If The Well Goes Dry By Albert Gore

Q.1 Write the chemical composition of the human body. In what way is the human body similar to Earth?
Ans. The Article ‘If the well goes Dry’ has been written by the former Vice President of America Mr Abert Gore. The writer throws light on the significance of freshwater for all forms of life including human being on the Earth. There is a great coincidence in the chemical combination of the human body and the Earth. Both are mostly made up of water. Human beings are made up of more than those three dozen elements which have also made this Earth. Our tissues and membranes, our brains and hearts, our sweat and tears mainly consist of water, Human body is 23% carbon, 2.6% Nitrogen 1.4% Calcium, 1.1% phosphorus with a tiny amount of other elements. But above all, we are 61% oxygen and 10% hydrogen fused together to make water. So water is the base of formation of the human body as well as the Earth. Both can’t exist without water.

Q.2 How does global warming affect the climate Pattern?
Ans. Since the industrial revolution, the relationship of man to the Earth has changed drastically. We have caused profound damage to the ecosystem of the Earth. The average temperature of the Earth is rising which is known as global warming. This increasing temperature of the Earth is responsible for making the climate pattern unstable. The ocean water maintains the climate pattern by distributing temperature from equator to the polar religions and back again. The huge ocean currents play a vital role in maintaining the difference between hot and cold on this earth. This equilibrium of hot and cold keeps the climate pattern stable. But as the difference between hot and cold is getting narrower because of global warming, the climate pattern also becomes unstable. The health of our planet depends on our maintaining a complex balance of the interrelated system. I Warmer Temperature speeds up the hydrological cycle resulting in an increase of the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere. Which magnifies the greenhouse effect. If the temperature difference between hot and cold gets smaller, the ocean currents may solo down or seek a new equilibrium. If this circulatory pattern will also change.

Q. How does rising sea level threaten freshwater supply?
Ans. Global warming causes the oceans to rise in their levels. It raises the sea levels mainly in two ways. Higher average temperatures result in the melting of glaciers, the ice is discharged into the oceans from the ice caps of Antarctica & Greenland raises the sea levels. The other way in which global warming raises the sea levels in thermal expansion. Higher temperature increases the warmth of ocean water which in turn increases its volume. Where the sea levels rise, it becomes the cause of the loss of low lying coastal areas including the underground aquifers on which the coastal cities depend for their freshwater need. Some major cities of the world rely on freshwater aquifers for drinking water. These aquifers actually float on saltwater. The rising sea would push the water table up to the surface and becomes a threat to these freshwater supplies. These cities would be among the first populated area to be flooded out.

Q. Describe the efforts of deforestation on ecosystem.
Ans. The tropical rain forests play a significant role in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem. After the industrial revolution, these forests have been cut down on a large scale to meet the commercial needs of man. The widespread deforestation has put an adverse effect on the ecosystem. The destruction of the forest affects the hydrological cycle in a given area. These forests are so important because they store more freshwater than all the lakes on the earth. This forest not only attracts rain clouds but also produce their own rain clouds. When a forest is cut down, air brings less moisture which results in dry areas. The root system of forest holds the soil. The canopy of the trees rainfall. But when there are no root systems or canopies to protect the surface, the top layer of the soil is washed away by heavy rainfall. The nearby water sources are often silted with the topsoil and gradually become clogged. The capacity of water sources to drain the floodwater is impaired a the flooding along the river banks become even worse. In this way deforestation adversely affects the ecosystem of the earth.

Q. Describe the effect of population grown on the global water system.
Ans. The rapid population growth is a major threat to the global water system. This problem is most keenly and tragically felt in the countries of the third world. Most of the developing and underdeveloped countries face the pressure of rapid population growth. In many parts of the world, groundwater is being extracted from aquifers at a very high rate it beyond the ability of nature to refill or recharge this aquifer. As these underground aquifers are out of sight, we keep extracting water from them without any precaution and thought for the future. We only come to know about the loss of these aquifers, When they dry up or the ground above them begins to sink or subside. Most of the heavily populated area of the world. The freshwater suppliers are felt sort then the no of people suffer.

