Climate Change Efforts Will Worsen Water Quality

Climate change efforts will worsen water quality in areas of the country where farming is present. This is because the federal government will be promoting the use of crops to create alternative fuels. These are programs that are already funded.

If you live in the Midwest right now your water is tainted with nitrates and other farm chemicals. The same is true in all of the corn belt states. And true also in any major agricultural area. The Central Valley of California has horrible water. I’ve suggested to potential customers that they leave the area and certainly don’t raise children there.

But the point today is that the effort to get climate under control will worsen the situation. You can read more about it in this thoughtful article:

New U.S. Climate Law Will Make Water Contamination Worse – Circle of Blue

Basically, the federal government is pumping money into growing more corn for ethanol production. Corn already uses more nutrients and pesticides than any other crop. And corn is grown on a massive scale. Round Up is the pesticide of preference for corn and some studies link bathing in Round Up tainted water to breast cancer in women.

Addressing Climate Change in this Manner will Affect Drinking Water

What strikes me is that we fail to connect the dots when we take actions meant to solve a problem. Worsening water quality will only lead to higher cancer rates. And I am under the impression that many people just don’t see the connection even when they live next to a farm field. Why is there nothing growing between those rows of corn and beans?

When rain falls on those fields it takes the fertilizers and pesticides down into the groundwater.

Drinking Water and Pesticides | US EPA

Rain also carries those contaminants into nearby wetlands and streams which then feed larger streams and rivers which in turn are water sources for communities downstream.

how pesticides pollute drinking water

If you live near farming …

If you live near farm fields there will be pesticides and nitrates in your water. We can determine whether or not this is true by testing for nitrates. Bathing in pesticides has been linked to breast cancer.  Pesticides can be removed by using a robust whole house carbon filter such as Sweetwater’s Urban Defender. The Urban Defender is also used to remove carcinogens from public water supplies.

Nitrates require a different type of treatment to remove. You may learn more here.

If there’s a lesson in this madness is that’s you have to take care of your family all on your own. Our food and our water are already killing us due to contamination. Industry interest groups lobby to continue these practices, at our expense. The price we pay is our health.

If the efforts to prevent catastrophic climate change worsen water quality we will pay the price with our health. In either case, we lose.

 

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter

About James McMahon

Studied ecology at the University of Illinois, mountain survival at Eastern Washing University, Deep Ecology at Naropa, River Ecology with The Nature Conservancy and Luna Leopold
This entry was posted in Healthy Drinking Water, Healthy Living, Nitrates in drinking water and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Climate Change Efforts Will Worsen Water Quality

  1. Gaye Luard says:

    What is the best water filter for me. I live in a small town surrounded by farm land. And cattle in Southern Alberta in Canada.

    • I tried to email you and your server blocked me. I can’t answerf that question with so little information. Is this city water or private well water? And there are numerous other questions I would ask if you were to call. In general, a whole house carbon filter is needed to avoid showering in pesticides. And reverse osmosis at the sink to avoid drinking nitrates.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *