The History of Water and Humanity: Prehistoric Past, Today’s Water Crises, and a Vision for the Future

Water has been present throughout the universe since just after the Big Bang, and has been key in shaping Earth’s societies, environment, and culture. This talk will offer a sweeping view of the past, present, and future history of water on Earth in part developed from the new book, The Three Ages of Water (PublicAffairs/Hachette). Water, and the entire hydroclimatic cycle, has played a crucial role in the very evolution of Homo sapiens, the success or failure of early empires and civilizations in Mesopotamia, South Asia, and China, and the ultimate development of our modern societies and cultures. The First Age of Water ended when human populations and economies outgrew local water supplies and had to develop the engineering, technological, and institutional ability to manipulate the hydrologic cycle. The Second Age of Water – our age – developed through the Islamic Golden Age, the Renaissance, and the scientific revolutions of recent centuries, when medical science learned about the causes and cures of water-related diseases; artists and innovators like Da Vinci, and engineers learned how to manipulate the hydrologic cycle and build massive dams, aqueducts, and water system to deliver safe water and treat contaminated wastewater; and when a revolution in irrigation systems helped the Green Revolution expand agricultural production worldwide. But the Second Age of Water is coming to an end in a series of water crises, including ecological destruction of aquatic systems, water poverty and continued water-related diseases associated with the failure to provide safe water and sanitation for all, growing violence over water resources, and most threatening, global climate disruption with extensive impacts on the hydrologic cycle and water systems. We’re in a needed transition now to a Third Age of Water, which has the potential to be a positive sustainable one – with the elimination of water poverty, the reduction in water conflicts, improvements in ecological health and well-being, and the mitigation of, and adaptation to, severe climate changes, but it will require new thinking about technology, economics, and infrastructure. Examples will be provided of successful, innovative solutions to our water challenges.