Answer in 150 words.

(i) Man is having the path of his own doom. How?
Ans. The article ‘If the well goes dry’ written by Albert gore throws light on the problem of freshwater around the world. The author says that man very well knows the significance of water for his existence. No form of life on the Earth including human being can exist without water. Hardly 0.01% of the total water available on the Earth is suitable for direct conservation. This water is distributed very unevenly on the Earth. The population of the earth is also distributed on the same pattern because man settled those places only where fresh water was available easily. The interrelated system of the earth always maintained the complex balance of the ecosystem which continued to supply fresh water on the Earth. But after the industrial revolution, the dramatic change in our relation to earth has cost profound damage to the global water system. We have exploited nature to our commercial profit without thinking for the future. Although man is supposed to be the most intelligent creature on the earth who can sense his good or bad get he was blind fooled himself to fulfil his commercial requirements. This zeal of material gain has proved to be total damage to the environment. We have cut down forest without thinking that they are so vital for the health of this planet. We emit poisonous gases and toxic substance which pollute we, water and soil. We are running off a blind race of materialism which has no end. So it has right even been said that man is having the path of his own doom.

(ii) Recount and explain the five strategic threats to the global water system, as described by Albert Gore.
Ans. The article “if the well goes dry has been written by Alber Gore. He counts the five strategic threats to the global water system in this article. If these five threats are not encountered properly then there will be no life on the earth. These five threats to the global water system are redistribution of freshwater supply, the rise of sea level resulting in the loss of low laying coastal area, widespread deforestation, contamination of water resources and pressure of rapid population growth. The first threat to the global water system is redistribution of freshwater supply. The climate pattern of the earth is getting unstable because of the increasing average temperature of the earth. The difference between hot and cold is getting smaller which is changing the way water is transferred from the equator to the poles and back again. If this continuous, then freshwater supplies will be redistributed which can prove to be a great threat to the population.

Global warming affects the climate of the Earth and the climate of the earth and raises the sea levels in several ways. Melting glaciers and thermal expansion are the two main ways in which the level of the sea is rising constantly. The rising sea level pushes the water table up and become the cause of flood along the coastal area. This also becomes a loss of aquifers and low lying rivers in these coastal areas.

Widespread deforestation is the next major threat to the global water system. The tropical rain forest store more water-thin the lakes earth. They are so important for us because they not only attract rain clouds but also produce them. If there will be no forest, the air will bring less moisture and the rain will tapper off in coming years.

Contamination of the water resources because of chemical pollutants from the industries is another threat to the freshwater supplies. This problem is more severe in developing and underdeveloped countries. The effects of water pollution are seen in these countries in the form of high death rates from water born disease like cholera, typhoid, diarrhoea dysentery and many more. The sources of freshwater get contaminated by harmful virus and bacteria.

Short Answers.

Q.1 Why does water carry spiritual significance in most religions.
Ans. All major religions in the words consider water to be spiritual significance. It is considered all the religion that human body is made up of water and earth. Human being knew the importance of water for his existence. All the great civilizations started on the banks of great rivers. Water is considered a pious thing which is needed in all religious rituals. It is a way in which we assert that nothing is more important than water for the existence of life on the Earth. This is the reason for the spiritual significance of water in all the major religion.

Q.2 What is the resemblance between the pattern of human civilization and those of distribution of freshwater?
Ans. The writer Albert gore says that only .01% of the total water on the Earth is suitable for direct consumption and within our cannons reach. But this freshwater is distributed very unevenly in the world. There is a great resemblance between the patterns of human civilization and those of the distribution of freshwater. Human civilization started at those places where water is available in plenty. At all such places where there is sufficient supply of freshwater. We can find a dense population. The man knew that life was not possible in those places where there was no water. So he settled at such places only where he found freshwater.

