To the editor: Ian James’ and Sean Greene’s latest reporting on California’s disappearing groundwater is important studying (“Humanity is quickly depleting water and far of the world is getting drier,” Sept. 3). It additionally echoes the trajectory we’ve witnessed in Iran, the place the identical “conquer the desert” mindset — deep wells, dams and aqueducts — pushed the nation into what specialists now name water chapter.
Iran’s water administration has lots in widespread with California’s, however Iran refused to course-correct at the same time as aquifers collapsed, rivers and wetlands dried up, and tens of millions have been displaced. Water turned a political weapon within the fingers of unaccountable elites, with devastating human penalties.
California is just not Iran. It has the benefit of democratic establishments, a free press and civic activism. However the structural problem is identical: highly effective agricultural pursuits demanding extra water than nature can present. Until California treats recharge and sustainable use as pressing priorities, it dangers repeating Iran’s mistake — turning into a world warning fairly than a mannequin.
Nik Kowsar and Alireza Nader, Washington, D.C.
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To the editor: It is a nice article to have on the Sunday entrance web page. Simply as I feel I’ve heard about all of the attainable penalties of local weather change, a attainable new one pops up. I’m reminded of one in every of Donald Rumsfeld’s quotes: “There are … unknown unknowns, those we don’t know we don’t know.”
This is likely one of the scary features of local weather change. We expect we all know what is going to occur — extra excessive climate, ocean acidification, extra and bigger fires, and so forth. Now, as I discovered from this well-written article, the world is dropping recent water and it might not come again. The believable causes given are “rising temperatures unleashed through the use of oil and fuel, and widespread overpumping of water.” That is simply one other good purpose to get up and take swift motion to scale back the quantity of greenhouse gases in our environment. What else can we not know concerning the results of local weather change?
Larry Kramer, San Juan Capistrano
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To the editor: Whereas the warnings of disappearing recent water are legitimate and prescient, it’s essential to notice that there isn’t a scarcity of water on Earth. Nevertheless, there’s a scarcity of low cost, simply accessible water. The Earth’s floor is about 70% water-covered and we all know find out how to desalinate the seas and oceans.
As situations proceed to worsen and water turns into increasingly more beneficial, I’ve little question that mankind will flip to no matter is critical to maintain life. Will there be distress earlier than that occurs? Undoubtedly, however it’s in our nature to place off till tomorrow what we needs to be doing right this moment.
Ron Garber, Duarte
