Effort

Ever look at the work other people do and wonder how they do it?  Like how do people exert that much effort?  Wish I could focus my efforts better.  I mean, I'm starting to realize that most good accomplishments are collaborative efforts, so the answer is often probably that they collaborate more than I do.  I definitely need to try to work on that.

The Global Threat of Aquifer Depletion

One thing I'm concerned about that I'm not sure there's much discussion of is the depletion of global aquifers.  While I think that climate change is an absolutely pressing issue which we must address, I feel that unfortunately this is far from the only major environmental threat that we face today.  One problem that I think is often overlooked is global aquifer depletion.  Aquifers are used extensively for agriculture and to supply humans with drinking water and for other purposes.

One article that I think gives a good overview of this situation is this one:

The Earth's Evaporating Aquifers

It's based on a 2015 study by NASA called Quantifying renewable groundwater stress with GRACE.  The study uses satellites to calculate the current groundwater levels in the Earth and is believed to be more accurate than estimates accomplished by ground-based techniques.  It uses a mass-measurement technique that allows it to directly measure accumulations of mass, such as water, beneath the surface of the Earth.

According to the article, the study data concludes that water levels in 21 of the world's 37 largest aquifers are being depleted.

This quote from the article summarizes the study results:

"In the study released on Tuesday, researchers found that eight aquifers—particularly those in arid climates—were dangerously overstressed. Eleven major aquifers were “negatively recharging,” meaning people were pumping water out of them much faster than they were putting it in. “The water table is dropping all over the world,” Jay Famiglietti, a water researcher at NASA and one of the authors of the study, told The Washington Post. “There’s not an infinite supply of water.”

The statement above about there not being an infinite supply of water may sound strange, but the point is that our global dependency on these aquifers rather than the water cycle makes our current methods of ensuring a reliable water supply unsustainable.

Another surprising fact about our use of aquifer water which the article mentions is that it's significantly contributing to sea level rise:

"Already, 2 billion people worldwide rely on groundwater for daily use. That will have slosh-over effects: A 2012 study reported that water from aquifers, moved to the surface by human activity like farming and mining, would constitute 25 percent of sea level rise before 2050, and possibly even more after that. Relocated groundwater, by that paper’s estimate, would be the third-most significant cause of sea level rise this century, after the melting ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland."

While I've read the article in it's entirety, I haven't read the GRACE study all the way through or read through all the other links the article supplies.  Still, the information looks solid from what I can see, and the conclusions seem rather grim. 

You Don't Have to Solve Everything, And You Don't Have to Tackle Problems Alone

After my last post, I wanted to post something a little less bleak.  I think people are more aware of world events today than they used to be, and while I do think this is a particularly difficult time period that we live in, I believe that part of the feeling of catastrophe from every angle that many of us feels today comes from that greater awareness.  I don't think that means that we should seek to cordon ourselves off from the world and all its problems, but nor does it help to agonize over these problems so much that we succumb to despair.  I think that hope is necessary, and that we have reason to believe that our problems are not insurmountable.  I don't think it's any one individual's job to know about or address every issue.  I also don't think that we are powerless simply because as individuals we are all limited in our scope of understanding and ability.  I believe we can all make a meaningful difference in the world.  And I believe that we can do that better when we work together than when we work alone.

Also, everyone has their own problems that don't get reported in the news or in those 'nobody's talking about this problem' posts.  These are things that we as individuals must take time out to address to ensure our continued health and suvival, so it is not the right of other people to take the time that is necessary for you to address those issues.  And our mental resources are as limited as our physical ones.  We cannot spend all our time worrying about the problems of the world, and in fact that's not an effective method of tackling those problems anyway.  We must address our own needs first before we can help others.

The Accounting of the Natural World

It occurs to me that a lot of the vital studies done to understand the flow of resources, while many times utilizing advanced scientific techniques, are essentially, at their core, accountancy.  Like the study I mentioned in my earlier post today about the aquifers.  That's all about measuring the inflows and outflows of water.  Climate change studies do that too, via measurement of greenhouse gases and other related indicators.  Maybe one of the problems in our world is that there are too many accountants focused on money and not enough focused on the environment.

Dreamwidth--Yes, This is About the Tag Cloud. Again.

I know this isn't a popular website but I have to post here because it has a built-in tag cloud widget.  No ads.  A built-in tag cloud widget.  I have to.

ramble-tags: i love u tag cloud