southernhybrid
Contributor
I realized that there are serious shortages of water globally, but until I read the recent article from the NYTimes, I was not aware of the severity of the problem in our neighbor to the South. It also made me aware how much of the Western US may be within a decade or less of suffering from severe water shortages. I will try to link an editorial that discusses that, when I have time.
This is a gifted link.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/...H69U16jWYe5HC18PchQReC2rc6sQ8w&smid=url-share
Imagine trying to put on the tap, and it's totally dry, so you have to wait in line for the government to allow you to fill your buckets, assuming you can even find buckets.
It's effecting even the wealthy. Wow!
This is a gifted link.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/...H69U16jWYe5HC18PchQReC2rc6sQ8w&smid=url-share
The numbers underlining the crisis are startling: In July, eight of Mexico’s 32 states were experiencing extreme to moderate drought, resulting in 1,546 of the country’s 2,463 municipalities confronting water shortages, according to the National Water Commission.
By mid-July, about 48 percent of Mexico’s territory was suffering drought, according to the commission, compared with about 28 percent of the country’s territory during the same period last year.
While tying a single drought to human-caused climate change requires analysis, scientists have no doubt that global warming can alter rainfall patterns around the world and is increasing the likelihood of droughts.
Across the border in recent years, most of the Western half of the United States has been in drought, with conditions ranging from moderate to severe.For the region, this period is now the driest two decades in 1,200 years.
“Here you have to chase the water,” said Claudia Muñiz, 38, whose household is often without running water for up to a week. “In a moment of desperation, people explode,” she said about the violence that has flared as people fight over what water there is.
Imagine trying to put on the tap, and it's totally dry, so you have to wait in line for the government to allow you to fill your buckets, assuming you can even find buckets.
The crisis is particularly acute in Monterrey, one of Mexico’s most important economic hubs and where the entire metropolitan area of about five million people is affected by drought, according to officials. Some neighborhoods in Monterrey have been without water for 75 days, leading many schools to close before the scheduled summer break.
The situation in the city has gotten so dire, a visiting journalist could not find any drinking water for sale at several stores, including a Walmart.
Buckets, too, are scarce at local stores — or being sold at astronomically high prices — as Monterrey’s residents scrape together containers to collect water supplied by government trucks sent to the driest neighborhoods. Some residents clean out trash cans to ferry water home, children struggling to help carry what can amount to 450 pounds of water.
While Monterrey’s poorest neighborhoods are the hardest hit, the crisis is affecting everyone, including the wealthy.
It's effecting even the wealthy. Wow!