Draining Our Future: The Growing Shortage of Freshwater

by Lester R. Brown

1. As expressed in “Draining Our Future: The Growing Shortage of Freshwater,” because the global demand for water has tripled over the last half century, and millions of irrigation wells have been drilled, pushing water withdrawals beyond recharge rates, we are now:

a. staring into our dusty buckets.

b. finally willing to respond to the world’s water crisis.

c. mining groundwater.

d. nervously awaiting the accessibility of desalination technology.

2. As observed in “Draining Our Future: The Growing Shortage of Freshwater,” while most people recognize that the world is facing a future of water shortages, not everyone has connected the dots to see that this also means a future of:

a. food shortages.

b. chemically engineered water alternatives.

c. accelerated  globalization

d. decreased globalization.

3. As mentioned in “Draining Our Future: The Growing Shortage of Freshwater,” the country that now rivals the United States as the world’s largest grain producer is:

a. Canada.

b. China.

c. Argentina.

d. Russia.

4. According to “Draining Our Future: The Growing Shortage of Freshwater,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the underground water table has dropped by more than 100 feet in parts of three leading grain-producing states, including all of the following, except:

a. Texas.

b. Oklahoma.

c. Montana.

d. Kansas.

5. T/F  As pointed out in “Draining Our Future: The Growing Shortage of Freshwater,” governments have failed to limit pumping to the sustainable yield of aquifers.

6. T/ F As clarified in “Draining Our Future: The Growing Shortage of Freshwater,” the only truly replenishable aquifers are fossil aquifers.

7.  As examined in “Draining Our Future: The Growing Shortage of Freshwater,” what is the current water situation in Iran, and what consequences are already apparent?

8. As illustrated in “Draining Our Future: The Growing Shortage of Freshwater,” how would curbing America’s consumption of unhealthy amounts of livestock products translate to water conservation?