This past month, many destitute civilians located all around the world, are being struck by diseases such as cholera and typhoid fever due to the slowly rising epidemic of water contamination and dehydration.
“Since of the beginning of this year, I have definitely noticed not only an increase in the number of patients being admitted, but the increase in the amounts of deaths within the hospital,” Dr. Amanda Linder, Head of Liverpool Medical Facility. After the year of 2018, the water supply in California began to diminish very quickly. Although California has had to deal with being in a drought long before 2018, the problem wasn’t as evident until then. “Especially in my job, I have noticed the drastic weather patterns that have hit California and the west. Before the drought, California was receiving on average an annual 11 inches of rainwater. However, due to recent global warming effects and an overuse of water, California is now only receiving less than half of that and is expected to get even less in the years to come,” John Carlton, CNN Weatherman. The problems occurring in California have spread all across the United States and have now become a worldwide problem. This epidemic is not only affecting jobs and geographic conditions, but it is also affecting the well-being and health of the population. Due to this, there has been an increase in the formation of alliances between countries. “During a time like this, it is very important to know and have allies who can be there. I know that Canada has been doing what we can to support other countries, such as the United States, who have been hit especially hard, by supplying any resources available,” Jane Banster, Prime Minister of Canada. The decline of water supply has led to numerous problems, dehydration being one of the biggest. Dehydration affects the entire population. Without water, one can’t survive. Before the drought, only about 2.5% of the world’s water supply was fresh water, however, only about 1% was easily accessible. Now, only about 0.3% of the world’s drinkable water supply is left and in very high demand. “Dehydration has lately been a huge occurrence and problem sweeping throughout the world. Dehydration can lead to organ failure, kidney stones, vomiting, and eventually death if the body is not replenished. On average the adult human body should consume about two to three liters of water a day to maintain a healthy lifestyle, however, with these global conditions, it is nearly impossible,” Kevin Leowak, Head of Biology Facility at University of Washington. Another very dangerous product of a global drought is water contamination. Water contamination has and will continue to affect farmers, corporate companies, and civilians. Water contamination has always been a problem, however, with the little amount of usable water left on this earth, there is no room for contamination. On top of this, many people have already took it upon themselves to try and filter dirty water into drinkable water. This has led to many cases of the disease Cholera. “Water contamination has really put a strain on my line of work. To make a living as well as provide edible food to the community, water can not be contaminated. Contaminated water can lead to crops dying and rotting. At this point other farmers and myself included, have started looking for alternatives to water,” Michael Doman, Owner of Georgia Peach Corporation. Due to the scarcity of water, the disease that is cholera has become very common in all countries. Cholera is a disease that is caused by drinking contaminated water and attacks the small intestines. Cholera leads to severe diarrhea and vomiting. Although cholera doesn’t directly lead to death, the mixture of this and dehydration can. This combination has also been a very regular reported occurrence. “I got cholera about a year ago when Asia officially announced that they were going to be fully reliant on other countries for water. The disease itself has been very common and about one in every seven people have either gotten it or have it. From about the 35 people that I have known had it, 8 of them have past away,” Charlotte Ferring, Cholera survivor. Another very frequently occurring disease is typhoid fever. Typhoid fever is a sickness caused by contaminated water as well and is very contagious. Some of the symptoms include pain in the stomach, headaches, and fevers. Similar to cholera, typhoid fever doesn’t directly lead to death, however, paired with dehydration, it can. “Both typhoid fever and cholera are diseases that should never lead to death. However because of our current living conditions, it’s a common and regular incident for that to be the ending result. Without a plentiful drinking water supply, people are going to try and find their source of water from other factors including the ocean and lakes. Unfortunately, doing this only increases the likelihood of getting one of these diseases,” Sean Owens, Writer of “We Are What We Drink”. “Although the current epidemic doesn’t seem as though it can be stopped, the diseases of typhoid fever and cholera can be suppressed. Yes, I understand that we all need water to survive, however, drinking contaminated water can only speed up this possibility. As of now, it is out of everyone’s best interest to stay away from the contaminated water to prevent typhoid fever and cholera,” Chelsea Clinton, President of the United States.
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The dramatic decrease in the nationwide water supply has resulted in an agricultural crisis across America.
