Man and Water

By

Irene Ruffo

I wish to start this presentation by showing a picture from space taken by a satellite and showing a peculiar characteristic of our planet: the presence of great amounts of

water. The Hearth is shown on the right side. The clouds (water vapour mixed to small water droplets) make less evident the contour of the continents, surrounded by the blue oceans. Is not by chance that the Earth is known also as “The Blue Planet”. The Earth is the only planet in the known Universe in which one may find two interconnected and rather unique features coexisting: the presence of liquid water and the existence of forms of life in continuous evolution. The other planet (shown on the left of the picture) is Mars, known also as “Red Planet”; it is the planet that is more similar to Earth, although important differences exist, so much so that there is no general agreement on the possibility of life on it. Let’s jump back in time a few billion years ago, about one billion year after that great event which shaped our planet. During this time the temperature of the Earth dropped quite a bit and the condensation of the water vapour generated the huge amount of liquid water which, according to the vast majority of the life scientists, did allow the birth of simple forms of life; these, in turn, generated more advanced forms of “terrestrial life”. This was just the beginning of a complex process involving a variety of interests from physics to chemistry, to biology, to history, to philosophy. It is not surprising that so many different sciences have been involved, given the importance of the event, an event of enormous importance: “The Event”. Before addressing social and political issues, let me first quickly summarize pieces of chemical, physical and biological information which will help to explain why the first forms of life starter in liquid water (oceans) and why the first “complex living entities” did emerge from the water heading toward the hearth and giving birth to the most important and evoluted terrestrial form of life: the Man.

The starting point of this presentation is the acknowledgement of the fundamental role which has been plaid by the Sun in starting the vital processes on Earth. It is well known that the history of the geochemical and biological evolution of Hearth shows that life could start and develop only when conditions became less hostile and, more important, only after formation of a primitive hydrosphere containing liquid water and the starting of the biogenetic cycle of water.

It is also known that Sun radiates energy as electromagnetic waves in a range of frequencies. Among the others, UV radiation is particularly dangerous for the living objects. Fortunately this kind of radiation is efficiently screened by the atmosphere surrounding the Hearth, especially by Oxygen (O₂) and even more so by the Ozone (O₃). Depletion of the ozone layer due to pollution, results in increased UV radiation reaching the Earth’s surface. This has raised great concern for the related health effects of skin cancer, cataracts, and immune suppression.

At the beginning the Earth’s atmosphere had no Oxygen, which came later when plants produced it through the photosynthesis associated with the action of chlorophyll, a complex, but extremely useful molecule. Therefore, Earth was absolutely hostile environment.

