An Unlikely Beginning

Each sip of water you take has been on Earth for approximately 4.5 billion years. Our planet is rich in a life-giving resource as old as itself. However, during the formation of the solar system, early planets, including Earth and Mars, were too hot for water to exist.

Analysis of the moon’s craters indicates that our side of the solar system’s frost line was bombarded by space debris, particularly during a chaotic phase known as the Late Heavy Bombardment. Some scientists propose that these impacts—especially from meteorites, remnants of asteroids that descend to Earth—could have acted as cosmic carriers of water.

Researchers found that enstatite chondrite (EC) meteorites share isotopic characteristics with terrestrial rocks and are thought to be devoid of water due to their formation in the inner Solar System.

Consequently, the water on Earth is generally credited to the late arrival of a small amount of hydrated materials, like carbonaceous chondrite meteorites, which originated from the outer Solar System where water was plentiful. Studies suggest that EC meteorites contained enough hydrogen to have delivered to Earth at least three times the mass of the oceans. Their hydrogen and nitrogen isotopic compositions align with those found in Earth’s mantle, indicating that EC-like asteroids may have contributed these volatile elements to Earth’s crust and mantle.

The most common form of hydrogen in the universe consists of a single proton with an orbiting electron. However, there exists a variant called deuterium, which contains a proton and a neutron in its nucleus. Deuterium has been identified in Carbonaceous Chondrites (CC), originating from the outer Solar System, where water was more abundant and exhibited a higher deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio. Thus, Earth's water is generally attributed to the late addition of these hydrated materials. It’s estimated that about one ton of these ice-laden space rocks could yield 110 to 220 pounds of water, making our planet wet, but not excessively so. Despite covering roughly 71% of Earth's surface with 326 quintillion gallons of H2O, Earth may only be about 0.02% water.

This theory received support from the 2010 discovery of a frost-covered crust on asteroid 24 Themis. More recently, NASA uncovered water-rich clay minerals in the near-Earth asteroid Bennu during a landmark sample collection mission.

In addition to being water carriers, these meteorites contain organic compounds like carbon, potential building blocks of life, along with volatile substances such as water, zinc, and hydrogen from the early solar system. Nevertheless, carbonaceous chondrites lack certain key volatile materials, including Earth’s noble gases. This gap has been addressed by Comet 67P, studied closely by the European Space Agency, which contains the elusive noble gas content.

So, if water arrived millions of years ago in meteorites and has remained stable since the Mesozoic, why does the rain continue to pour from the skies in Patagonia?

Water at the Heart of the Climate Crisis

Water connects us to everything on Earth. All aspects of our lives involve water, from clothing and health to the environment, industry, and community. Unexpected sources, like data centers, consume vast amounts of water. For instance, producing one kilogram of plastic requires around 160 liters of water.

The entire process of evaporation, precipitation, runoff, and global water movement is crucial to our climate system. Extreme weather events—hurricanes, melting ice sheets, rising sea levels, floods, and droughts—are all linked back to water.

>A pivotal report states, "This mismanagement of water has pushed the global water cycle out of balance for the first time in human history. We have breached the planetary boundaries for water that keep the Earth’s system safe for humanity and all life."

As temperatures rise, more water evaporates, leading to intense rainfall in some areas while causing severe droughts in others. Essential mountain snow transforms into early-melting rain or vanishes more quickly, diminishing water availability in warmer periods. For example, winter is starting later and ending sooner, with heavy rains and alarming droughts increasing the risk of wildfires.

Many regions are at or near ‘peak water,’ where extracting additional water is either physically, financially, or environmentally unfeasible. Rivers such as the Colorado are fully allocated for human use, and groundwater reserves in China, India, the Middle East, and the U.S. are being depleted, leading to land subsidence, rising pumping costs, and unsustainable agricultural practices.

Water-related disasters dominate the list of natural disasters, accounting for 70% of all disaster-related fatalities over the last 50 years. Furthermore, only 0.5% of Earth’s water is usable freshwater. In the past two decades, terrestrial water storage—including soil moisture, snow, and ice—has decreased by about 1 cm per year, reducing water availability in regions reliant on meltwater, where over one-sixth of the global population resides. Currently, two billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and nearly half of the world’s population experiences severe water scarcity for part of the year.

