According to worldwildlife.org,
70% of Earth is covered in water, but only 3% of that water is fresh, two
thirds of which is still in glaciers. It
is being predicted that by 2025, two thirds of the worlds population may face
water shortages.
With billions of people already facing water challenges
(either lack thereof or unsatisfactory cleanliness) why are we not doing more
to protect the one thing that all civilization has had in common? What happens
when all the fresh water is depleted? What happens when you go to brush your
teeth in the morning and the faucet doesn't turn on? The answer might be more attainable
than you think.
The following ted talk will sum up the necessity for water
in societies and civilizations as well as present a solution to the problem
that we are facing now and will be facing in the years to come.
This is an interesting post, Zach. The key insight here, I think, is that geography and environment play such an important role in the development of societies, especially these early states we've been looking at. Natural resources play a huge role in whether or not these states are able to sustain themselves. It's hard enough for a ruler to consolidate power and ensure that his people have enough to eat; if the environment presents too much of a challenge (flood, bad harvest), then it's pretty likely that a lot of the subjects in that ruler's state will migrate somewhere else, or refuse to supply the required amount of tribute--this is how early states could collapse. Your point about this being a salient issue for today is also well-put. Environment and climate, particularly their effect on natural resources, are still really important issues for us today.
ReplyDeleteI thought your topic was really interesting. I like that you place the importance on water and irrigation from the time and now. I didn't really think to compare the two nor did I really consider the importance of it at the time. What do you think will happen if/when we run out of water? Do you think our societies we have in place now would collapse or do you think things will remain similar to the way they are now? I really liked the Ted Talk, it was really interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe statistics you shared really put things into perspective, in my opinion. I really liked your topic. what did you think about the flood, and the ties to the story in the christian bible, and the the stories from those societies mentioning flood?
First of all, let me say that how you wrote this was brilliant. You not only expressed yourself, and the facts being presented with thought out description, but you also had correct punctuation (something I appreciate). The topic you picked about how water influences how we not only survive, but thrive is one that we are hearing more about due to the droughts in places like California. There is a great point to be said about this, if every living being in the world needs water to survive, why aren't we taking more care of it.
ReplyDeleteWhen you talked about how quickly our fresh water is being depleted, I thought about how they want to pump water from the oceans, convert it into freshwater and use that. Although it's a solution that may work, especially due to the ice melting in the Arctic. You have to think about how much pollution that would cause, what would happen to our oceans if we depleted their water and how not everyone in the world would have the ability to do such a thing. Overall, I believe this crisis will only continue and things will get worse, unless we figure out how to stop what we are doing now.
I really liked your topic and they way you explained yourself. Like Dawn said what would happen if we ran out of water, or for some reason couldn't find any? How would life be like now if we didn't have any water? The main points you put in here are really good and made me look at it in a different perspective. I think that we just take water for granted and don't even think about what we would do if we didn't have it, because people don't think about that stuff. The Ted talk was really good and had really good information to make your topic even that much better. I think that you tying in the Ted talk and having that on here helped me and others get the whole perspective.
ReplyDeleteI really like your post Zach. Its kinda weird to think about. Like wow someday in the future we may not have anymore freshwater. Compared to now where we have it all the time. I really like how you go over the importance of water, and how not only back then did civilizations thrive off water, but still today water plays a huge factor in our survival. As our water supply on earth shortens what do you think people will do? Do you think wars would start over water if there wasn't that much left? When I think of what would humans do I think of maybe they would use ocean water or trying to find another planet that has water, but I feel like with how much water we use it may affect ocean habitats and be hard on the wild life. Other planets with water have been found, but may be too far away.
ReplyDeleteWater is essential for life. As you said in the beginning of the article, floods were a major concern. It's very interesting how the very water that they needed to survive was the same water that could possibly kill with floods. Fresh water is hard to come by so I wonder what will humans do to survive?
ReplyDeleteGreat post. It's interesting to find out that 70% of Earth is water and only 3% is freshwater. So I'm anxious, but also a little worried to find out how the world will preserve more freshwater for us to survive. I believe there's solutions to this problem like converting our salt water to fresh water, but also consequences as well, such as cost of desalination or killing of important plants and creatures in the ocean.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting topic, because it really has you stop and think about the obvious. It is common knowledge to know that we need fresh water for survival, but I've never really looked into it as far as our earth is majority made of water. This is something that we have always relied on from the beginning days to now. I really hope that there is a solution to our lack of fresh water for the future. Normally when reading I tend to not have interest and do not really take in everything I am reading. With this post I wanted to keep on reading. Very well said.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this I found your topic to be so interesting. Water is definitely a key essential, especially pure freshwater for survival. I found it very interesting that you disscuss how there is only 3% of freshwater on Earth. This shows that we are lacking freshwater and hopefully there is a solution. Also, in the Ted Talk it really made me think about back then years ago, how did people survive with no water, no energy or no resources. And I found it really interesting that he discussed the global demand on water. After reading this topic and watching this video this really made me open my eyes and see how much freshwater is in a crisis.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post Zachary, water is a very limited resource and as we have learned in class that is one of the main resources cities need to attain longevity. The TED Talk really sparked some interest with me, this made me wonder how long the city of Doha will last as a thriving city since their experiencing 15% increase despite the lack of their water supply. I would to see more studies on how both city growth and water availability correlate.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post. I know that water is one of the most important parts of life but I have never thought about it the way that you just wrote about. I can't believe that only three percent of the water on earth is freshwater. I guess that explains why there is so much dehydration in the Middle East. It is also very cool to think about how the irrigation techniques that were used way back in Mesopotamia are the foundation for the ones we use today. Very interesting post!
ReplyDelete