“Water is the driving force of all nature.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci

I was reading the BBC news today on my phone and saw this headline: “The 11 Cities Most Likely to Run Out of Drinking Water—Like Cape Town.” To my shock, as I read down the list of cities, I noticed Miami was named #11:

1. São Paulo
2. Bangalore
3. Beijing
4. Cairo
5. Jakarta
6. Moscow
7. Istanbul
8. Mexico City
9. London
10. Tokyo
11. Miami

The reasons given for these looming drinking water shortages in the BBC’s article are climate change, human action, and population growth. Even though 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water, only 3% is usable as drinking water. If our demand for water doesn’t change and if we don’t find more sustainable ways to use that 3%, our global demand for water is projected to exceed the supply by 40%. This seems unbelievable, but I know it is the truth for now.

 

 

Yet, at that same time, I have hope. Through the generosity of the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), the teens in the GEN2050 Program have started to learn about the importance of environmental conservation and environmental stewardship, using the National Parks as a learning lab. Just a few days ago, they hiked through Everglades National Park and learning about the three ecosystems interacting in the park. Everglades National Park is approximately one hour south of where most of the students live in Miami. One of the important topics they discussed was how Everglade’s water is kept clean by these ecosystems.
 

I am believing that as they learn from NPCA they will be inspired to find new methods of water conservation and stewardship in South Florida. Their families will need this precious water source in the future.

 

(Photo credits: Jacqueline Crucet and Deon Gedeon, Everglades National Park, February 2018)