Here Is The Water (& More)
I wrote this for a client, and it originally posted on their site leading up to Earth Day 2023. I loved making this piece and I’m sharing it here with a few revisions and additions.
The first drops of water landed on Earth 4 billion years ago.
Those drops arrived on asteroids just after the formation of Earth itself, and more drops joined throughout this period of time as frozen asteroids slammed into the new planet. Oceans, lakes, rivers, and polar caps were formed by this bombardment. Life on the planet began and adapted to the new alien lifeform: water.
The original water from 4 billion years ago is still here. The following drops have never left, and none have been created since. The original water is still frozen, in liquid form, and in the atmosphere. The water cycles among those phases. Sixty percent of our body is water, and the original water is still within us.
Taking this into account, we are at least 4 billion years old. The water connects us all. Here is the water, and you are it.
Here is the water, and we are it | Created by Jay W. Austin & DALL•E
Are “carbon emissions” compelling enough?
Which of the following prompts would lead to some small change in your personal actions?
You released 217 kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere during your last flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta and back.
The plastic container your salad came in today took more than a gallon of water to create—and that’s not even counting the salad.
Which felt visceral? Which gave you a greater sense of control over the impact you have on the environment? Your answers to these questions may bring awareness to what your current paradigm is about environmental action.
Climates around the world have changed rapidly since industrialization, and we have caused that swift transformation.
For decades, the scientific community–at least the parts of the community unpolluted by denialism and corporate persuasion–—has produced results that clearly show the importance of aggressively decreasing our emissions. Humanity has set a goal of preventing the global temperature from increasing by 1.5° Celsius, mainly by curbing carbon emissions produced by using fossil fuels. While congregations must continue praying that we hit that goal, it will take a miracle to reach it. This goal is a serious goal based on rigorous research.
Unfortunately, “curb your emissions to combat global warming” isn’t the compelling messaging we need for change.
Water cycles, introducing another paradigm to everyday life.
From a narrative change perspective, it may be more important for you and I to appreciate how we impact the flow of water than it is to understand how our carbon emissions contribute to global warming.
Water is near us. It’s in us, it is us, and remember, it’s at least a few billion years old.
This alone makes it easier to communicate to ourselves in a way that impacts our everyday actions. We can use just a little less water during our morning showers. We can choose foods that support the water cycle. We can shop at companies and source from vendors that use less water to create their product and cool their equipment. We can advocate for policies, practices, and placements that work with water cycles instead of against them.
We can also advocate for major adjustments to our mentality and management of water.
When a farmer looks to the sky during a drought, the farmer doesn't wish for fewer emissions. They wish for rain. When neighbors look at the flooding that followed another historic rainfall, they don’t pray for global cooling. They pray for safety from the water. When the hurricane is on the way, when the wetland turns into ocean, and when the river runs dry—in some way or another—our wishes are about water.
One reason why governmental, systemic, and behavioral changes have been so slow is because we’re too focused on the scientific truth: that severing our dependence on fossil fuels for energy will drastically curb new carbon emissions which will ultimately decrease the global temperature.
The scientific truth always benefits from something more—something more central to who we are.
That’s water.
An ancient drop | Created by Jay W. Austin & DALL•E
Below is the list of things to read, look at, watch, and listen to that informed me as I wrote Here Is The Water. Enjoy.
Resources about water to look at and read.
Below you will find articles, visuals, a report, and a book about water.
[Article] 25 Great Flood Stories Found Around The World
Humans care where we come from, and floods have provided the main backdrop to many of the most important emergence stories from cultures and religions around the globe. From the story of Noah’s Ark to the story of Yu the Great, origin legends of great floods know no bounds and have helped our species define ourselves.
Read the rundown: 25 Great Flood Stories Found Around The World
[Interactive App] River Runner
Have you ever wondered what happens to a raindrop when it falls? This interactive visual by Sam Learner uses United States Geological Survey data to show you the journey of a droplet into main bodies of water.
Follow the water: River Runner
[Infographic] Water Cycle Diagrams
These diagrams from the United States Geological Survey show two versions of how water cycles through the environment: the natural cycle and the cycle that includes human interventions and infrastructure.
See the diagrams: Water Cycle Diagrams
[Article] Mní wičóni
Mní wičóni is a Lakota way to say “water is life.” The sentiment went worldwide during the Standing Rock protests, but it has been around for centuries. We hope that this reverence towards water is adopted by more people now and remains for innumerable centuries to come.
