Article Summaries

Title: Water: Not A Drop To Drink
Author: Pranay Gupte
Date Published: Mar 29, 1999
Source: Newsweek
Website: http://www.newsweek.com/id/87726
This news article describes how the world is running out of water quickly and how many people are ignoring it. They suggest that in a more globalized world there will not be enough water for everyone on earth and it will become a scarce resource. It may even cause “water wars” which are wars between different nations for the once abundant resource of fresh water. The population is growing quickly and water is running low. This article provides statistics on water and how we are losing it rapidly. It also mentions that nations seem to ignore the crisis at hand and refuse to institute water laws to conserve the water that we do have. The big cities receive all the water at little to no cost when the poorest of poor countries have to pay for water which they cannot afford causing them to resort to unsanitary waters. This article gives the harsh truth about what is going on in the world around us and ultimately how we can help.

Title: Water Conservation Could Limit Suburban Lawns
Author: Susan Sward
Date Published: January 10, 2010
Source: The New York Times
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/us/10sfwater.html?pagewanted=1&sq=water%20conservation%20and%20sanitation&st=cse&scp=2
This article addresses the conflict of the new law being enforced in the Bay area. This law limits the amount of water usage for watering lawns and plants in your yard. Many people do not agree with this law and believe that their lawns and plants will suffer because of it. While on the other hand, environmental groups are happy about the new law and are calling it a “major step forward.” Many of the people that are against the new law often overestimate the amount of water that is really needed to water their lawns. They are specifically targeting places with large amounts of land such as commercial owned property. The law states that they will have to stay within the water budget and if they do not then they will be fined. The point of this law and other new ones being voted on is to conserve as much water as possible without hurting things that are valuable like human life.

Title: Aid for Sanitation and Water Projects Lags
Author: Andrew C. Revkin
Date Published: April 21, 2010
Source: The New York Times
Website: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/aid-for-sanitation-and-water-projects-lags/?scp=3&sq=water%20conservation%20and%20sanitation&st=cse
This article speaks about the lack of help that developing countries are now receiving concerning water sanitation. The United Nations had been doing so well with providing these countries with water that people began to forget about the crisis and believe that it had been solved. This assumption was false because the total development aid has progressively been decreasing over the years. Not only this but the countries that are receiving the water do not have the money to repay the organizations, so the organizations are left with little funding. This article summarizes that there is still a lot to be done in these developing countries and they continue to need our help and resources.

Title: Nonprofit Group Will Prod Companies to Report Their Water Use
Author: Todd Woody
Date Published: April 6, 2010
Source: The New York Times
Website:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/business/energyenvironment/07water.html?scp=3&sq=water%20conservation&st=cse
This article explains the current laws being enforced to companies with their water usage. Many large companies often waste large amounts of water to produce something very small. In efforts to limit the waste of water a nonprofit group is making companies issue a detailed report on their water usage. This is already in affect with gas emissions in greenhouses. The report that they are already issuing will now include their usage of water. Because of the predicted climate change, scientists believe that water will become increasingly scarce. Therefore, regulating large companies and their water usage is a great way to make sure that we are not wasting water in unnecessary ways. The report includes an eleven page questionnaire. This survey will determine how much water these companies are using and from what region. The overall goal of this project is to establish reporting standard such as the ones that are already in process with greenhouse gas emissions.

Title: Dying For a Drink
Author: Bryan Walsh
Date Published: December 4, 2008
Source: Times
Website: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1864440,00.html
This article addresses the issue of droughts and rapid water loss around the world. The author mentions how little the world has of “fresh drinking water” even though the earth is made up of more than half of water. Because of the rapid climate change, areas are drying up and water is become a scarce resource. Sadly, the richest of countries are wasting the water we do have like it is an abundant resource. While the poor countries around the world are left with little or no clean water at all to drink, bath, and cook with. The author admits that people are finally beginning to realize the crisis at hand but are not doing things about it quickly enough. Most of the people are wasting the water in irrigation and industry. This article provides specific examples of countries suffering the rapid water loss and how it is affecting the county and its people. Countries such as Australia and India face great drought and fear with population growing rapidly that they will soon run out of fresh water. It may even get to the point where you will have to pay for the water that you once received for free. The author summarizes his article by stating that “We have the time to change.” We just have to start sooner than later.