Privatized Water

Nestle is planning to privatize their water. Peter Brabeck 

believes that water is a human right but there isn't enough fresh water 

on earth to go around. He believes that water should be available to everyone

but there is too much of a need to make it free.

1 in 10 people in the world do not have access to clean water. 1 in 3 people 

in the world do not have access to a toilet. This means that a population

twice the size of the Uniter States has no access to safe water. 

Privatized water is used as a shorthand for private sector participants in the provision of water services and sanitation. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees that water should be a human right and companies with a lot money can make that decision for us whether we agree or not. There are many reasons that privatized water is a bad idea. One reason is that is that privatization leads to an increase in product rates. The more water becomes privatized, the more profit companies will be able to make off of it and it will cost consumers more to purchase water. We are already seeing these trends in areas where water has been privatized. Privatized water has been most devastating in developing countries and in poorer areas of the United States. Also, our government promises that companies will make a certain profit off of the water they sell. This has lead to a huge unfair advantage in the world. Another issue with privatized water is that is takes away the public right to water. The largest private water company in the United States is located in Huber Heights, OH. Large companies like this one are able to do what they want with the water they own. In this case, the Huber Heights water company began to allow outside communities use their water without enforcing taxes. There were many complaints about this but residents were ignored. Once water has been privatized it is hard to reverse. Withdrawing a privatized water contract is almost impossible because it is a long, expensive process and a company can use NAFTA to provide legal recourse if the contract is challenged. Privatized water can leave poorer communities without access to clean water. Private water can become very costly and can double or triple a family's water bill. Most of the time this results in the family having to shut off their water sources altogether and their access to clean water is gone. This leads to many secondary issues such as dehydration and water borne illnesses because their only other option of water is contaminated. Although it is hard for some people to see, we are in a worldwide water crisis that it only getting worse. There are already areas of the United States that are in severe droughts and there is no light at the end of the tunnel for most people. As we see the water crisis worsening, companies are searching harder than every to find water to call theirs around the globe. Although a water crisis is devastating to many, investors and large water companies see it as an opportunity. Their plan is to privatize as much clean water as possible and sell it at increased rates like I mentioned earlier. Water should always be a human right since we share this earth but that is not reality. People are dying everyday because of having no clean water but large corporations only see dollar signs and are blind to what is actually happening in the world around them. 

Dead Zones

This is an example of a dead zone. This specific dead zone 

is due to the build up of sediment. This is called

a creeping dead zone. 

This came from an article claiming that humans are the cause

of dead zones globally. The article states that although dead zones

occur naturally humans play a large role. Our carelessness and 

practices may be causing dead zones. 

A dead zone, or hypoxic zone, in the ocean is a an area of low oxygen. The oxygen is so low that most organisms suffocate and die in these areas or leave. Dead zones are caused by excessive nutrient pollution from human activities coupled with other natural factors that deplete the oxygen required to support most marine life in bottom and near-bottom water. Although most animals and plants cannot live in dead zones, many species of bacteria thrive in these low oxygen areas. Dead zones occur all over the world and are completely natural but over the past 50 years there has been an increase in dead zones due to the amount of pollutants being tossed into the oceans. As  result, dead zones have ale increased in size and have thrown off the balance coastal ecosystems. The largest dead zone in the world currently is the Baltic Sea. Other dead zones include Chesapeake Bay in Oregon, Lake Erie, and the Gulf of Mexico. There have been 405 dead zones identified worldwide. There have also been studies conducted on the relation between climate change and dead zones. With the worlds general climate rising every year, the oceans will become warmer as well. Warmer water holds less oxygen which means that dead zones will begin to increase and become larger in size, killing off organisms. in the United States alone there are around 200 dead zones and only about 34 of them are from natural causes, The rest are from human pollution including sewage, irrigation runoff, chemicals, and more. In Africa and South America, sewage is the biggest issue with water pollution but researchers say that this could be a good thing because of the improvements on water sanitation and waste management solutions. Another cause of dead zones from pollution is airborne nitrogen from vehicles and power plants when they burn off fossil fuels. Nitrification is mainly an issue along the Chesapeake Bay area and in Long Island sound because of coal-burning power plants that heavily give off large amounts of nitrogen. We live near most of the dead zones in the United States. The eastern and southeastern regions of the United States contain the most dead zones. This map illustrates all of the areas of dead zones in the United State. The darker areas are the dead zones found across the country. Two reasons for more dead zones being in the eastern areas rather than the western areas are the population density and the climate of the region. There are more people, and animals, residing in the eastern parts of the country and the climate tends to be higher and more humid. 

