Why Is Water So Ignored?

Why Is Water So Ignored?

I have been writing about water and reporting on many issues surrounding it globally for the past few years now. I have emphasized thousands of times the need to respect and conserve this life giving source, especially now when the effects of climate change, pollution and privatization are bringing us to a true tipping point. There is not a day that doesn't go by that you don't see the effects of our actions on water. Glacial melt is increasing globally, oceans are acidifying, pollution in global waterways makes many rivers unusable, more intense precipitation events are contributing to losses in agricultural output leading to rising food prices. Yet, for all of this happening most people seem content to continue business as usual.

Is it me? Am I wrong to care about displaced people due to intense record breaking flooding and drought due to the effects of global warming/climate change? Am I wrong to care about the ecosystems destroyed because of the ecocide in the Gulf of Mexico, the effects of which will be seen for decades and perhaps genetically forever? Am I wrong to care aout the exploitation of indigenous people by governments and corporations seeking to take away their human right to water and their cultures all for profit? Am I wrong to connect the dots between human activity and extreme weather events in order to inform others so that they too may be aware to prepare for the future?

I always thought it was simply normal to care about such things and to relay them to others. I thought it was my duty as an informed citizen and I thought it was making a difference. Now of course, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop caring just because I don't see the level of response on this I think should be coming from more people. If anything, I think it's time to step up the activism as we see this global assault on water, forests and resources increasing. However, I have an ever increasing awareness as well that as the need for action increases the voices decrease. It is almost as if on some level we are all in denial that humans could do this much damage to the only home they have and then be so cavalier about it. I think that in and of itself is harder to face than the problem at hand.

For the future we face especially in regards to water resources and the social, economic and health impacts that is having and will have, it does not bode well for us as a species to not face it. This is not the time to take this for granted. Make no mistake about it, this world we call home is changing - and much more rapidly than what was expected and a large majority of that change is by our hand. Water is our lifeline but is fast becoming as scarce as the global will to preserve it but preserve it we must- or we perish. There is no other ending to this scenario and that's why I care. I hope you do too.