Years ago, I read a great and terrifying article in Harper's about a looming global shortage of fresh water, and I never forgot it.
This weekend, I saw The Corporation, the well-done but far-too-long documentary about pathological corporate behavior. One of the cautionary tales in that movie was about how the World Bank forced Bolivia to privatize its water supply; Bolivia sold the rights to Bechtel, which then charged impoverished Bolivians exorbitant rates for water. Bolivians rioted in protest, and won a small battle -- the people took back control of the water supply.
But that was likely just the first phase of a long-lasting, perilous phase of human history: the era of little or no fresh water.
And then Mrs. Capt. Willard sent me this link, to a story discussing how unnecessary meat consumption by wealthy nations in the West is sucking the planet dry, as the food needs of livestock use up vast amounts of fresh water.
Getting this made me try to dig up the Harper's article, and the Google search found this page, from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, about how several rivers in the world no longer run to the sea -- possibly a sign the water shortage is on the way.
Man, if and when we have to pay this piper, the bill is going to be huge.
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