Aquaculture

This is an example of aquaculture, or aqua farming. This is the 

farming of aquatic life including fish, plants, sea vegetables, 

and more. Types of aquaculture include marine and freshwater. 

This is another example of freshwater aquaculture versus 

marine aquaculture. These include different types of fish and plants 

that are raised depending on what water they live in. Aquacultures insure that

production is plentiful. 

Aquaculture, also known as aqua farming, refers to the controlled breeding of fish, shellfish, and vegetation. This is done for both the commercial production and restoration of aquatic life in areas that need it most. This includes aquaculture in both marine and freshwater areas. Aquaculture for restoration use is important because earth is loosing more and more species of plants and animals everyday. Restoration ensures that these plants and animals are bread and released back into their natural habitat. In the United States, aquaculture is overseen by the United States Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Food and Drug Administration. Aquaculture is usually combined with other practices such as wetland protection, water quality, wastewater treatment, water supply, fish health, and on-native species programs. Combining aquaculture with these other programs help with the increase in food production to keep up with supply and demand. Aquaculture is not harmful to the environment in any way. Although the United States has enough supply to distribute, 88% of the seafood we consume as a nation comes from an imported source. The countries that the United States imports seafood from typically do not have any environmental standards. The quality the water in United States aqua farms either stays the same or is better than when it is first used and is often reused for irrigation or treated and reused for more aqua farms. There are qualifications for the fish feed used in aquaculture as well. Fish feed must meet the Food and Drug Administration standards as well as those of the American Association of Feed Control Officials. Buying and consuming United States raised fish and aqua life is important because the United States has one of the highest standard for environmental and product safety compared to the rest of the world. This is not to say that we should not trust fish and other aquatic life that is imported but the Unites States can ensure the safety and regulations of the product. As for a global view of aquaculture, it is rapidly expanding and can be found almost everywhere except Sub-Saharan Africa. Because of global aquaculture, fish are more plentiful than ever and fisherman are having more success because of the abundance. In order to maintain a current global level per capita consumption, aquaculture needs to reach 80 million tons by 2050. With the hopes of aquaculture eventually reaching every nation in the near future, there is a large chance that we could begin to see more diverse populations of aquatic life and new species appearing. Market, trade, and consumption largely influence the rate at which aquaculture grows and succeeds. Other than the United States, Asia has the highest rate of aquaculture overall. 

Is water a human right?

This is an example of a child that does not have simple access 

to water. Most areas in the world are without access to water. 

This creates many issues other than dehydration. 

Other than dehydration, people who drink contaminated water

face many life threatening health issues. Contaminated water

may contain chemicals or other substances such and urine, feces,

parasites, etc. that can kill anyone that ingested them. Some countries do not

have the right to water because of larger, more powerful countries. 

   Although most people in developing countries have easy access to water and can drink it straight from the tap, we do not think about the fact that billions of other people in the world do not have the same access. As of 2011, the United Nations General Assembly stated that drinkable water should be a human right. This includes the fact that not only should water be plentiful and easy to access, but it should be clean and able to drink without the risk of illness. This is clearly much easier said than done. There is no specific plan in place to make sure that water is a human right because it would be too large scale. Deciding if water is a human right or not is solely based on opinion at the moment. The United Nations General Assembly also stated that water as a human right is more designed to give other rights as water and is used more as an umbrella statement for many smaller issues. As a country that has accessible access to water, we really cannot declare this to be true all over the world. As of 2015, 884 million people still do not have access to clean drinking water and the numbers are steadily rising. Along with no access to clean drinking water, 2.6 billion people do not have access to basic sanitation. Unfortunately, between 50 and 100 liters of water per person are needed everyday for basic needs including drinking water and sanitation needs. On the brighter side, the UN stated that: "Between 1998 and 2008, 1,052,000 urban dwellers gained access to improved drinking water and 813,000,000 to improved sanitation. However, the urban population in that period grew by 1,089,000 people and thus undermined the progress". The United Nations General Assembly also stated that 27% of urban dweller in the developing world do not have access to piped water at home.

In my opinion, I believe that water should be a human right but we must be aware that this right must not be taken for granted and must be shared with the rest of Earth. Water is also the right to animals and plants as well and it is our job as humans to maintain the water quality everywhere and make it safe for an organism to use. The more humans contaminate the remaining water on earth, more species of plants and animals will go extinct until we have nothing left. So far, we are doing a poor job of making sure water is accessible and sanitary for all humans and an even worse job making sure that it is sanitary enough for plant and animal use. Water is not a resource that we can automatically get more and more of. I believe that it a human right but human should also be limited on how much they use and how much waste they are putting into it.