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Impact of Water Shortage on Humans and the Environment

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Impact of Water Shortage on Humans and the Environment
July 28, 2014

Water: Adapting to a New Normal

In Sandra Postel article she explains the impact
Lack of water will have on Humans and the environment. She begins the article by stating that, “our water problem turns out to be much more worrisome than our energy problem” (Postel 1). She goes on to explain that human activity, the increase in global warming temperatures and humans altering of our natural waterways are the blame for the water problem. She gives examples of natural water disasters and she also explains that as the population grows more demand has caused global water shortages. She also talks about how water is absolutely essential for all life forms. There is no way for us to survive without water. There is absolutely no substitute for water and why we must work hard to conserve it. She explains that we can reverse the water problem. She said that energy and water are connected and that we need one to have another. Postel said there are multiple problems that the world must focus on. She said in the past decades we have had floods, storms, droughts, dam’s breaks and famines. She points out that most Americans think these disasters only happen in faraway countries, but in fact in the last couple of years Americans have experienced floods and natural disasters. She also commented that the water challenges confronting us locally, regionally, and globally are unprecedented. She finishes up the article by explaining that if we allow dams to be taken down and natural water purifying systems to be put back into place could help water scarcity will be self-fixing. I found Sandra Postel’s article extremely critical. She talks about the importance of shrinking our personal water footprints and that the amount of water used to produce all the things we buy is staggering. She also explains that “the average U.S. resident uses, directly and indirectly, about 2,480 cubic meters of water per

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