Water

Visited the water exhibit at the Museum of Natural History in New York City. I was fascinated to learn that fresh water comprises only 3% of the world's water supply. I'm not sure our behavior reflects how precious this resource is. Would our society even be capable of surviving if we behaved in a manner that conserved this resource? Water is life sustaining. We need it to stay alive, and we need it to raise the food that helps us to live. The desire for it has caused us to alter the earth to have more of it where and when we need it. We now, therefore, have less of it.
Less water vapor, less water and less ice.
Dissociation is the psychological concept that can help understand how we can treat the earth's resources so destructively. It is possible for our minds to create a disconnection between concepts, like an extreme form of compartmentalization. This process explains how someone who has been hit by a car can get up and act like nothing happened, only to become upset hours later when hearing a thump in a different context. Our minds are designed to help us survive and overcome serious threats. This also enables us to not fully feel or experience the implications of our behaviors.
The cultural categorization of cities and nature as separate splits related conponents of a whole into different and unequal parts. In reality, cities are made from nature, and nature has been shaped and formed by the many civilizations who have thrive upon her resources. A disconnection between the natural and technological leaves people at the mercy of nature and impulse, or at the will of the technology and control. This bifurcation allows one to act upon landscapes as though nature were impersonal and not a part of us, or to treat humans as if they weren’t part of a larger whole in whose terms we are all equal. We consume water as if it weren't a part of us, as though it were some external substance that we can dominate. Water, however, is a part of our biological sustainability and humans don't get to control how much of it we will have.
On peoples' minds: Overheard at the water exhibit, "It makes the idea of everybody having their own swimming pool in the their backyard a little misguided - but I'm not sure I would be willing to give mine up if I had one!" I wonder what sacrifices people would be willing to make to conserve water?
In the news: Also, note, climate change may create more of this, another aspect of water's power.
Ecological tip of the day: Don't let water run, ever. Fill a vessel to get what you need, turn off the faucet when brushing teeth or soaping, and take shorter showers.