Twin Cities Lions Plan Whale Watch Trip 
Twin Cities Lions Shickshinny/mocanaqua Will Hold A Trip To Provincetown, 
Mass., May 16-17.

2 Killed, 1 Injured In Route 92 Collision

Sunday, January 25, 1998 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





Global water shortage could leave humanity high and dry soon &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Earlier this month, the Phila delphia Inquirer carried an article by Mark &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Jaffe that put in stark outline the most critical shortage faced by humans,
a shortage that only can get worseIt isn't a shortage of food- although that
is on the list of possibilities. Nor is it the absence of clean air, although
that, too, has an uncertain future. And surely it isn't the lack of enough
guns, ships of war, ammunition, missiles, or other forms of mass destruction. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 No. The disappearing essential is water. Potable water. Water you can
drink. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The astounding base statistic is that of all of the water on this planet,
only 1 percent is available fresh water. An additional 2 percent is locked up
in the ice caps of both the North and South polar regions. All of the
remaining water, 97 percent of the total, exists as salty sea water. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Not all of the fresh water is at the surface. Some of it is deep
underground in aquifers- great seas of subterranean fresh water. And of
course, not all of the fresh water available is potable water. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Humankind has been extraordinarily effective in polluting its water
supplies, and not nearly as effective in either curbing that pollution or in
the kind of treatment that restores its potability. Nor has humankind been
markedly effective in conserving its use of the water it has. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Vast amounts of the fresh water supply are drawn off for irrigation of crop
lands. This is especially true in the United States where the aquifers
underlying the Plains states have been substantially diminished by farm
irrigation. Other aquifers- notably under New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington-
have been severely polluted by thoughtless discharge of industrial,
radioactive and agricultural wastes, and have, therefore, been lost as a
current source of surface water use. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Even so, the United States and Canada remain remarkably secure in
projections of their water supplies. According to Jaffe, the basic minimum
needed to sustain the "drinking, bathing, and cooking" needs is a renewable
supply of 1,700 cubic meters per person. The U.S. is said to have 9,277 cubic
meters per person now. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The warning note, however, is that this supply is reported to be 40 percent
less than what existed 25 years ago and is estimated- at the current rate of
consumption- to drop another 20 percent in the next 25 years. In significant
measure, the decline in supply is attributed to increases in population. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Water is an essential to human life even before one begins to factor in the
myriad other industrial, recreational and social uses of water. And the supply
of water is believed by many to be national and regional issues of first
importance. It has led scientists to begin dividing the world into the have
and have-not nations. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Those with more than the 1,700 cubic meters of water per person are listed
as "adequate." Those with between 1,700 and 1,000 are nations categorized as
being "stressed," and those with less than 1,000 are listed simply as
"scarce." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Today's supply of water is already a simmering issue in all of the Middle
East. Only Iran is expected to have anywhere near the 1,000 cubic meter level
by 2025. Jordan is forecast to have 144, Egypt to have 607, Saudi Arabia to
have 107, and Israel 270. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Water, more than land, could potentially keep that region one of the
world's tinderboxes. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Much larger areas of the world's land mass are listed as having adequate
supplies, although the gap can get tight. China, for example, is forecast to
have less than 1900 cubic meters per person by 2025 and is likely to begin to
get stressed before then. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Of course, such assumptions are predicated on things- except for population
growth- remaining pretty much the same as today. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 There are means of greatly increasing the water supply- by the use of
desalinization p

Global Water Shortage Could Leave Humanity High And Dry Soon 
Earlier This Month, The Phila Delphia Inquirer Carried An Article By Mark 
Jaffe That Put In Stark Outline The Most Critical Shortage Faced By Humans, A 
Shortage That Only Can Get Worse.

Global Water Shortage Could Leave Humanity High And Dry Soon Earlier This Month, The Phila Delphia Inquirer Carried An Article By Mark Jaffe That Put In Stark Outline The Most Critical Shortage Faced By Humans, A Shortage That Only Can Get Worse.