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In Atmosphere .001%
again from the oceans into the
atmosphere, onto the land from
where it has flowed back to sea,
ihere to start the eyele over. 1t is
as King Solomon perceived long
ago: "All the rivers ru n into the
sea; yet the sea is not full; unto
the place from whence the rivers
come, thither they return again"
(Ecclesiastes 1:7).
This process-we cal! it the
hydrological cycle-means that the
oceans, the atmosphere and the sun
all work together like a gigantic
distillery. The heat of the sun on
the oceans and other bodies of
water causes water to evaporate
into the air. The vapor-laden air
eventually dumps its moisture in
the form of rain or snow. Sorne
falls back into the oceans, sorne
falls on land. That which falls on
Iand becomes springs, lakes, rivers
and streams- fresh water suitable
for man's use.
Under the crust of all of earth's
continents are additional vast net–
works and bodies of water called
aquifers-slowly flowing like un–
derground rivers. This too is
"fresh" water. l t comes from sur–
face water that soaks down through
the earth, finally emptying into the
seas.
Only recently has it been real–
ized how extensive this system is.
Sorne of the underground water
extends as much as three miles
below the surface. l n the top half
24
mile of the earth's crust alone there
is more than 30 times the amount
of fresh water than is contained in
all the lakes, rivers, streams and
inland seas on the surface put
together.
All this sounds like a lot of
water. But the fresh water available
for human use is really only a drop
in this vast bucket! About 97 per–
cent of all water on earth is salty
ocean water. Of what is left, slight–
ly more than 2 percent is locked up
as ice in polar regions. That leaves
less than 1 percent fresh water on
Iand and under it.
Still, the amount of fresh
water constantly available could
support severa) times the current
world population. lt
could.
But it
is not even supplying the present–
day needs of the human race.
Why?
Po pulation Dis tributi o n
Since the beginning, human socie–
ties have tended to locate and
develop near river basins, Iakes and
other fresh water sources. During
the course of time populations have
increased out of proportion to avail–
able water. Política) borders have
sectioned off water supplies. Even
weather patterns change. Popula–
tion as a whole today is not distrib–
uted in the same way that fresh
water is.
For example, 11 million people
massed in 131 cities in the desert
and semidesert regions of Southern
California depend heavily on water
brought in from hundreds of miles
distance by pipelines and aque–
ducts. The population has simply
grown too large for the local water
supply.
In crowded Hong Kong the sit–
uation is more complicated be–
cause international borders are
involved. Here are not only too
many people for available water,
but the main supply originates in
and is controlled by a neighboring
nation, the People's Republic of
China.
Worldwide, three fourths of the
rural population and one fifth of
the city dwellers do not have
~
access to an adequate supply of
~
water. Millions of women spend a
~
good share of each day walking 1
O
~
miles or more from their homes
just to obtain enough water for
drinking and cooking. The World
Health Organization has designed
the L980s as 1nternational Drink–
ing Water Supply and Sanitation
Decade. I t hopes to bring about
"safe drinking water and adequate
sanitation by 1990 ... for two bil–
lion people in the developing
co untries." The estimated cost
will be sorne $30 billion a year.
By contrast to these areas, the
mighty Amazon, largest river in
the world, winds its way through
sparsely inhabited tropical rainfor–
ests, dumping its incredible vol–
ume of nearly untapped water into
the ocean. The great Congo River ,
second largest on earth, flows
through jungles and empties into
the Atlantic. Other majar rivers
such as the Mackenzie (Canada),
the Yukon (Aiaska) and the Ob
arid Yenisei (Soviet Union) run
off into the frigid Arctic Ocean
virtually unused. Lake Baikal, the
largest and deepest single body of
fresh water on earth, sits in rela–
tively sparsely populated Asiatic
Russia.
In those societies that have had
an adequate supply of fresh water,
the tendency has been not to appre–
ciate it. Turn the tap on. Out comes
the water. There has been water for
bathing, washing the car, watering
the lawn, operating industry, sup–
porting agriculture and fulfilling
thousands of other functions from
(Continued on page 44)
The PLAIN TRUTH