Water
So, I asked my son what topic I should write about and he said “water.” Probably because he is watching a cartoon called “Mr. Raindrop” which takes the anthropomorphization of cartoons to a bizarre extreme, having characters who represent Earth, Water, Fire and Air.
But I really can’t think of a better topic for a blog post. We argue about health care, but if we don’t have a clean, reliable water supply we not only risk epidemics but we will all wind up stinking like pigs in short order. I remember when I was a child my mother, who managed to get us all to adulthood alive, had two remedies for any illness. Drink lots of water and go to the bathroom. Flood the disease or poop it out.
I also see water as the key to solving the problem of global warming. Of course, the problem is caused by too many pollutants in the air but the first disastrous effects will be water based. Hurricanes, floods, erosion of coastlines, saltwater seeping into the freshwater supply and ruining crops, causing famine and economic hardships galore.
In my book “Perfectomundo” I talked about solving this problem by creating a giant lake in the middle of the Sahara desert.
Of the few people who’ve read the book, many have suggested other ways of drawing saltwater harmlessly inland, such as canals a la Venice Beach (or, for that matter, Venice).
I think it’s a great idea. It turns normal real estate into high priced real estate, because there is a place to tie up a boat to, it cools the air and makes for a more romantic neighborhood, because an evening stroll is always more pleasant and inspirational if it is next to water, and it can prevent flooding, both by slightly lowering the level of the ocean but more so by not filling the canals all the way to the top, except during times of hurricane and flood.
Of course, we are also on the verge of cheap desalinization. One takes the word of Dean Kamen with a grain of salt, because Segways have not completely revolutionized urban transport, but his “slingshot” is an idea whose time has come. If his invention doesn’t actually revolutionize desalinization, somebody else’s soon will. Then the deserts will turn green and the ocean level will drop.
It doesn’t reverse global warming, but it provides relief from some of its worst symptoms. It may not, by itself, cure the disease, but it would help us get through it.
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