Is safe drinking water a human right?

Here in the United States, having clean water is not something most of us think about to often. Most of us living in this part of the world take our clean and plentiful water for granted.  However that is not true for all of the U.S., California is in the middle of a very large shortage of water.  California is an example of a domestic water shortage, but what about the rest of the world.  In the spectrum of things, the United States has some of the most, and cleanest fresh water in the world.  This is because of our wealth and advances in infrastructure.  We have water treatment plants all around the country, and endless miles of pipes carrying water to all of us.  But what is it like in the rest of the world?  Millions of people are not as fortunate as us in first world countries are.  First here are some things to consider you may find shocking.  85% percent of the world’s population lives in the driest half of our planet.  A disturbing 780 million people live without clean drinking work. 

 (http://www.seametrics.com/blog/global-water-crisis-facts/)

Some continents are much worse off than others.  For example 1/3 of Africa’s population lacks access to clean and safe drinking water.  While the infrastructure is getting better around the world for carrying water to more people, our climate situation is getting worse.  By 2050, five times as much of the world will be in drought conditions.  By 2035, the world’s energy consumption will increase by 35 percent, which in turn will increase water use by 15 percent according to the International Energy Agency.  Our world’s population is also increasing at alarming rates.  This means more mouths to feed.  And creating food is a huge source of water consumption. There will be about 1 billion more mouths to feed worldwide by 2025 and global agriculture alone will require another 1 trillion cubic meters of water per year.  This is equal to the annual flow of 20 Niles or 100 Colorado Rivers.  Which is a simply ridiculous amount of water.  All this is alarming data.  But there is one question that we have to ask our selves.  Is having clean and safe drinking water a human right?  Online you can find some controversy surrounding the subject but the UN (United Nations) has issued a statement with their answer to it.  On July 28, 2010 through Resolution 64/292, the United Nations General Assembly explicitly recognized the human right to water and sanitation and acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realization of all human rights.  In short hand, this means everyone is entitled to have clean drinking water.  Which is a very nice thing to say and think about, but what about making it actually happen?  Well, that is what the UN and governments around the world are trying to accomplish.  But it is truly a daunting task.  The amount of infrastructure that needs to be put into place and the cost associated with it is truly unimaginable.  But that is why we are striving to come up with new and cost effective methods everyday. 

(www.salon.com)

Nitrogen Dioxide and Sulfure Dioxide in Our Air

Both Nitrogen Dioxide and Sulfur Dioxide are key components in modern day air pollution.   Both are part of the types of major air pollutants the Clean Air Act is trying to improve on.  Meaning we are working to reduce our release of these compounds into the air.   The Clean Air Act required to set standards on air emissions of pollutants, and continues to work on this standard.  Both these pollutants are products of combustion.  Meaning that a fuel is burned, and they are released into the air.  This can happen naturally, for example, forest fires started by lighting.  But it has been determined than anthropogenic sources, or man made sources, are contributing greatly too.  This means coal-fired power plants, gas powered power plants, transportation, and any other man made combustion process.

(image:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17435420)

 Instruments have been developed to measure these compounds in our air.  We can even create satellite images of the compounds and figure out were they are at and were they’re coming from.   With NO2 it is easy to find the source, because it does not have a long atmospheric lifetime, meaning it cannot have traveled far from were ever it is found.  Mexico City, Tokyo, and Los Angeles have very large NO2 plooms over them.  California’s I-5 freeway is actually visible from space via its NO2 signature.  NO2 can cause an array or negative atmospheric effects.  It can cause a haze that can drastically reduce visibility.  NO2 can cause irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs.  Surprisingly, NO2 can actually reduce terrestrial plant growth.  On the contrary, NO2 can cause aquatic oxygen depleting algae blooms.  And perhaps most surprising, NO2 can actually cause corrosion of building materials.  NO2 output increases greatly in the wintertime in Northern states due to increase energy needs from colder temperatures.  Sulfur dioxide also has some very similar effects.  It too causes similar health effects in humans like nose, throat, and eye irritation.  It can also cause wheezing and coughing.  Both of these compounds are huge contributors to acid rain.  Acid rain is harmful to almost entire environments.  Acid rain is particularly harmful to lichens, although both compounds are harmful to them just suspended in the air.  Acid rain can decimate aquatic environments.  It can have drastic effects on fish species, as well as macro invertebrates. This can impact the whole food chain by affecting one component of it.  It can even work its way up to humans.  We as a whole population depend on both our freshwater and salt-water environments heavily.   Not only do we use these aquatic systems for food, but its also were we get our water.  Which bring for the question, is acid rain affecting our bodies too?  There are also many future negative effects that both these compounds and other air pollution can have on us, and our environment.  What we do know is that we are going to destroy our planet at this rate.  We need to drastically decrease our air pollution very soon.   And while world regulatory agencies are working towards improvement, there is a lot of evidence that it may not be happening quickly enough.

(image:http://www.wbaltv.com/news/nasa-photos-from-space-show-earths-pollution/26694684)

                                                                   

Ohio EPA Air Pollution Program

The Ohio EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has its own Air Monitoring Section.   The goals of the Air Monitoring Section are to determine compliance with the ambient air quality standards, provide real-time monitoring of air pollution episodes, provide data for trend analyses, regulation evaluation and planning, and provide daily information to the public concerning the quality of the air in high population areas, near major emission sources and in rural areas across the state.  There is monitoring sites stationed all across Ohio.  This array of monitory sites is referred to as the Air Monitoring Network.  Many of these sites are fitted with multi-pollutant monitoring equipment.  Ohio EPA has a list of priorities listed in there 2016-2017 plan.  The first thing on that list is the air quality in areas of expected high concentration.  In other words, areas that have a high possibility of air pollutant problems.  Number two on that list is areas with a high population density.  This makes logical sense because anywhere where the air quality is affecting a mass amount of people would be reason for concern.  Third on the list are areas with significant sources, which goes along with the first one.  Four is general background concentration. And finally five is areas of regional transportation of a pollutant.  Although these are the 5 main goals of Ohio EPA’s air monitoring program, they do much more as well.  The Ohio EPA also has a real time air quality monitoring map on there website.  This map allows you to see real time data on the air quality in areas all across Ohio. 

Looking at the map you can see that most of the air monitoring cites, but not all, are in or near urban areas.  This is for the reasons previously stated.  Areas of the highest concentration of people, and nearest to possible sources are of the most concern.  The air quality in Ohio today (September 5, 2016) is good-moderate.  The yellow dots on the map indicate moderate air quality, and the green indicates good air quality.  This is a change from the other day however, when all dots were green.  The map fluctuates from day to day.  Another very cool feature of this interactive map is you can put your curser over the dots of each air monitoring site and it will five you more information.  It will show you the current ozone level and the time and date it was taken at. There are six “criteria pollutants” that the EPA monitors.  They are photochemical oxidants and ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and lead.  All these pollutants can be harmful to human health and our environment when in the air.  There are standards set and maximum allowable levels in place concerning these pollutants to keep our environment as healthy as possible.  There is also an air quality index.  Which is what the colors in the interactive chart I talked about early are based off of.  This index uses a color and number system to rate air quality.  This chart along with more helpful information can be found on Ohio EPA’s website.