Complacent as we stick our heads deeper in the sand, we think someone else will clean up our mess and save everyone on earth. Silly isn’t it? We have to bury our heads in sand because that is what our world will be like without potable water.
Remember the movie Mad Maxx? It had a scruffy and dirty band of thugs traveling the deserts and everyone needed and wanted water. It was great fiction then but now is it that far removed from where we are headed?
When will our world have enough clean water, never! We are too greedy, lazy and willing to let others suffer because we currently do have fairly potable water here in our country; the USA.
A 1991 study of river pollution by Wayne Sinclair, M.D. and Richard Pressinger, M. Ed. reported on the effects of pollution on the immune systems of fish. One of their studies concluded that when fish lived in highly contaminated waters their immune systems became so diminished that they could not effectively fight off viruses and bacteria. Yet when the same fish were transported to a clean water source, a river with no contamination their immune system responded and improved ten fold.
The study was published in the 1991 journal “Immunopharmacology & Immunotoxicology” showed that pollution of even average amounts has an effect on the immune system of fish and animals.
The same study also reported an increase in the transmission of encephalitis from birds to animals and humans due to the birds having a lower immune system related to the chemicals used to spray areas and communities for mosquitoes. The chain of pollution is growing exponentially as our environment becomes more and more contaminated.
In 2005 in the State of Oklahoma beautiful Lake Tenkiller was reported to be at one point 70% oxygen depleted. The Illinois River was a risk for swimmers and canoeists so much so that many thought warnings should be posted. The Arkansas and Illinois Rivers are both polluted by many sources. To name a few; agriculture, factories, poultry & livestock, trash, petroleum from various sources, and of course people.
Polluted water sources are an eyesore, they smell bad, they cause more diseases in animals and humans. Unclean water kills people and animals all over the world. The problem isn’t getting better. With more awareness maybe our children will grow to be better caretakers of natural resources, we can hope. Without water we will live in a world that could make the movie Mad Maxx look like a walk in the park.
Many governments are trying to monitor and clean up pollution but we aren’t doing enough to get the message out. Water is a national treasure, someday it will have more value than silver, gold or diamonds.
Enjoy your bottled water and that luxurious bath!
