The Water-Energy Nexus

Here’s a good article with a terrific infographic on an important subject: the relationship between energy and potable water.  The topic is often called the “water-energy nexus,” though this term is regarded as a terrible cliché by the people whose life’s work focuses upon it.  But like it or not, a warming planet with a growing population makes stable and abundant water supplies increasingly rare; as you’ll see here, 37 countries already face “extremely high” levels of water stress.

So much for the bad news; the good news is this: as we entered 2014 this morning, a large and ever-growing percentage of people were wrapping their wits around this whole subject for the first time.  More people each day are realizing that our status quo approach to things we used to take for granted – like energy and water – are literally unsustainable in the 21st Century.  What’s more, these same people are declaring this year as “time for a change.”  Welcome on board!