Professor Jared Diamond, a world-renowned scholar and author of "Guns, Fungi and Iron," cited resource shortages, climate change and inequality as the biggest threats to the future of mankind. The indiscriminate use of resources, whether energy or food or water, increases greenhouse gas emissions and therefore promotes climate change. And the impact of climate change results in extreme exacerbation of inequality between countries or regions. Developed countries that have contributed the most to climate change through excessive use of resources have suffered the least damage. On the other hand, Africa and Asia, which used only a small amount of resources and produced only a small amount of greenhouse gas emissions, suffered the most damage. Therefore, as the climate crisis intensifies, inequality among countries will worsen, and global polarization will worsen in terms of economy, environment, and health.
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Water resources alone are the same. There is no doubt that water is the most abundant resource on Earth. Water covers the planet by three quarters, but 97.6 percent of salt water and 2.4 percent of fresh water. Among fresh water, rivers and lakes, which can be easily used except for glaciers, perennial snow, permafrost, and groundwater, account for only 0.39 percent of the total fresh water and 0.01 percent of the earth's water. Therefore, it is a common task for all of us on the planet to share and use it efficiently.
Thanks to the well-established water infrastructure such as rivers, rivers, reservoirs, and reservoirs, Korea has hardly realized the problem of water shortage despite the impact of climate change. The water supply rate is 99.3 percent, the highest in the world. Water bills are also supplied to the public at a low price below the unit price of production, and we feel little pressure to save water. However, if we look up and look around the global village a little bit, we will see a serious scene caused by a lack of water.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 884 million people have no access to safe drinking water and more than 2 billion people are using stool contaminated water. This is estimated to kill about 500,000 people a year, and 6,000 children die of water-related diseases every day. Every 21 seconds, one child dies of water-related diseases.
The Global Water Institute estimates that 700 million people will be affected by severe water shortages by 2030. The tragedy of 700 million victims is also a problem, but what will happen to the global turmoil and conflict if many of them cross national borders with a sense of urgency for survival?
Water shortages may be caused by drought and floods caused by climate change, lack of water infrastructure such as dams and dams, and waste of water. Shapigur Islam, a water management expert, estimates that the amount of water lost in cities accounts for 30 to 40 percent of the total use due to trivial "troubles." Surprisingly, there are many waste of water that can save water if you pay a little attention. It is said that the average household wastes more than 35 tons of water annually due to such leaks.
However, Professor Fuchstra's research, which introduced the concept of "water footprint," said that more than 85 percent of all human water footprints are related to food, 10 percent are industrial, and 5 percent are used at home. However, most of the 85 percent related to agricultural food are related to livestock production. Therefore, he said, "If people decide to reduce the footprint of water, it is important to use less water at home, but in fact, it is more important to consider what kind of agricultural food to buy at the mart." In other words, the pattern of human food consumption determines the problem of water shortage.
The production of 1 kg of beef takes 15,400 liters of water, and the production of 1 kg of grain takes 1,640 liters of water, about one tenth of the production of beef. 297 liters of water is used to produce 1 liter of soy milk and 1,50 liters of water is used to produce 1 liter of milk. One 150g bean burger requires 158 liters of water, but one beef burger requires 2,350 liters. According to National Geographic, if you follow a vegetarian menu, you can save 2,000 liters of water every day. This means that a vegetarian diet can halve the use of water than a meat diet.
What is the paradoxical suggestion of "drink a lot of water" in such a serious situation where more than half of the world's population is facing a water shortage crisis? That's right! The more water you drink, the more you can contribute to your health as well as to overcoming the water shortage problem. The importance of sufficient water supply to our bodies, along with numerous research results, cannot be overemphasized. On the other hand, it is no exaggeration to warn of the pathological risks caused by chronic water shortages. Dr. Bemangage, author of the book "Water is the Core of Therapy," concluded the following after more than 20 years of clinical experiments and research on millions of people. "You're not sick, you're just thirsty." In other words, the cause of all diseases was lack of water.
However, in the face of a serious global water shortage crisis, a movement to drink a lot of water will accelerate the water shortage phenomenon as drinking water consumption increases. However, there is no need to worry about such a thing.
Korea's annual food production record is 52.640 trillion won, accounting for 11.4 percent of the manufacturing industry's GDP. Among them, beverages are the highest in both production and sales. Including alcoholic beverages, the types of food consumed account for about 20 percent of food production. The consumption of drinking water in Korea continues to increase, but the number of people who lack water in their bodies increases every year and exceeds 70 percent. Why?"It's not because there's not enough water to drink, but because there are too many drinks to drink." The more drinks and alcoholic beverages we drink, the more water-poor our bodies become. Drinking water is by no means a hydrating agent.
Also, when we supply drinks such as coffee, carbonated water, and juice to our bodies instead of water, the footprints of water are very different. If you drink an orange juice instead of a glass of mineral water, you need 170 liters of water more than 800 times. A cup of 0.2 liters of milk requires 200 liters of water, 1,000 times more. One cup of coffee uses more than 600 times as much water as 140 liters. It takes 300 liters of water to produce a liter of beer.
If it is very difficult to give up fruit juice, which is mainly fructose-intensive due to the removal of fiber and various nutrients, drinking fruit instead of juice will save you taste, nutrition and water. If 70 liters of water is consumed by drinking an apple, 190 liters of water is consumed by drinking an apple juice. One orange can consume 50 liters of water, and one orange juice can consume 170 liters of water.
This widespread misunderstanding of drinking water is the result of underestimating the fact that the water provided by nature is the best product in the water supply, which is an essential element of the human body. Our naive belief that it is better enough to add some nutrients than any nutrient-free ferocious water has resulted in a betrayal of faith in the integrity of the great nature. It turns out that perfection was a reckless challenge to the simple but noble principle of nature: "It is not about adding anything but removing imperfections."
In other words, the more water we drink, the more water we consume, the more serious the shortage of water becomes. Instead of sugary drinking water, coffee, juice concentrated with fructose, and liquor filled with alcohol, why don't you drink mineral water tens to hundreds of times cheaper? You can expect cheap economic consumption, high efficiency energy saving, dramatic water saving, and health effects with the highest cost performance. If the government fails to dig underground water and supply mineral water to billions of people suffering from water shortages, it is not too bad. Even if they can't share their finances and donate them to international relief organizations, they don't have to be too shy. but I should feel sufficiently sorry that I had been so coldly numb to my body's cries for water, for the enchanting demands of tongue-stimulating. My body, which has been abused just by drinking a lot of cheap mineral water, will be very grateful for forgetting its complaints.
If we drink so much water, many people in unknown countries who have suffered from water shortages will naturally drink more water, and inequality in water supply and health polarization will be eased quickly.
Writer: Yeyoung Jeon
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