water water everywhere and not a drop to drink

#Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink full#

It leads to the dichotomy of over-supply and under-supply. In other words significantly more extreme and less habitual weather conditions coming at us all at once. Like the tentacles of the great Kraken, multiple threats emerge from the climate emergency the simultaneous melting of the polar ice caps and mountain snow caps leading to flooding, storms and artic vortices (‘snowball effect) coupled with water inequality, scarcity, drought and fires. Solving the rising Sea Level Crisis with Water Scarcity. The overall volume of water is increasing as stored polar and mountain level ice melts due to rising temperatures yet climate change is driving ever more extreme droughts, water shortages leading to drought and fires.’ Unlike the greatest commodity (most likely breathable air possibly gravity or solar radiation but not oil or gold) water suffers from sharp regional variances in both over-supply and under-supply. In short: when you take care of your city, and our shared world, it will take care of you.‘Economically, water is the most misunderstood of all the natural commodities. You really don’t need exponentially long showers to maintain the level of personal hygiene you want, or are used to: it’s just about resetting your mind (through diligent practice or reminders from friends) to really be observant in your daily life. Recently while traveling outside of the Western Cape (and thus in a non-drought area), I took a shower the length of what I was used to and was struck by how unnecessary and just wasteful it felt. As someone who loves a long, hot shower, the recommended length of a 90-second shower was a little daunting at first, but using water this way has been a luxury and indulgence that I definitely took for granted before. When I brush my teeth in the morning, I’ve caught myself leaving the tap on between wetting my brush and spitting in the sink when I take showers, I turn off the water when I am lathering my hair or washing my body.

#Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink full#

If I don’t have enough laundry to do a full load of washing, but still need or want to get it done, I share a washer with friends who have some articles of clothing to wash too. It’s honestly been inspiring to see people come together to conserve a resource we all need and care about, and having to closely monitor my own water consumption habits has made me so much more conscious of daily waste. Personal responsibility has been a huge part of the social movement here to save water, and the stressing of each person’s duty to the city we share has been a really interesting thing to witness. As I write this on April 14th, I’m happy to say that the projected date is now in 2019. The date for Day Zero has progressively been rolled back as water usage has been cut citywide when students on our program arrived in late January, April 16th was the day to watch. Seriously, come and see for yourself! The water crisis is currently less of a crisis and more of an inconvenience that can be avoided by acclimatizing yourself to some new habits. So, is it? Do I not have enough water to drink, shower, wash dishes, etcetera? The answer to these questions is all the same: it’s fine. Not surprisingly, tourism has dropped off as tourists and even international students wonder whether or not it’s safe to stay in Cape Town. Hearing this, it’s easy to be startled, especially as water restrictions have become increasingly stringent.

This is the term for when the water supply will be turned off, making Cape Town potentially the first major metropolitan center to run out of water. In the past couple months, major news outlets like TIME and the New York Times have even caught wind of the situation and published informative pieces and short documentaries, and when dam levels were projected to fall below critically low levels, the city announced plans for the (very ominous-sounding) “Day Zero”. Since 2015, Cape Town and its overall province have been warily watching dam levels decrease, all the while praying for rain and making contingency plans. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Marinerįor a city surrounded by water (looking at you, Atlantic Ocean), Cape Town has been growingly increasingly drier.