But what is the point? Well, it points a finger at the becoming scarcity of fresh water because of human activities. Indeed, those activities pollute water, and as a result water-borne diseases today kill more children than malaria, AIDS, or even wars. In the past 100 years, 60% of the wetlands in the world have been destroyed, while wetlands are the natural purifying means for water. Deforestation – which is well underway, is a major contributor to soil erosion. Indeed, trees roots absorb water and hold the watershed in place; but when trees disappear so does the water. Because our water needs continue to increase, and also because surface water is not sufficient anymore, there is a growing dependency on ground water. Even though we have no idea how much ground water there is in total, we are pumping up to 15 times more water from the ground than is being returned back into the ground. Because of paved sidewalks and streets, when it rains the water can’t get into the ground, so it enters the storm drain system, sending it unfiltered into the lakes and oceans; evaporation increases our cloud cover, and concurrently the ground water decreases. Dams prevent water from moving, and thus the nutrients it contains die, and eventually lead to desertification. All these factors combine to result in nothing short of an ongoing scarcity of water and the dark prospect that, in 50 years, there will likely be a collapse of the planet’s water sources, the essential element of life.