Show Summary - July 19th, 2010
Monologue.
Sharon welcomed the listeners and talked about the importance of water in life and life in water. She said that it is imperative for everyone to realize the importance of water, to drink plenty of water and to carry water with them if they are unsure of a water source. Dehydration, or lack of water, is out of control in our world and causes or contributes to ailments from allergies to obesity.
Guest: Ron Duncan
Ron Duncan, M.S. (Santa Cruz, CA), water engineer and writer. "No organisms can live on Earth without water."
Ron Duncan became interested in water as a geology student. He concluded that water is the world's most important resource but despite its abundance, it is not being well cared for. No life form on Earth can survive without water. Because water fills the oceans and falls from the sky, we tend to take it for granted.
46% of the people in the world lack enough water for basic sanitation. By 2050, 50% of people will experience water shortages. Worldwide, underground aquifers, where much of the accessible fresh water is stored, are being pumped dry and/or depleted by drought.
Ron is an advocate of water conservation and offers several suggestions. Sharon agreed and talked about dryland farming, which uses far less water than conventional farming.
Ron noted that there is a projected increase in jobs in water management for three reasons: (1) The "baby boomer" work force is aging. (2) The new generation is smaller than the baby boomer generation. (3) The industry is growing rapidly.
Water is currently far too inexpensive to warrant major investments in things like dams and diversion canals. Lower prices lead to increased and more frivolous use. At present, only 5% of energy comes from hydropower. Nevertheless, a huge amount of water is used in the production of energy.
70% of home water use is indoors, 30% is outdoors. Ways to conserve:
# 1.Install a modern, smaller toilet tank. "Dual flush" toilets use more water for solid waste and less for liquid waste.
# 2. Install a high efficiency showerhead to use 1/3 less water.
# 3. Install a faucet aerator, which reduces flow from 2.5 to one gallon per minute.
# 4. Purchase a front-loading washing machine, which also uses less energy.
Sharon noted that people tend to wash their clothes too often, especially bath towels. Ron talked about lawns and suggested native plants instead of grass, or lava rock or drip irrigation. He also talked about rooftop lawns in Japan that capture water, reduce runoff and cool and humidify the air. Regarding storm runoff, many runoff channels are currently heavily polluted and in some areas, it is now illegal to capture water in a rain barrel.
Categories: Ecology and the environment; global warming and climate change; water and sanitation; 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Water and the BP Oil Spill
Guest: Alex Prud'homme- Author and investigative journalist.
Alex Prud'homme is a freelance investigative journalist who has written in many areas, including co-authoring a book with Julia Child. He has been interested in water since following New York City's problems with pollution of the Hudson River while growing up these as a child. Manhattan, especially, has no natural creeks and very little groundwater (the other boroughs, Queens, Brooklyn, The Bronx and Staten Island, do have small natural creeks). When you drill a well in Manhattan, you hit bedrock very quickly.
Even though 100% of New York City's water is piped in, the city has some of the best drinking water in the country. The system is mostly gravity operated and the water is largely unfiltered. The city is currently updating its piping and storage capacity.
Alex believes, as does Sharon, that in the 21st century, water will become increasingly important. Safe, sanitary fresh water is becoming increasingly scarce and no organism on Earth can live without water.
Alex grew up in the Newtown Creek area of Brooklyn, where oil has been spilling into the groundwater for over a century. This is extremely underreported and has been occurring slowly over many decades. It is estimated that 17 to 30 million gallons have been spilled. The area was originally a natural wetland off the East River on which oil refineries were built in the 1880's. There are still oil refineries there today and they are still dumping or leaking oil.
In 1950, the oil in the ground ignited and still little was done. The neighborhood is now a super-fund site and there has been some cleanup but not to the extent of better publicized areas such as Love Canal.
Wetland preservation is extremely important because wetlands strain and filter the environment and help keep it clean. In the US Gulf Coast region, extensive wetlands act as a baffle for storm surges to lessen the impact of hurricanes. They are very rich in wildlife and also very fragile.
Sharon noted that humans tend to overdo things and taking water for granted is one of them. We are the blue planet whose surface is 71% water. However, only 0.3% of our vast water supply is fresh, safe to drink and unpolluted. We can live without oil but not without water.
