Seminary Journal 2008 (August) - Virginia Theological Seminary

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When the Rivers Run Dry: Water, the Defi ning Crisis of the 21 st Century By Fred Pearce Fred Pearce is an environmental consultant and leading contributor to New Scientist Magazine. He also is a freelance writer on environmental, developmental, and demographic issues and has reported from 54 countries in the past 15 years. 58 VIRGINIA SEMINARY JOURNAL AUGUST 2007
When the Rivers Run Dry—that title, I hope, is self-explanatory. It tells why some of the world’s greatest rivers no longer reach the sea. Why the world’s atlases no longer tell the truth. And what this tells us about the state of the global water supply. First some numbers. Few of us realise how much water it takes to get us through the day. On average, we drink not much more than a gallon of the stuff. Even after washing and fl ushing the toilet, we in Britain get through only around 40 or 50 gallons each. But that is just the start. It is only when we add in the water needed to grow what we eat and drink that the numbers really begin to soar. Try a few of these numbers for size, if you can. It takes between 250 and 650 gallons of water to grow a pound of rice. That is more water than many households use in a week. For just a bag of rice. It takes 130 gallons to grow a pound of wheat, and 65 gallons for a pound of potatoes. And when you start feeding grain to livestock for animal products like meat and milk, the numbers become yet more startling. It takes 3,000 gallons to grow the feed for enough cow to make one quarterpound hamburger; and between 500 and 1,000 gallons for that cow to fi ll its udders with a quart of milk. Turn those stats into meal portions and you come up with more than 25 gallons for a portion of rice, 40 gallons for the bread in a sandwich or a serving of toast, 130 gallons for a two-egg omelette or a mixed salad, 265 gallons for a glass of milk, 400 gallons for an ice cream, 530 gallons for a pork chop. And if you have a sweet tooth, so much the worse. Every teaspoonful VIRGINIA SEMINARY JOURNAL AUGUST 2007 It takes between 250 and 650 gallons of water to grow a pound of rice; 130 galllons to grow a pound of wheat; 65 gallons for a pound of potatoes. One teaspoon of sugar requires 50 cups of water to grow it. 37 gallons are needed to grow the coffee itself. A glass of wine or pint of beer requires 66 gallons; A glass of brandy: 530 gallons. It takes 3,000 gallons to grow the feed for enough cow to make ONE quarterpound hamburger. Between 500 and 1,000 gallons are needed for that cow to fi ll its udder with a quart of milk. of sugar in your coffee requires 50 cups of water to grow it. Which is a lot, but not as much as the 37 gallons of water (or 590 cups) needed to grow the coffee itself. Prefer alcohol? A glass of wine or pint of beer with dinner requires about another 66 gallons, and a glass of brandy afterwards takes a staggering 530 gallons. We are all used to reading detailed technical information about the nutritional content on most food packaging. Maybe it is time that we were given some clues as to how much water it took to grow and process the food. Because this is becoming a global problem. I reckon that, as a typical meat-eating, beer-swilling, milk-guzzling Westerner, I consume in this way more than a hundred times my own weight in water every day. And growing the crops to feed me for a year must take 2,000 to 3,000 tons—most of the contents of an Olympic-size swimming pool. Hats off, then, to my vegetarian daughter, who gets by with around half that. And time surely to go out and preach the gospel of water conservation. On the Internet you can buy jokey T-shirts with slogans like “Save water, bathe with a friend.” But please don’t. It’s a good message, but you could fi ll roughly 25 bathtubs with the water needed to grow the cotton to make the shirt. Where does that water all come from? Living in Britain, as I do, most homegrown crops are watered by rain. So the water is at least cheap. But Britain is unusual. In much of the world, including the United States, the water to grow crops is frequently collected from rivers or pumped from underground and delivered to fi elds. It is increasingly liable to deprive someone 59
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VTS as our next Dean and President.
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ing this commemoration on the day o
Page 9 and 10: “I am convinced that the moral ar
Page 11 and 12: “If you continue in my Word you a
Page 13 and 14: speak—that silence was complicit.
Page 15 and 16: while Gandhi gave us the method.”
Page 17 and 18: and said, “Where is Burundi?” [
Page 19: A Refl ection on the VTS Racial and
Page 22 and 23: Isaiah 40:6-8, 21-24, 28-31 Psalm 7
Page 24 and 25: The prophet Isaiah acknowledges tha
Page 26 and 27: I met Martha Horne in front of Aspi
Page 28 and 29: This has been a very wonderful fami
Page 30 and 31: “There should be something in the
Page 32 and 33: A Celebration in Thanksgiving for t
Page 34 and 35: Julia and Malina Cochran, daughters
Page 36 and 37: The Water of Life 34 VIRGINIA SEMIN
Page 38 and 39: “Designer water at $100 a bottle
Page 40 and 41: St. Francis’ perspective on water
Page 42 and 43: around God does not need to devasta
Page 44 and 45: The Need for a Theology of Water: T
Page 46 and 47: “Who gets the water is a matter o
Page 48 and 49: federal government could prepare an
Page 50 and 51: deal with than surface water, after
Page 52 and 53: “The change in vision that we nee
Page 54 and 55: Preaching is a privilege. I thank y
Page 56 and 57: changing of direction. I went back
Page 58 and 59: device ever invented—and it is th
Page 62 and 63: else of water and to empty rivers a
Page 64 and 65: serves. I am old enough to remember
Page 66 and 67: purposes, such as fi lling the taps
Page 68 and 69: Commencement Address to the Class o
Page 70 and 71: daughter on the eve of All Saints
Page 72 and 73: even, it is okay. It means that you
Page 74 and 75: Newland F. Smith 3rd Librarian Seab
Page 76 and 77: COMMENCEMENT 2007 continued The Rev
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Page 80 and 81: and I know that even now God will g
Page 82 and 83: A Sermon for Maxine Shelly Turner (
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Page 90 and 91: Good morning. Separation of church
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Page 94 and 95: media’s fault? Yes, to some exten
Page 96 and 97: Virginia Seminary Welcomes Its New
Page 98 and 99: Seminary, sharing their life storie
Page 100 and 101: ANNUAL GIVING Annual Giving is a co
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Page 104 and 105: Help provide for the financial futu
Page 106 and 107: The Rev. Ronald G. Abrams The Rev.
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The Henry St. George Tucker Society
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Mr. and Mrs. Richard G. Abbott, ‘
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The Rev. S. F. James Abbott, ‘66
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The Rev. Catherine M. Thompson, ‘
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The Rev. John R. Frizzell, Jr., ‘
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Anita Wheatcroft The Rev. G. Richar
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The Rev. A. Moody Burt The Rev. Dr.
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The Rev. William H. Burk The Rev. J
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The 14th anniversary of my ordinati
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Kreitler Environmental Fund The Kre
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St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Ne
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The Rev. and Mrs. Gary L. Abbott, S
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Mr. and Mrs. James C. Hamilton, Jr.
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Mr. Emil M. Sunley The Rev. and Mrs
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volume weave together the familiar,
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and in “Throwing the things away,
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and American Evangelicals: Friends
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The Center for Lifetime Theological
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