'Huge' water resource exists under Africa
Kelsy Hopkins
Summary
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| This is a diagram that shows the amount of water discovered under the surface of Africa. |
under the surface of Africa. When it rains, most water enters rivers, lakes or streams. But, the water that does not seeps through the ground and is stored in little crevices between rocks and stones. This water is called ground water. This ground water flows through things called aquifers, which purify the water, making it extremely clean. This purified water is found mostly in northern Africa, and it was stored there before the Sahara Desert was formed, from about 5,000 years ago. Although this water is old, it is perfectly safe to drink. This is a great thing for Africa, and it may make some places livable there, but the problem is how to get it. Scientists suggest that drilling large holes in the ground may not be suitable. They say that the best solution to getting this water could be hand pumps or developed boreholes. The slower the extraction, the better and easier it will be to get the clean water and possibly help Africa significantly.
My Opinion
I find this news quite astounding! This is great for Africa, and has the potential to help them greatly. It is really amazing on how scientists have figured this out, and I hope it will help Africa greatly. If this falls through and Africa can get more purified water, they can use it not only for drinking but for irrigation or agriculture as well.
Questions
1. How do you think this will help Africa develop better as a country?
2. What do you think is the best was to extract this water?
3. Do you think this water is actually pure, and clean to drink?
4. If it was your decision, would you extract this water?
Invite a Professional:
ReplyDeleteThe professional I chose to invite to our blog is Dr. Richard Gersberg. He works as a professor in the the Environmental Health department at San Diego State Univesity. His opinions would be a good addition to our blog because we are currently studying the hydrosphere and he specializes in water quality research. He has done various tests regarding toxins in freshwater system and has also been a consultant to many water quality projects around the world. Dr. Gersberg has also had about 70 scientific publications on these topics.
Dr. Gersberg,
Hello! My name is Natalie and I am a freshman in high school. My environmental science class has a blog and every day we take turns finding current articles related to what we are learning. Right now, we are learning about the different parts of the hydrosphere and how to test water quality. We are also learning about where our drinking water comes from and how it gets cleaned. I have noticed you specialize in water quality and I would really appreciate it if you would take a look at our blog. We would really value your comments and opinions on the articles and topics we present. Our blog is called “Brainy Bloggers” and the link is http://brainybloggers101.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2013-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2014-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=6
Thank you so much for your time and I hope you will check out our blog!
-Natalie
Opinion:
ReplyDeleteI think this is very positive news for Africa and the rest of the world. This water could be very helpful for African people because, as it was mentioned above, Africa has very little rain and natural water sources. Any clean water would benefit them greatly, and the fact that it is right under their feet is very good news. It is also good for the rest of the world because this newly-discovered supply of fresh water could mean that there is still more water that we have not yet discovered. With only 3% of all water on earth being fresh water and 79% of that being stored in icebergs (which are melting and mixing into salt water), any new deposit of fresh water that we find is really great news. This deposit in Africa is a very positive update on the status of the world’s water.
New Questions:
1.) The article says that most of this water is under northern Africa, under the Sahara desert. Do you think that this water could also benefit southern Africa in some way?
2.) If many people had to travel and leave their homes to reach the place where this water is extracted, would it be worth it?
3.) Do you think that, since we just recently found this water under Africa, that it may be possible to discover other sources of groundwater, under other continents, that also could help us?
Questions
ReplyDeleteDo you think this water is actually pure, and clean to drink?
Yes, I do believe this is safe to drink. Groundwater has one of the best filters ever. As it seeps down into the ground, the rocks and soil are taking things out of it to make it very pure. This would be great for Africa if they actually go through with this and drill down to get it.
If it was your decision, would you extract this water?
If it were my decision I would get the water for the people of Africa. There are many people in africa without clean drinking water. And the people who are lucky enough to have drinking water, many of them have to travel a long way to get to the well and carry all of the water back to their house. The way they have to get water is very shocking, and this groundwater can help many people.
Max Griffith
Expand with a new link:
ReplyDeleteLink: http://thewaterproject.org/
I found this website, The Water Project. Besides being a charity, The Water Project's website also has comments from real people in Africa about their living conditions and how they survive with little to no water. This charity and organization is finding a way to provide water and stop diseases in the African areas filled with poverty. It does not seem like there has been that much word out about Africa being on a large reservoir, like you stated in your blog post, since the comments from Africans are still about how much disease there is in their areas because of the little water. Hopefully, if the information provided about the reservoir is correct, The Water Project will be able to substantially improve the African's lives and there will be less starvation and sickness.