THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603160013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Another View
SOURCE: By WERNER FORNOS, Special to The Virginian-Pilot
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
As residents of Norfolk know, water is an important resource to the people of Virginia. Virginia's coastline, including the estuaries of the Chesapeake Bay, is more than 3,000 miles long by conservative estimates. That is approximately as long as the entire United States is wide.
Yet the value of water is taken for granted. What people do not often consider is that even though water covers nearly three-quarters of Earth's surface, the amount of drinkable water is very small. More than 97 percent of Earth's water is seawater; 2 percent is locked up in glaciers and polar ice caps. That leaves approximately 1 percent of the total water supply available for human consumption.
Consider that that 1 percent is shared by 5.75 billion people. One-tenth goes to actual human consumption; the rest is used in industry and agriculture.
Now consider that world population is increasing by nearly 100,000 people each year. At this rate, world population will double in only 40 years. Already, at least 1.7 billion people - nearly one-third of Earth's human population - lack an adequate supply of drinking water and some 3 billion do not have adequate sanitation.
Most of these people live in the developing world. In 1975, a total of 19 developing countries did not have adequate renewable water resources for domestic and irrigation uses. By the early 1990s, an estimated 80 countries comprising 40 percent of the world population suffered from a serious water shortage. By the year 2000, another 10 countries may be added to the list.
Through the world of international organizations and governments, considerable success has been achieved in recent years in bringing drinking water to more than 1 billion people who did not previously have potable water. But much more needs to be done to decentralize and make the planning provision of water resources more efficient.
The long-range guarantee of water resources depends on a permanent shift away from the world's carelessness, neglect and waste of this vital yet fragile commodity. There must be a universal commitment to wide-scale conservation, to more efficient use, and to alternative processes for disposing of toxins. These are initiatives in which Virginians are already involved. Virginians know that the Chesapeake Bay exists as part of a fragile ecosystem and that its preservation - or destruction - depends on decisions that we make today.
But even the most sophisticated and innovative scientific and technological advances, together with the discovery of new water supplies, may succeed in nothing more than buying time against an almost inevitable global catastrophe. Conservative estimates state that with each degree Celsius that Earth's temperature rises, sea levels will increase by 3 feet. That would be enough to flood the Chesapeake Bay region and other coastal areas around the world.
Some climatologists predict a rise in temperature of 2 degrees Celsius by the year 2036, coincidentally the same year when human population is again expected to double.
We must have a worldwide commitment to ensure that sufficient potable water as well as Virginia's beautiful coastline, will exist for future generations. Virginians have a unique opportunity to lead the way with the lessons they have already learned about water conservation and coastline preservation. They also have a reason to press for innovative programs, including voluntary family planning, to ensure the long-term availability of water for everyone. MEMO: Werner Fornos is president of the Population Institute, a Washington,
D.C.-based nonprofit organization seeking a more-equitable balance
between the world's population, environment and resources. He spoke on
Thursday to members of the World Affairs Council.
by CNB