My last post highlighted water shortages, using Cape Town, South Africa as an example, and one agricultural solution being tried in Oklahoma. As a follow-up, the BBC has published a list of the eleven other cities most likely to run out of drinking water. If you’re wondering if you live in a vulnerable area, the eleven cities are —
São Paulo, Brazil
Bangalore, India
Beijing, China
Cairo, Egypt
Jakarta, Indonesia
Moscow, Russia
Istanbul, Turkey
Mexico City, Mexico
London, England
Tokyo, Japan
Miami, Florida, USA
I was surprised at some of the names on that list. For example, Moscow? Yes, that city receives 70% of its supply from surface water, and much of that remains polluted from the Soviet era.
I suppose we should feel fortunate that only one U.S. city was on the list. But the BBC article claims a quarter of the world’s major cities face water stress, so perhaps Miami should serve as an example of what can happen — swamp-draining throughout that area has allowed sea water to infiltrate the aquifer, thus jeopardizing the supply of fresh water.
The best way to solve a problem is to prevent it from happening. Perhaps this is the best time to take a hard look at our own situation, and not just in places like Southern California… and Miami.
The complete article is at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-42982959? . The photo came from that site.