Instant Water (just add water)
(or watch in a separate window here)
Instant Water was a big joke when I was a kid, because even though we drank instant breakfast and our parents drank instant coffee, we knew that water was basic. Following World Water Week in Sweden last week, three groups: the UN Food & Agricultural Organization, the International Water Management Institute and the Asian Development Bank have issued a disturbing study that will probably be ignored by the MSM in favor of more news about Michael Jackson:
Asia faces a water usage crisis which, if not addressed urgently, will cause food shortages and sharply higher prices in the not too distant future. ... And that, says the report, is without taking account of the impact of climate change on rainfall patterns.
However, the politically-correct report shies away from discussing what could be the most important single issue other than climate change affecting water for agriculture in both South and Southeast Asia -- whether China uses its control of the Tibetan plateau to siphon off for its own use water flowing into the rivers which are the agricultural lifeblood of Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand and a big part of northern India: Mekong, Salween, Irrawaddy, Brahmaputra and Ganges.
The additional problem is that the glaciers of the Himalayas, which provide precious water to the region, are receding under the pressure of global warming and may well be gone completely by 2035, according to a recent report by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "The nexus of China, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan is going to become the critical area where climate change, if unmitigated, will have extremely destabilizing effects," the report says.
This report reminds me of the rumors that the Bush family were buying land near the Guarani aquifer in Paraguay.
Donal, man needs air and water before his hunger even becomes an issue.
Yes
The 21st century will end up being the FIGHT OVER WATER RIGHTS CENTURY.
The Bush Family being whoever is in charge of the money which would never include w. He does not know where Paraguay is and does not care.
August 24, 2009 8:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rec'd for the title alone. This is big. Really big. Thanks, Donal.
August 24, 2009 9:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
For a more vivid description of catastrophic water shortages, check out this brilliant blog by Jacob Freeze, the prophetic wonder-man of political blogging...
The Strange Destiny and Sudden Death of Atlanta, Georgia
...which attracted 500 recommends on DailyKos.
August 25, 2009 12:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
You silly rutabaga. The governor fixed the problem by praying for rain right outside the State Capitol. "WE DO BELIEVE IN MIRACLES. WE DO BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE THE MIRACLE CREATOR."
Don't ask how that worked out, though.
August 25, 2009 1:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
do you work for the cia or something?
August 25, 2009 1:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not after they banned me from DailyKos.
I resigned in protest!
And didja hear that Obama is really a mole for the OSS? Old spies never die!
August 25, 2009 1:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Donal, thanks for reminding me that I have to go out and water my plants. It'll be 104 degrees today, and the plants are transpiring like all get-out. Seriously, here in the desert I am totally dependent on the Colorado River, and the Rockies are drying up.
I saw something in the early 60s that fascinated me. I was down in Sonora, Mx, on a gravel road just south of Puerto Peñasco, a few hundred yards from the beach of the Gulf of California. There was a structure just off the beach, and when we came near we saw that it was a redwood condenser tower, measuring about 8' x 8' x 8'. At the bottom was a 2" pipe sticking out, gushing a full head of water on the desert. We splashed around a bit, and drank some of the water, which was sweet and even cool. On the other side of the tower was a 12" wide trench that had been dug into the beach, zig-zag so that the total length was about 200', and the trench was covered with clear Visqueen plastic. When the tide rose (and the tides in the Northern Gulf are quite large, the trench would fill up with sea water. A very low-tech solar water still. I discovered later that it was an experimental project of a joint study of the National University of Mexico, Guaymas and the University of Arizona, Tucson.
It just fascinated me, and when the topic of pending water crises appeared, I continued day-dreaming about this still. As far as I could see, it was a dirt cheap technology, solar powered, but the downside is that the condenser material is very expensive. The quality redwood needed for a condenser is off the books, price wise, and the material is also in short supply. High tech condensers are very expensive to boot. So what occupied my musings for several years was the search for a very cheap condenser material. Then it hit me one day:
Precolumbian genius - the Olla.
http://www.schencksouthwest.com/images/pottery/P-1 Tonto Olla.JPG
The magic of these water jars is that the water is always wonderfully cool. The unglazed low-fire clay is porous and water passes through and evaporates, which lowers the temperature inside. That's exactly what the redwood boards in a condenser do. The water vapor travels through the board and evaporates, causing the interior to cool and condensing the water back to its liquid form.
Anyway, just a fantasy. But I wonder if it could be scaled up to help solve the H2O crisis.
August 25, 2009 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the post, Donal.
In case anyone hasn't seen it, here's a video of an extraordinary invention that turns filthy drinking water into clean drinking water almost instantly:
http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_pritchard_invents_a_water_filter.html
August 25, 2009 4:45 PM | Reply | Permalink