Louisiana could have prepared for an oil disaster but the EPA would not permit it. Since nothing bad had ever happened before, they got lazy, with no contingency or worse case planning. Oil wells are very powerful and very fragile and spills have a capacity to do an amazing amount of damage as they domino up and down the economy.
Alex Prud'homme is a freelance investigative journalist who has written in many areas, including co-authoring a book with Julia Child. He has been interested in water since following New York City's problems with pollution of the Hudson River while growing up these as a child. Manhattan, especially, has no natural creeks and very little groundwater (the other boroughs, Queens, Brooklyn, The Bronx and Staten Island, do have small natural creeks). When you drill a well in Manhattan, you hit bedrock very quickly.
Even though 100% of New York City's water is piped in, the city has some of the best drinking water in the country. The system is mostly gravity operated and the water is largely unfiltered. The city is currently updating its piping and storage capacity.
Alex believes, as does Sharon, that in the 21st century, water will become increasingly important. Safe, sanitary fresh water is becoming increasingly scarce and no organism on Earth can live without water.
Alex grew up in the Newtown Creek area of Brooklyn, where oil has been spilling into the groundwater for over a century. This is extremely underreported and has been occurring slowly over many decades. It is estimated that 17 to 30 million gallons have been spilled. The area was originally a natural wetland off the East River on which oil refineries were built in the 1880's. There are still oil refineries there today and they are still dumping or leaking oil.
In 1950, the oil in the ground ignited and still little was done. The neighborhood is now a super-fund site and there has been some cleanup but not to the extent of better publicized areas such as Love Canal.
Wetland preservation is extremely important because wetlands strain and filter the environment and help keep it clean. In the US Gulf Coast region, extensive wetlands act as a baffle for storm surges to lessen the impact of hurricanes. They are very rich in wildlife and also very fragile.
Sharon noted that humans tend to overdo things and taking water for granted is one of them. We are the blue planet whose surface is 71% water. However, only 0.3% of our vast water supply is fresh, safe to drink and unpolluted. We can live without oil but not without water.
Louisiana could have prepared for an oil disaster but the EPA would not permit it. Since nothing bad had ever happened before, they got lazy, with no contingency or worse case planning. Oil wells are very powerful and very fragile and spills have a capacity to do an amazing amount of damage as they domino up and down the economy.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Show Information for July 15th, 2010
Summary coming soon!
Topics: Water and the BP Oil Spill; Is It Safe to Drink Natural Water?
Guests: Alex Prud'homme, author and investigative journalist; Art Bernstein, writer and naturalist.
Topics: Water and the BP Oil Spill; Is It Safe to Drink Natural Water?
Guests: Alex Prud'homme, author and investigative journalist; Art Bernstein, writer and naturalist.
Friday, July 9, 2010
“For I Was Thirsty and You Gave Me to Drink”
Dr. Wiles is Director is Living Water International, a Christian organization that provides water to rural areas, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and South America. He began his career teaching at the college level, then became involved in missionary work. He was recruited by Living Water seven years ago.
The organization was founded in 1991, with the original intent to build churches until they discovered the terrible worldwide need for reliable and sanitary water. Since then, they have funded 7,000 wells, serving 7 million people.
Although much of their financing is by volunteer help and private donation, they also have corporate sponsors, including oil companies. Oil and water well drilling have many transferable concepts and often, in desert areas, finding water can be of greater economic importance than finding oil.
Dr. Wiles pointed out that without good water, there can be no economic development or meaningful health care. A village can get by with no electricity but must have water. Currently, one billion people in the world (of 6.8 billion) lack access to abundant and safe water. 2.8 billion lack basic sanitation (toilets and sinks).
The organization was founded in 1991, with the original intent to build churches until they discovered the terrible worldwide need for reliable and sanitary water. Since then, they have funded 7,000 wells, serving 7 million people.
Although much of their financing is by volunteer help and private donation, they also have corporate sponsors, including oil companies. Oil and water well drilling have many transferable concepts and often, in desert areas, finding water can be of greater economic importance than finding oil.
Dr. Wiles pointed out that without good water, there can be no economic development or meaningful health care. A village can get by with no electricity but must have water. Currently, one billion people in the world (of 6.8 billion) lack access to abundant and safe water. 2.8 billion lack basic sanitation (toilets and sinks).
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