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EPIB Trail
Volume 12, Issue 3
Warping the Water Cycle: Effects of Climate Change and Human Behavior By Micah Gartenberg Take a minute to think back on what you learned about the water cycle in grade school: “All of the water on our planet remains in an indefinite loop and that water changes state of matter through the processes of condensation, precipitation, infiltration, runoff, evaporation and transpiration.” While graphics of the water cycle seem to romanticize and simplify the phenomenal processes that support all forms of life on earth, these frameworks are in need of an update.
For starters, we have to understand how little of the water on Earth is fresh and accessible. Of the total global water supply, approximately 97.5% makes up the oceans and other saline waters. This water must be desalinated in order to become suitable for human consumption or use, however, the cost and chemical inputs required for this process make it inviable in most cases. Of the remaining 2.5% of water which is all fresh, over two thirds are frozen in glaciers and ice caps. The remaining 1% of the water on Earth is fresh and stored as ground water, ground ice, and in various lakes, rivers, swamps and the atmosphere. A miniscule amount of the fresh water on earth circulates through living organisms and supports biological function (United States Geological Survey). Despite the inaccessible nature of fresh water, humans and all other forms of life have an evolutionary understanding of how this substance is essential to survival. Approximately 90% of the world population of humans has settled within 10 kilometers (6.21 miles) of a freshwater source (The World’s Water Crisis). Unfortunately, the reliance on unsustainable water infrastructures combined with a greater anthropogenic influence on the climate continue to jeopardize the future of clean and accessible water.
