City of Four Million People Running Out of Water
These satellite images show the extent of the unfolding water crisis in Cape Town, South Africa; this is an excellent example of what, tragically, is about to take place in one form or another in places all around the globe. It’s a direct result of the disinformation campaigns the fossil fuels companies have launched and perpetuated, sewing doubt as to the validity of the theory of human-caused climate change and the importance of mitigating it.
Here we have four million people whose water rations are now 13 gallons/day. Next: poor sanitation, then disease, then suffering and death.
We either take this seriously, or we sentence millions of people to levels of misery never before seen on Earth.
This reminds me of the rules of three: You can survive for 3 minutes without oxygen (or in icy water). You can survive for 3 hours without shelter in a harsh environment (unless you’re in icy water). You can survive for 3 days without water (if sheltered from a harsh environment). You can survive for 3 weeks without food (if you have water and shelter).
Cameron,
Interestingly, some humans in the right environment , or sometimes even in harsh environments, can survive for quite astonishing periods.
Ricardo Bahia of Brazil can hold his breath under water for 20 minutes 21 seconds! People have survived without water for up to 8 days,while others have lasted without food for 45 to 61 days!
The ability of some members of the human race to survive, always astonishes me.
Craig,
Good grief Craig, do you conduct any research before uttering such nonsense as attribution the problems of Water supply in Cape town to “disinformation campaigns the fossil fuels companies have launched and perpetuated, sewing doubt as to the validity of the theory of human-caused climate change and the importance of mitigating it” ?
Even a modicum of research would familiarize you with the City of Cape Town’s long history of regular droughts.
The current crisis has nothing to do with “climate change” or ” fossil fuels” but all about a massive, and disorganized population explosion since the end of White minority rule, decrepit infrastructure, poor planning, corruption, politics and social malaise.
The demand for water has overwhelmed the aging infrastructure which has proved inadequate. While local and national governments play politics with one another, the crisis deepens. government
The last major Water and Sanitation infrastructure was created in 1970, when 4,178,700. In 1975, the city’s population was 1,114,000, today the population may exceed five million.
The Theewaterskloof Dam which is the city’s main reservoir was completed in 1978 and was envisaged to service a City of 2.5 million. Theewaterskloof Dam capacity is 480 million cubic metres of water. The long drought conditions are not unusual in Cape Town with like Australia can experience 10 year droughts.
Water demand from the population hasn’t just doubled, but is four times greater and often wasted through aging and neglected infrastructure.
Attributing perfectly natural drought periods and water mismanagement to “fossil fuel disinformation” and “climate Change ” isn’t helpful, in fact such silliness is counter-productive.