EVOLUTIONS Environmental Leaders 2018

"Day Zero" is when millions of homes in Cape Town, South Africa will go without running water. The people of Cape Town are only allowed to use 13 gallons of water per person when people in the United States use about 100 gallons per day per person. It takes 175 liters (46 gallons) to make only one serving of soda and the people of Cape Town are using less than that. Peter Gleick who has spent a substantial amount of time in South Africa did not think that the country would reach "Day Zero". Since there is a rise in the population it is hard to get everyone there with a substantial amount of water. South Africa has about 7 million people without access to water and that number is on the rise. How are the people in Cape Town surviving with such little water? Since Cape Town is a coastal city, they plan to have a new water source. They will try to use the ocean. There are also some problems that arise with that. Some say it would be easier to treat and reuse wastewa

Everyone agrees that water is a necessity. In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, it is one of the first things that people need to survive in this world. What happens if all of a sudden, people have to cut down the amount of water they take in for both drinking and cleaning? The obvious answer is outrage, riots, and panic. That is what is currently happening in Cape Town. Because of a 3-year long drought, previously full reservoirs are running out of water to keep the cosmopolitan city running. The people are complaining. They pay taxes to live comfortably, but in return, they have to minimize their water intake to make sure everyone gets enough water for the day. There is a projection in mid-July called "Day Zero", or the day when most of the city's taps will be turned off to conserve water. What caused this tragedy to occur? Two words: climate change. According to National Geographic, about a decade ago, the city was warned that its current population growth and sh

Who would have thought that the thing that humans need the most would be scarce in areas of the world: water. There is a huge water crisis going on in the world that involves water scarcity. As a result, places are turning to having severe water rationing, such as Cape Town who gets a 13-gallon water limit per person for a day, which is not enough. Climate change plays a role in all of this by disrupting the water cycle. Big shocker right? There are imbalances of where water should be as well, since there are places with too much water. Many extreme weather events are results of this, such as flooding and hurricanes in many areas, including many recent events in the United States. But also, people play a direct role in this water crisis. Industries, energy companies, and agriculture represents about 80-90 percent of humanity's water consumption, while regular home consumption is only 3 percent. Of course, people have to create solutions to try and solve this water crisi