Q.3 What drives cold ocean streams from the poles towards the equator.
Ans. The climate pattern of the Earth remains stable by the ocean water which helps to maintain the global equilibrium by constantly pushing toward a more even distribution of temperature. When the ocean water flows from the tropics to the polar regions, it transfers heat from the equator to the poles in huge currents. When this warm ocean water hits the cold polar winds between Greenland and Iceland, the evaporation accelerates leaving behind much saltier seawater which becomes denser and heavier. This rapidly pulling water sinks to the bottom at a great speed and forms a deep current which is very powerful. This ocean current drives the cold stream from poles toward the equator.

Q.4 Write two ways in which global warming raises the sea level.
Ans. Global warming is causing severe damage to the environment in several ways. It raises the sea level mainly in two ways. Due to an increase in the average temperatures of the Earth, the glaciers and icebergs on the poles of Antarctica and Greenland are melting fast. The ice being discharged into the oceans from these ice caps raises the sea levels. Another way in which the sea level is rising is known as thermal expansion. As the increasing temple rupture heats up the oceans water, its volume also expands. These are the two ways in which the sea levels are raised.

Q.5 What causes the average hurricane to be more powerful? How?
Ans. Warming oceans not only disturb the climate pattern of the Earth but they are also responsible for the arrival of a powerful hurricane from the sea to the land. Warming oceans are likely to cause the average hurricane to be more powerful because the depth and warmth of the ocean’s top layer is the single important factor in determining the speed of a hurricane’s winds. As this top layer of the oceans is warming because of higher average temperatures, more powerful hurricanes are striking the coastal areas causing great damage.

Q.6 How do forest produce rain clouds.
Ans. It is a well-known fact that forests play a significant role in bringing rain to Earth. There is a symbiosis between forests & rain clouds. The tropical rain forests produce their own rain clouds because of evapotranspiration. After an immediate rainfall on the rain forest, a fine mist begins to float back into the sky which increases the humidity in the air and causes more rainfall. In this way, it continues to rain for a long duration in a rain forest.

Q.7 How do the forest attract rain?
Ans. The tropical rain forests are considered very vital in maintaining the complex balance of the interrelated systems on the Earth. They not only produce rain clouds but also attract them in a specific manner. These forests produce gases called terpenes and small amounts of a compound called dimethyl sulphide, it floats into the atmosphere as a gas, undergoes oxidation and is transformed into aerosols of sulphate particles around which the droplets of rainwater form. In this way, the forest attracts rain clouds.

Q.8 Described the effect of chemical pollutants on mankind.
Ans. Contamination of water sources has become a great threat to freshwater supplies. The chemical pollutants are largely responsible for the contamination of freshwater. After the industrial revolution, the freshwater sources have been contaminated on a large scale because the industries put their chemical waste and other untreated sewage directly into the freshwater sources. The freshwater gets infected by harmful virus and bacteria and causes many water-born diseases resulting in high death rates. Especially in the countries of the third world, billions of people do not have safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities. They are at the risk of having their water contaminated.

Q.9 What do the solutions of the freshwater problem like desalinisation plants and towing of glacier are soon unfeasible?
Ans. Many people think that the freshwater problem can be solved by desalinization plants and schemes to pull icebergs and glaciers from the polar regions to the populous tropics. But the writer says that these solutions are impractical and can’t be brought down to the grounds of reality in the near future. The technology to desalinize the ocean water is very expensive. The enormous energy and CO2 costs evolved in converting ocean water into freshwater are so much that people in the third world can’t afford such water. Similarly towing of glaciers is also not possible because of geographical reasons.

The solutions to solve water problem like desalinization plants and towing of glaciers seem unfeasible and impractical at present. So, instead of becoming over optimist, we should lose our common sense. We need to understand the complex balance of the ecosystem. We should realise that rains bring us trees and flowers but the drought brings gaping cracks in the world. The freshwater sources like rivers and lakes sustain us. Every form of life can exist only until these lakes and rivers flow through the veins of the earth and into our own. So we must make sure that they should flow back out as pure as they come. If we keep exploiting nature without thinking for the future, the earth will become a lonely planet without any life on it.