Water is, and has always been, a basic human necessity and one with which no individual can survive without for a significant period of time. This is an irrefutable fact and because of this, there is little doubt that if water resources were horrifically depleted, conflicts between countries would arise, as would increased prevalence of illness, overpopulation in areas with water and general impoverishment from failing agriculture. With these effect, serious additional issues would be triggered and the state of the world would, both in terms of peace and general health, would be in serious jeopardy. These personal -yet commonly shared- beliefs, allow me to unequivocally support the idea that access to water is a more pressing issue than such
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Today, oil is comparable to water, or blue gold as it is referred to in the article. Politicians in developed nations are constantly trying to secure land with oil, whether it be their own or that of another, often impoverished country in need of aid, simply because oil is a resource the entire world recognizes the value and importance of. When this search for oil-rich land occurs, however, humanity can often be overlooked, as is shown in the documentary “The Oil Factor.” While the overall message of the documentary, that the United States of America is only involved in the issues of Middle Eastern countries because they wish to gain access to and potentially control their significant quantities of oil, is not share by all, the theory can foster several key questions pertaining to all resources, not just oil, and their relationship with terrorism. Most importantly, the question of if and/or how access resources breeds terrorism must be considered. Terrorism, as its definition states, is the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. In the case of both oil and water, not only are politicians and corporations (which are often associated with certain political parties) in pursuit of controlling significant amounts of these potentially obscure resources, but the populations they will exploit in doing so will often feel the need to …show more content…
Without adequate quantities of fresh water, agriculture will fail and livestock will die. For a country like Malawi, which I studied in-depth in terms of its poverty, this means that, not only will the population be extremely reliant on food imports, but the vast majority of the country’s population will not have a steady form of income. These Malawians, as well as individuals from other countries likely to be in a similar situation, will be required to find other consistent sources of income that do not rely on access to water, which are typically only found in larger metropolitan areas. While the cause of the migration towards more populous cities may have been different, this overall scenario is very similar to what occurred in Bangladesh a few years ago when flooding ruined coastal agriculture and destroyed homes, forcing 10 to 30 million Bangladeshis to be displaced. Currently, around 1.2 billion individuals around the world live in areas of “physical water scarcity,” with that figure continuing to rise as global warming causes significant water pattern changes that, in turn, lead to less precipitation. These 1.2 billion, if their ability to access clean and fresh water is not improved, could also one day be
Today, oil is comparable to water, or blue gold as it is referred to in the article. Politicians in developed nations are constantly trying to secure land with oil, whether it be their own or that of another, often impoverished country in need of aid, simply because oil is a resource the entire world recognizes the value and importance of. When this search for oil-rich land occurs, however, humanity can often be overlooked, as is shown in the documentary “The Oil Factor.” While the overall message of the documentary, that the United States of America is only involved in the issues of Middle Eastern countries because they wish to gain access to and potentially control their significant quantities of oil, is not share by all, the theory can foster several key questions pertaining to all resources, not just oil, and their relationship with terrorism. Most importantly, the question of if and/or how access resources breeds terrorism must be considered. Terrorism, as its definition states, is the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. In the case of both oil and water, not only are politicians and corporations (which are often associated with certain political parties) in pursuit of controlling significant amounts of these potentially obscure resources, but the populations they will exploit in doing so will often feel the need to …show more content…
Without adequate quantities of fresh water, agriculture will fail and livestock will die. For a country like Malawi, which I studied in-depth in terms of its poverty, this means that, not only will the population be extremely reliant on food imports, but the vast majority of the country’s population will not have a steady form of income. These Malawians, as well as individuals from other countries likely to be in a similar situation, will be required to find other consistent sources of income that do not rely on access to water, which are typically only found in larger metropolitan areas. While the cause of the migration towards more populous cities may have been different, this overall scenario is very similar to what occurred in Bangladesh a few years ago when flooding ruined coastal agriculture and destroyed homes, forcing 10 to 30 million Bangladeshis to be displaced. Currently, around 1.2 billion individuals around the world live in areas of “physical water scarcity,” with that figure continuing to rise as global warming causes significant water pattern changes that, in turn, lead to less precipitation. These 1.2 billion, if their ability to access clean and fresh water is not improved, could also one day be