In 2018, the nation experienced one of the most devastating food shortages in the United States. Severe droughts hit California’s Central Valley, America’s biggest provider of food. California produced more than half of the nation’s fruit, nuts, and vegetables. As the drought destroyed farms in Central Valley, food prices rose dramatically. Unemployment rates soared to an all-time high and many called the following time period “The Second Dust Bowl”. Justin Smith, a small farm owner in the San Joaquin valley, reported on the events, saying that “winds would blow in clouds of dust and all you could see for miles was dried up fields. It was even hard to breath in the dry, dusty air.” There was a mass migration out of California as farmers who had lost jobs on the dried up farms searched for employment. A huge public outcry for government support ensued, and many houses and businesses hung banners quoting Franklin D. Roosevelt; “the nation that destroys its soil destroys itself”. As devastating as the effects of the California drought was, no one thought the water shortages would spread across the Rocky Mountains and into the central United States. However, within the last few weeks, a severe drought has been rapidly spreading across the entirety of the nation. Desperate to try and save failing crops, farmers have implemented quick water-conserving farming techniques and have attempted to re-plant with drought tolerant plants. However, these efforts proved to be too little, too late. Despite new dryland farming methods and renewed attempts at the aeolian processes, farms and food producers and being closed one after another. Agricultural scientist Jane Jackson revealed information regarding this unprecedented drought in an educational speech about water conservation last Wednesday. “Although it is clear that much irreparable damage has affected our Earth,” said Jackson, “we must work our hardest to keep the rest of it alive and healthy. If we do not learn how to help conserve water now, it is the next generation that will pay for our mistakes. Don’t let out future dry up” Jackson then went on to detail water-conserving farming methods. As of this week, more than 70% of the nation’s farms have suffered from the continuous drought. In an interview with Archie Emerson, the third largest landowner in the United States and leading producer of corn, commented on the effects of the drought, saying “We have had to let over half of our employees go. There is just nothing we can do except watch the wind blow away the dried up crops.” The water shortages have been hard on everyone, even those who live miles from farmland. As food prices and unemployment rates rise exponentially, more and more families dip below the poverty line. Products that were once accessible in every grocery store are now nearly impossible to find. Restaurant owners are unable to purchase quality foods at reasonable prices, and many people have been forced to close down their businesses. Conservation groups such as WaterIsLife have worked endlessly to try and provide clean water to impoverished families. The volunteer-based group also gives free educational talks about ways to conserve water at home. Amy Adams, a student from University of North Carolina and volunteer at WaterIsLife gave us insight as to what exactly they are doing to help. “Every week we deliver clean bottled water to those in need. It’s crazy! Even in the last week the number of people who have no clean water is astonishing. My fellow students and I are just trying to do everything we can to help out.” For more information on how to conserve water at home, visit www.WaterIsLife-EveryDropCounts.org. While groups like WaterIsLife are helping provide immediate relief to families that have been directly affected by the drought, agricultural scientists are looking to solve the root cause of the problem. Leading agriculturalist John Webber has been studying farming methods in the Central Plains for ten years. In a recent interview he commented on the rapid loss of water, declaring “it is not enough to merely provide fresh water to those in need. We must adapt to the new conditions.” Hopefully with new water conservation developments, farms will be able to fully recover from the drought and the food shortages will come to an end. With the effects of the exponential increase in both temperature and population, we are running out of freshwater faster than anyone has yet to predict. Multiple people around the world are suffering greatly, and society as we know it has been thrown into complete chaos. Government officials from the United States of America report that “the world is running out of usable water faster than expected. If we don’t fix this soon, there won’t be any water left to use.” We are nearing the point of no return, and no one seems to be interested in working and coming together in order to create a solution and save the human race.
It has been scientifically proven that water is the single most important resource on Earth. The brain and heart are composed of 73% water, the lungs are about 83% water, the skin contains 64% water, muscles and kidneys are 79% water, and even the bones are made up of 31% of water. This phenomenal element is used in many areas of life, such as agriculture and creating energy. Water is a crucial nutrient for the life of every cell in our systems, transporting carbohydrates and proteins throughout our body. It regulates our internal body temperature by sweating and respiration, acts as a shock absorber for the brain and spinal cord, and lubricates our joints. Water also helps to flush disease from our bodies, keep our muscles moving, and helping us stay alive. The Great Lakes, which used to hold about 21% of the total freshwater supply on the Earth, have long since dried up, as well as many of the aquifers around the world. The water that still is around is extremely polluted from our incessant use of fossil fuels and ever growing supply of waste. One of the only sources of fresh, drinkable water left is water provided from Arrowhead and other companies who charge a fortune for the key resource that is needed to ensure other people’s survival. Our heavily-depended-on natural resources began to dry up even before 2011. Now, there are only a few sources of fresh, usable water in the world; water that is controlled by the top 1% of all of our communities. The top 1% are charging unreasonable fees in order to maintain their way of life and keep power in their control. Along with dying from the lack money to pay for a simple glass of water, people are being slaughtered by friends and neighbors over items that can be used to trade for water. “My son was killed at the grocery store,” mother Maria Goldstein stated. “He did not die of these new diseases, or by the plague of dehydration. He died during a raid, at the hands of some of his best friends.” Dehydration has been sweeping the countries, taking many lives of innocent civilians in its wake. Charles F. McMillan, the Laboratory Director of Los Alamos National Lab, has been working under contract with the United States Department of Energy to develop new science and technology that will address our perilous water crisis by creating an effective clean-energy solution. “Dehydration is a massive problem that can lead to organ failure, kidney stones, vomiting, disease and eventually death if the body is not replenished. My team and I have been working relentlessly to fix our problem and save the lives that are left.” Even with the promises from organizations like Los Alamos National Lab, the population is losing hope due to the lack of results and proof in this new, clean-energy solution. On average, the adult human body should consume about two to three liters of water a day to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle. However, due to the low levels of our international water reservoirs, most people are dying simply from dehydration. We have exhausted our water supply, and the toll of our carelessness is significantly showing in the worldwide body count. Due to the decrease in water, many new diseases have come to light and are slowly killing the population. If we do not come together as one people and ignore the bias and stereotypes of the past, we will die out due to new diseases, heat stroke, and dehydration. |