Where we get our fresh water - Christiana Z. Peppard

Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

Translator: Mehmet Sıddık Dilek Reviewer: Daban Q Jaff

At birth, our bodies are roughly 75% water.

Dema jidayikbûnê bedena me %75 av e.

We remain mostly water for the rest of our lives.

Di pey re jî, dê wisa bimîne.

We cannot survive even a week without fresh water.

Bê ava paqij em nikarin tenê hefteyeke jî bijîn.

There's no life without it

Bê av jiyan nabê;

for ecosystems,

societies,

ji bo ekosîstemê,

civakê

and individuals.

û mirovan.

So, how much usable water is there on Earth?

Vêca çiqas ava paqij li dinyayê heye?

Most of the water on Earth is ocean,

Piranî ava dinyayê di deryayan de ye,

a salty 97.5%, to be precise,

ev ava şor %97.5 pêk tîne,

and the remaining 2.5% is fresh water.

û ya mayî %2.5 ava paqij ê.

That little sliver of liquid sustains human life on Earth,

bi vê ava hindik jiyan didome,

it literally holds up civilizations.

şaristani li ser piya dimîne.

2.5% is a small proportion to be sure,

%2.5 bi rastî jî hindik e,

and even that is broken down into smaller parts:

lê ev jî belav dibe:

surface water,

ava li ser erdê,

water in ice caps and polar regions,

ava li heremên qeşayî

and ground water.

û ava bin erdê.

First, surface water.

Yekem, ava ser erdê.

All the liquid water above ground is surface water

Ava li ser erdê

li gorî hemû avê; dilopek e.

and it is a tiny blip of an amount.

0.3% of all fresh water is surface water.

%0.3 ji ava paqij li ser erdê ye.

It may seem counterintuitive,

Eceb e; lê ev ji çend çavkaniyên

but it accounts for little streams all over the planet.

li ser dinyayê pêk tên.

All rivers, including the Nile, the Jordan, and the Mississippi,

Hemû çem wek Nile, Jordan û Mississippi,

and lakes, large to small,

hemû golên mezin wek

like Victoria, the Great Lakes, and Baikal.

Victoria, Great Lakes û Baykal.

Second, ice caps and polar regions

Duyem ava hermên cemserî qeşa ye,

freeze up to 70% of the planet's fresh water.

û %70 ava paqij ev e.

This water is significant,

Ev av giîng e

but it isn't available for human use in a regular way.

lê mirov nikarin vê avê bi kar bînin.

Finally, nearly 30% of all water on Earth is ground water.

A dawiyê %30 ava paqij, bin erdê de ye.

As the name suggests, that's water in the ground.

Wek navê xwe di bin erdê de ye.

It can rest still and deep in huge caverns,

Di şikeftên kur de digere û

or it can snuggle in the little crevices of rock and pebble.

di navbera zinaran de diherike.

The upshot - thank goodness for ground water!

Baş e ku ava bin erdê heye.

It's invisible to us,

Ew xuya nake,

but it is much more plentiful than surface water.

lê ji ava ser erdê gelekî zêdetir e.

It is much more reliable

Ew behtir ewle ye

and easier to obtain than frozen water.

û ji ava qeşayê hêsantir tê bikaranîn.

Without ground water, our societies would be parched.

Bê ava bin erdê civak namînin.

So, how are we using that water?

Vêca em çawa avê bi kar tînin?

As a result of industrialization and population growth,

Ji ber pişesazîbûnê û zêdebûna nifusê,

demand for fresh water skyrocketed in the last century.

di sedsala dawi de pewistiya bi ava paqij pir zêde bû.

Where is all that water going?

Evqas av diçe ku derê?

First, we have to remember

Divê werê îra me

that fresh water is a global concern,

ava paqij endîşeyeke gerdunî ye,

but it is always local.

lê heremî ye jî.

Context matters.

The Sahara is not Seattle.

...

Sahra û Seattle ne yek in.

Still, some general information can help us

Dîsa jî bi zanyariyên giştî

get a handle on major trends.

em ê mijareke girîng fem bikin.

Who consumes the most fresh water?

Herî zêde kî ava paqij xerç dikî?

And, what sectors consume the most fresh water?

Û zêdetir ji bo çî tê bikaranîn?

First, who.

Yekem, k?

Well, the United States consumes the most water

Devleta herî zêde ku avê xerc dike

per capita of any country in the entire world,

Devletên Yekbûyî yên Amerîkayê ye,

followed by parts of Europe

duyem Ewrûpa ye,

and large industrializing nations like China.

û duv re Çîn tê.

But, this doesn't tell us what water is being used for.

Lê ev nabêje; ji bo çi av tê bikaranîn.

So let's look at it another way.

Hade em lê binêrin.

If we ask what kinds of uses water is going towards,

Ku em binêrin bo çi av tê bikaranîn

we see a different picture.

weneyekî cuda heye.

Agriculture accounts for roughly 70% of global fresh water consumption.

Çandinî %70 ava paqij xer dike.

Again, remember the numbers vary by region,

Lİ gor hereman bigihure jî,

but still, it's a staggering amount.

ev pir zêde ye.

And, this makes a certain kind of sense:

Ev tê wateya;

we need to eat,

divê em bixwin,

we need water to grow food;

ji bo xwarinê av divê;

the bigger the population,

nifus zêde dibe

the more food we need;

behtir xwarin divê;

and, the wealthier we get,

em behtir baş dibin

the more meat we eat,

behtir em dixwun,

and the more water is required to produce our food.

ji bo behtir xwarinê behtir av divê.

Furthermore, 22% of all fresh water worldwide

A din jî %22 ava dinyayê

goes to industrial uses.

ji bo pişesaziyê tê bikaranîn.

This includes the production of electricity,

Ji bo çêkirina elektrîkê,

the extraction of fossil fuels,

ji bo derxistina petrolê,

and the manufacturing of all manner of goods,

ji bo çêkirina hemû wek

from microchips,

to paper,

mikroçîp

kaxez

to blimps.

û balonan.

70% to agriculture,

%70 bo çandinê,

22% to industrial uses,

%22 ji bo pişesaziyê,

what's left?

çiqas ma?

8%

%8

All those domestic uses -

Ev jî ji bo hemû

cooking,

xwarinê,

cleaning,

bathing,

paqijîyê

serşuştinê

drinking

û vexwarinê ye.

- it's a drop in the bucket of overall water use.

Li gorî hemû avê dilopek e.