Global Water Issues

I found this unit really insightful because it made me realize that some of the biggest problems the world faces actually do have simple solutions--although that does not mean they are easy to solve. As much of society, I tend to think that the biggest health issues we face are cancer, heart disease, and other severe conditions. I also had the perception that finding the cure to cancer would be one of the most helpful breakthroughs that could possibly occur. After this cycle, though, my perspective is better informed. It may be counterintuitive: the difficult part about health issues is not just the scientific part, but also, and perhaps even more importantly, the economic aspect. We don't need any complicated science or engineering knowledge in order to provide people with clean water. Well, I lied; you do need clever engineering solutions in order to efficiently provide it, but once again this is overcoming an economic obstacle, and not a technical one. Going back to my point, the problem is that we simply do not give enough attention and funding to actually give people access to clean water. Ironically, I still feel more inclined to pursue research about diseases that are less common and more difficult to understand--mainly because the concept of discovering new things and improving humanity's knowledge is pretty exciting to me. However, I do feel a greater responsibility to help in some way or another to help provide water for all. I feel like the most effective way to do so is by donating and maybe even doing local projects to help solve the issue in your own area. Social media might be helpful to raise awareness, but I'm not a big fan of it. At some point, it's going to have to go beyond sharing selfies with hashtags and into taking real action.

As for water usage in general, this is another big problem we face thanks to an ever increasing population--but this one yields not-so-clear answers. I believe that reductions in personal water use can make some impact, but they won't solve the problem. Personally, I am selfish in the sense that I don't feel inclined to sacrifice long showers in order to help conserve water. After all, is a marginal improvement really worth eliminating some of my greatest moments of thinking--which might even result in the breakthrough idea that solves the bigger problem? I feel like the real change must occur in agricultural and industrial water usage. The former can be drastically improved by reducing meat consumption in favor of a more vegetarian diet, while the latter can be reduced by implementing certain measures and using more efficient machinery. I do feel a strong conviction to cooperate with these changes. If eating meat once a day instead of twice will help solve the problem, I am most definitely willing to do it!