1/18/2024 0 Comments Michael webber ten magic![]() ![]() Over a billion people still do not have access to improved water or wastewater systems. In that way, it could be said that drought toppled the prevailing governments in the United States and England, half a world away. 6 The displacement of Syrian farmers caused by that epic drought led to a flood of refugees crossing into Europe, triggering a global political backlash partially credited for leading to the election of Donald Trump and the famed Brexit vote in 2016. The global Syrian refugee crisis of the mid-2010s can be tied directly to widespread bankruptcy of rural farmers whose crops were destroyed by drought. Water resources are strained there, which crimps food supplies, exacerbating the situation. The MENA region (Middle East and North Africa) seems to suffer perpetual civil unrest. Drought has also been associated with the collapses of the Khmer empire in the thirteenth century, the Mayans in 900 CE, and the Ancestral Puebloans of the American desert Southwest (whom the Navajo and others knew as the Anasazi). Researchers studying caves in China concluded that multi-decade droughts occurred at the end of three of the five long-lasting Chinese dynasties-the Tang (618–907), Yuan (1271–1368), and Ming (1368–1644)-implying that water strain was a trigger for dynastic collapse. If the good news is that water abundance and collaboration can foment civilization, then the bad news is that scarcity and conflict can cause societies to fail. As they conquered a new territory, they would Romanize it by building waterworks to project their power. Roman water infrastructure was an obvious symbol of their dominance. So the Aztecs considered control of water a key ingredient and enabling step to forming a city.īeautiful aqueducts and public fountains were among the defining elements of the Roman empire. In Classical Nahuatl, which is the language of pre-Columbian Aztec society, the word for city, altepetl, means “water mountain,” by joining atl (water) and tepe-tl (mountain). Politics and water control, the Chinese character implies, are intimately linked.” 4 3 The Chinese have noted this connection with their word zhi, which means “to rule” and “to regulate water.” An article in the Economist noted that “the Chinese word for politics (zhengzhi) includes a character that looks like three drops of water next to a platform or dyke. 2 It has even been suggested that water is the motivating reason to organize humans into larger societal groups that is, there is no reason to form a society except for the need to collectively manage water resources. 1 This interconnection has good news and bad news associated with it.įor millennia, before advanced forms of energy were available, water was the most important basis for civilization. It goes the other way, too: the energy systems depends on water up and down its supply chain. ![]() Because the modern water system directly depends on energy, that means modern civilization depends on energy and water. In fact, lifting and treating water was one of society’s first priorities for energy use. ![]() Since the arrival of advanced fuels and machines in the industrial revolution, energy joined water as one of the two most important ingredients for civilization. In many places around the world, getting water-for ourselves and our fields-takes energy to lift, move, and treat it. We also would not have the fibers we need-no cotton, wool, or leather-to clothe and shelter ourselves from the weather. If that did not kill us, then we would ultimately die of starvation, anyway, because the foods we eat also need water to grow. Without water, our bodies would shut down and we would die of dehydration. At the cellular level, we need water for our body’s circulation system. We need it to nourish our bodies and to grow our crops. Ensuring access to water is the first priority for individuals and societies because water is so critical to life. We begin the story of energy with water, because it is with water that life and civilization begin. ![]()
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