Molecular Structure of Chlorophyll

Water, absorbs the UV radiation making underwater life possible. This, together with experimental evidence collected over the years have suggested that life starter in the oceans at a depth such that while part of the radiation was absorbed, part was still be used for photosynthetic support to primitive living organisms. This complex of factors triggered the beginning of life. During a lengthy process of evolution, which took several hundred million years, these primitive forms of life evolved in forms more complex which, eventually were able to leave to “natural aqueous medium” and migrated towards to Earth surface. In fact, in the mean time conditions able to support more complex forms of life had started on Earth (cooler temperatures, oxygenated atmosphere, filtered UV radiation, just to mention the most important factors). It is in this scenario that man made his appearance. On one side generated from water on the other side owner of this incredible wealth. Water, in fact, is the most spread material on Earth, and, at the same time, the most important. The human body is made of water to a great extent (almost 70% by weight). Some animal and/or botanical species reach even higher percentage (almost 99 %). Our body may survive several weeks without food, but would survive only a few days without water. For these reasons water is considered source of life, way of purification, regeneration center. Starting from water men has built civilization. For possess of water, wars have been started. With the help of water progress in science, technology and industry has been accomplished. Nearby rivers and lakes, the greatest civilizations were born. Survival of living being, animals, plants is due to water. Water is there where life is, without it life is not possible. Abundance of water has been the key factor to develop civilization and prosperity. Sumerians established themselves in an area not greater than our Lombardy, where two rivers (Tigris and Euphrates) over 5000 years ago merged separately into the Persian Gulf (today they merge and become a single river before reaching the gulf). People living in the area managed to make the ground suitable for cultures also by controlling the regular flow of water. Another great civilization grew and become strong along the river Nile. Not to mention the great cultures of the Mediterranean area, all of them connected, one way or another, to water. At one stage, Arabs took over Sicily and started a domination which had strong influence on the local population. Arabs learned methods and techniques in the field of hydraulics, modified them and introduced them in worlds away from them. For example they learned from the Latin world the technology to build water aqueducts and to irrigate fields for agricultural purposes. Their experience in desert areas was of paramount importance in building and protecting water supplies. From the people of the Persian area they learned how to build and protect water ducts. Starting in the VII century A.C. through a tough politics of expansion, trading, culture exchange, Arabs made available to populations of the territories occupied the technology mentioned above and promoted a formidable technological improvement which lasted more than a millennium. This changed dramatically the situation of many regions of the Mediterranean Area, and especially Sicily. Among the hydraulic structures due to the Arab domination, the water-mills of the Gaggera Valley (Sicily) have been preserved in good conditions. Finally the role which the Ancient Italian Maritime Republics had in shaping what it is now Italy, clearly indicate how important water was for the human being. In full respect of Nature, without seriously affecting the environment, in antiquity man used this great source of wealth and civilization. However, slowly things started to change, especially in the XIX century with the beginning of Industrial Era. At the same time the most powerful Nations started unilateral social and economical political choices, quite often strongly bound to water. It is no secret that the majority of wars has been generated by interests involving control of land through control of commercial routes, mostly terrestrial and naval. All the Nations tried to find legal and political ways (International Treaties, Supra-National Organisations, like, for example United Nations) in order to find rules and ways to have legal access to world resources, including water. Unfortunately, as a consequence of the rampant race towards consumism, of the use of water as a sort of universal solvent for a variety of industrial processes, of the generation of huge amounts of highly polluting chemicals, of a blind and irresponsible producing policy, of the wrong believe that Nature could fix all the problems created by man, the situation is drifting out of control. Experts believe that we are going to face a long time of serious shortages of water, whose quality, in any case, will not meet the criteria for a well balance development of the society. Particularly serious will be the problem related to the supplying of drinkable watering terms of quality, quantity and costs. There seems to be general consensus on the fact that in the next 10-15 years the cost will jump a factor 5 to t10 higher than to day costs. Reasons for this trend are more strict laws and regulations on one side and scientific evidence that trace elements present in “normal” water used in drinkable supplies may be responsible for serious sickness and leading causes for the spread of cancer in our society. To prevent confrontation and danger of wars as well as to reduce the ecological disaster that this scenario seems to indicate, many International Organisations are soliciting actions from the most responsible Nations in the world. For example, Green Cross International, a non government association founded by Mikhail Gorbaciov involved in promoting eco-sustainable development, indicates river basins and especially dams, as the most serious potential source of conflicts. “All dams have an impact beyond any frontiers, not only geographical, but also economical, political and cultural. Problems involve not only the owners and builders of the dams, but the entire eco-system. Chemistry, physics and geology of the neighbour areas are affected. Even earthquakes, in some cases, are thought to be related to the construction of some dams. According to Green Cross International, “in almost all the fluvial basins of the world (about 300) the effect of the dams is to produce conflicts: between States, between regions, among the different sectors of society, between central and local governments. Conflicts which destabilize regions and represent an additional trouble for Nations already among the poorest in the world”. Green Cross International, in cooperation with UNESCO, recently started a programme “Water for Peace” with the aiming of studying six of the greatest fluvial basins in the world. Two each in Europe and in Africa, one in south America and one in Middle East. The purpose is to find new approaches, including techno-political alternatives, offering the opportunity to introduce new applications of well-tried technology to solve long-standing water problems which are at the centre of many of the potential sources of conflicts. “Local people, authorities, government representatives, the research community, farmers, industries, women and minority groups all need to be fully involved in the development of basin and aquifer strategies, agreements and institutions. Stakeholder representatives and local authorities must be given a permanent and official role in decision-making and implementation. Awareness raising and education strategies should be implemented to ensure that people learn how to best take up the challenges of sharing water”

Peace is at stake especially in the Jordan River Basin, already shaken by turmoil and war. 50 years ago the amount of water discharged by the river into the Dead Sea was about six times larger than to day. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to expect wars “for water” even if ideologically justified! Naturally a lot might be accomplished if water will mainly be used for drinking and agriculture, limiting its use for polluting industrial processes as much as possible. In this respect could be important to promote use of supercritical fluids, environmentally friendly and reasonably inexpensive. A number of interesting actions have been taken in this direction by ONU like, for example celebrating the year 2003 as “International Year of Freshwater”. Certainly a planetary and global educational effort in the direction of properly using and sharing natural resources will produce results of great relevance.

For this reason I wish to conclude this presentation with the poster of the official site of the International Year of Freshwater.

Welcome to the official site of the International Year of Freshwater 2003!

Jump in! Get your feet wet! Make a splash!

Together we can make a difference

No matter who we are, where we are, and what we do, we are all dependent on water. We need it every day, in so many ways. We need it to stay healthy, we need it for growing food, for transportation, irrigation and industry. We need it for animals and plants, for changing colours and seasons. However, despite the importance of water resources in our lives and well-being, we are increasingly disrespectful of them. We abuse them. We waste them. We pollute them, forgetting how essential they are to our very survival.

2003 is a year of opportunity. It is a year for us to focus our attention on protecting and respecting our water resources, as individuals, communities, countries, and as a global family of concerned citizens. 2003 is a year for action and reflection. During this year we have a chance to mend our ways, to take stock and make a difference. By protecting our freshwater, we help to ensure our future and our planet's long-term prospects.

Join us in celebrating the International Year of Freshwater 2003. Send us your information, ideas, news, documents, images and testimonies, anything that could be shared with others around the world.

Let's make a big splash!