Siphoning the Globe: Water Exhibit Exposes Worldwide Crisis

By Kelly Stewart, AlterNet. Posted January 18, 2008.

Editor's Note:

Water is an architect of the natural world, a building block of our bodies, and the lifeblood of our communities. It is, in short, our most important resource. And yet, each day, we squander it through pollution, mismanagement, neglect, and greed. As regions across Africa, the Middle East, Australia, Asia, and North America, face worsening drought, it is time to increase our understanding of the role of water in sustaining life for all creatures on this planet.

An amazing crew of individuals at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, led by Dr. Eleanor J. Sterling, the museum's Director of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation have made an important contribution to halting the water crisis with their new a ground-breaking exhibit that will change how you think about water. The exhibit was also organized by the Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul, in collaboration with Great Lakes Science Center, Cleveland; The Field Museum, Chicago; Instituto Sangari, São Paulo, Brazil; National Museum of Australia, Canberra; Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada; San Diego Natural History Museum; and Singapore Science Centre with PUB Singapore.

The exhibit covers a huge amount of ground, including information about how other life forms interact with water, the hydrologic cycle, the history of water use across the world, virtual water facts, the effect of dams, maps of water availability and use, and a whole lot more. Presented with incredible interactive displays, you can feel, taste, hear, and see the affect of water on our lives and how important it is to protect this resource.

Sometimes my shower head drips -- I can hear the steady beat as I try to fall asleep at night. And sometimes, instead of tinkering with the temperamental shower knobs, I'll close the bathroom door to block out the noise.

Entering the new exhibition, Water: H20 = Life, at the Museum of Natural History in New York City, I was struck by a similar scene. One drop at a time, water falls from the ceiling, splashing into the others that have fallen before it. It's a hypnotic reminder that every drop is worth contemplating.

The exhibit underscores that all life on earth is founded upon water. Climate change may dominate today's environmental news, but in fact the world's supply of fresh, clean water is becoming scarce.

The World Water Council predicts that a shortage of potable water will become the next environmental crisis. Already more than 1 billion people don't have access to enough safe drinking water to remain healthy -- and the problem is expected to spread beyond Africa and Southeast Asia.

With recent reports of water troubles in industrialized nations -- from a recent oil spill off South Korea's coast to the heaps of disposable water bottles accumulating in American landfills -- the exhibit's message is timely. Interactive displays encourage participation, making the some of the more complex material both informational and fun.

The wide-ranging show is scheduled to travel worldwide after it ends its run in New York on May 26, hitting cities such as San Diego, Cleveland, Chicago, São Paulo, Canberra, Ontario and Singapore. The exhibit is intended to educate people around the world on water use and inspire them to make a difference in their communities.

In most places in the United States, we can simply turn on the tap and have immediate access to clean water. Currently, we have enough of the stuff to establish verdant golf courses in the Arizona desert and fill swimming pools in Palm Springs. Because water has historically been abundant in our country -- or at least it appears to be -- the show faces the challenge of convincing visitors that they need to be more vigilant about their personal water use.

Beginning with a section covering plant and animal life, the exhibit describes some of the remarkable ways that different species have adapted to water shortages in harsh environments. Living in arid conditions, the Texas horned lizard has ridges on its back that funnel water to its mouth. The seafaring albatross drinks salt water to survive, but it filters the salt into special glands that empty from its beak. As humans, we don't have these kinds of tricks and must rely on fresh water to survive.

See more stories tagged with: water, water crisis, water resources

Kelly Stewart is a writer and editor living in New York City.

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