>**"The world is facing an imminent water crisis, with demand expected to outstrip the supply of fresh water by 40% by the end of this decade,"** warns the report from Turning The Tide.

To be clear, “by the end of the decade” means within the next seven years—no centuries or even decades. Just years.

Southern Hemisphere's Decline in Global Water Availability

In recent years, global water availability has significantly decreased. While the Northern Hemisphere displays mixed regional trends, resulting in no significant change in average water availability from 2001 to 2020, the Southern Hemisphere has seen a troubling 20% reduction, amounting to an annual decline of 70 mm. Analysis from 2001 to 2020 by Zhang et al. reveals a notable decrease in water availability, particularly in regions like South America, southwestern Africa, and northwestern Australia. These trends and annual fluctuations closely correlate with climate patterns like the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), known for triggering global droughts and floods, as evidenced by events in Amazonia and Southern Brazil in 2023.

Despite encompassing only 26% of the global land area (excluding Antarctica), the Southern Hemisphere contributes a substantial 43 ± 2.6% to global water availability. In contrast, the Northern Hemisphere, which makes up 74% of the global land area, contributes only 38 ± 2.4% of global water availability.

The observed decline in water availability across significant portions of the Southern Hemisphere over a relatively short 20-year span could be tied to complex changes in climate patterns and their effects on precipitation. Factors like the increasing variability of ENSO-related rainfall in a warming Earth and shifts in large-scale atmospheric circulation, such as the expanding Hadley cell, influence the water cycle. Among these climate patterns, ENSO is particularly notable for affecting interannual precipitation and water availability in many areas of the Southern Hemisphere and the equatorial Pacific, with increased water availability during La Niña and decreased availability during El Niño.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the intricate trends in water availability can be partially ascribed to both direct and indirect human actions. While irrigation practices can affect regional water availability, their influence is secondary compared to natural climate variability and changes in precipitation and evapotranspiration, contributing to a widening of the tropical belt in a changing climate.

The Path Ahead: Urgent Action Required

There is no space for softening the message in light of the alarming decline in global water availability. This is not merely a climate observation; it’s a direct threat to our way of life. Livelihoods, socio-economic progress, and ecosystems are all at risk. The statistics are telling. Climate change, worsened by human actions, poses significant challenges to ecosystems, food production, and our overall quality of life.

We possess the necessary tools, scientific understanding, technology, policy knowledge, and financial resources to steer water management towards a sustainable and equitable future.

However, this begins with ending the undervaluation of water. Currently, our economic system fails to recognize its true worth. This oversight results in excessive and unsustainable consumption of limited freshwater resources, disproportionately affecting the vulnerable and impoverished in many areas. Appropriate pricing combined with targeted subsidies promotes efficient water use, generates revenue, supports infrastructure growth, and encourages innovations vital for managing demand while facilitating economic development. Climate policymakers must prioritize water in their action strategies. Moreover, this approach requires international collaboration, as water flows do not adhere to arbitrary borders. Consider the Danube River, which traverses ten Central and Eastern European nations.

While we wrestle with water crises, the ongoing fossil fuel dependency persists, enjoying subsidies at a staggering rate of $11 million per minute. The most ironic part? For every dollar spent on climate change, five dollars are quietly contributing to our downfall.

Let’s be frank—this is "Predatory Capitalism." Profits take precedence, shareholders dictate the agenda, and nothing stands in the way of maximizing returns, not even human welfare.

In a world fraught with climate risks, strategic investments in early warning systems, resilient water supply, and sanitation infrastructure are not luxuries; they are survival necessities. Yet, our civilization seems satisfied with a “minimize change and hope for the best” approach. The reality is clear—it’s not effective. The solution is straightforward yet profound: an economic transformation that discards fossil fuels.

This is not a drill; it's a call to action that demands immediate attention.

Be unapologetically vocal. We need your voice.

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