To the editor: Ian James’ and Sean Greene’s latest reporting on California’s disappearing groundwater is important studying (“Humanity is quickly depleting water and far of the world is getting drier,” Sept. 3). It additionally echoes the trajectory we’ve witnessed in Iran, the place the identical “conquer the desert” mindset — deep wells, dams and aqueducts — pushed the nation into what specialists now name water chapter.
Iran’s water administration has loads in frequent with California’s, however Iran refused to course-correct whilst aquifers collapsed, rivers and wetlands dried up, and thousands and thousands have been displaced. Water grew to become a political weapon within the arms of unaccountable elites, with devastating human penalties.
California isn’t Iran. It has the benefit of democratic establishments, a free press and civic activism. However the structural problem is identical: highly effective agricultural pursuits demanding extra water than nature can present. Except California treats recharge and sustainable use as pressing priorities, it dangers repeating Iran’s mistake — changing into a world warning reasonably than a mannequin.
Nik Kowsar and Alireza Nader, Washington, D.C.
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To the editor: It is a nice article to have on the Sunday entrance web page. Simply as I believe I’ve heard about all of the attainable penalties of local weather change, a attainable new one pops up. I’m reminded of one in all Donald Rumsfeld’s quotes: “There are … unknown unknowns, those we don’t know we don’t know.”
This is likely one of the horrifying facets of local weather change. We predict we all know what is going to occur — extra excessive climate, ocean acidification, extra and bigger fires, and so forth. Now, as I discovered from this well-written article, the world is shedding recent water and it could not come again. The believable causes given are “rising temperatures unleashed by utilizing oil and fuel, and widespread overpumping of water.” That is simply one other good cause to get up and take swift motion to cut back the quantity of greenhouse gases in our ambiance. What else can we not know concerning the results of local weather change?
Larry Kramer, San Juan Capistrano
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To the editor: Whereas the warnings of disappearing recent water are legitimate and prescient, it’s essential to notice that there is no such thing as a scarcity of water on Earth. Nonetheless, there’s a scarcity of low cost, simply accessible water. The Earth’s floor is about 70% water-covered and we all know the right way to desalinate the seas and oceans.
As circumstances proceed to worsen and water turns into increasingly invaluable, I’ve little question that mankind will flip to no matter is important to maintain life. Will there be distress earlier than that occurs? Undoubtedly, nevertheless it’s in our nature to place off till tomorrow what we must be doing in the present day.
Ron Garber, Duarte