Embrace mní wičóni: Mni Wiconi. Water is Life. There is no life without Water - Lakota Times
[Article] Native approaches shaping the future of water in the West
This is a story about the Colorado River, droughts, climate change, the concept of legal rights to water, present-day Tribal leadership, and the sacrifices people make in attempts to dominate nature to survive.
Read: How Native Americans Will Shape the Future of Water in the West | The New Yorker
[Article] Asian-Americans in the movement to protect water
A perspective from a Korean American that examines her ancestral past that is steeped in colonialism and conservation of resources. The piece reminds us to listen to voices that may not typically be the loudest in the room.
Read: Why the Environmental Movement Should Stop Ignoring Asian Americans
[Article] Microplastics in the water
Plastics from fossil fuels degrade over time, but they never go away. Instead, they break down into microplastics. These bits of plastic are smaller than popcorn kernels, and you can now find them in every ecosystem on Earth.
Read: Microplastics in Our Waters, an Unquestionable Concern
[Report] 2022 Sea Level Rise
Several government agencies collaborated to produce projections for sea level rise through the year 2150 for all U.S. coastal waters and published that information in a technical report. Here are the four key takeaways:
They project that the sea level along the U.S. coastline will rise as much in the next 30 years as it did in the last 100 years;
This sea level rise will contribute to stronger storm surges and much more frequent flooding along the coasts—more than 10 times as often compared to today;
A failure to curb future emissions could more than double the expected amount of sea level rise; and,
Ongoing and expanded monitoring will be critical as sea levels continue to rise.
Dive into the Key Takeaways: 2022 Sea Level Rise Technical Report
[Book] Rising by Elizabeth Rush
A deeply felt description of communities along the U.S. coastline, Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore by Elizabeth Rush makes sea level rise feel personal.
Check out RISING: Dispatches from the New American Shore – Elizabeth Rush
[Article] America’s Wetlands
Marshes, swamps, wet grasslands, and mangroves are biologically diverse, ecologically critical, and among the most fragile ecosystems on Earth. In the United States, more than half of the wetlands that existed prior to European colonization are gone due to anthropogenic climate change. Learning about these wetlands—and visiting them as responsibly as you can—is another step you can take towards protecting them from complete collapse.
See the list: 11 Nationally Protected Wetlands You Should Know About
Content about water to listen to and watch.
Settle in for these videos, documentaries, and a podcast about water. To start, let’s listen to a famous Gospel song with a modern twist.
[Video] Wade in the Water: Live
Social and environmental justice movements can be fueled by music. Jubilee songs like Wade in the Water were created by enslaved Black people. Their parents and grandparents were tormented by the waters of the Middle Passage, but water never lost its healing powers for people striving for their spiritual and physical liberation. This modern rendition of Wade in the Water by The Spirituals might give you chills.
Watch and listen in: Wade in the Water: Live | The Spirituals (Official Music Video)
[Video] Explained | World’s Water Crisis
3 out of 10 drops of water on Earth are fit for consumption, but 2 in 3 of those drops are either frozen or inaccessible to species that need freshwater (like humans). How we care for that remaining drop of water can determine the fate of our communities, other beings, and without exaggeration, our species. This episode of Explained looks at the state of the global freshwater supply.
Watch the episode: Explained | World's Water Crisis | FULL EPISODE | Netflix
[Documentaries] Fascinating water situations
It’s not always easy to comprehend and explain the effects of things like “deforestation” or “ocean acidification.” These two films will bring you into the know and equip you with a story or two to share with others about these complex processes.
Watch: Chasing Coral | FULL FEATURE | Netflix | The waters of the Amazon | DW Documentary
[Documentary & Videos] The U.S.’s water systems
A sizable amount of the funding for international freshwater projects comes from the United States., but there is still plenty of work to do—and undo—domestically. Below are three documentaries and videos that look at a variety of water issues in the United States created by systemic racism, corporate greed, government inaction, mismanagement, overconsumption, or all of the above.
Watch: Flint's Deadly Water (full documentary) | FRONTLINE | Why American cities are struggling to supply safe drinking water | Until the Last Drop | California Water Documentary
[Documentary] Lessons of the Loess Plateau
Human-created ecological problems can often be solved by nature-led approaches. That’s the story of The Loess Plateau. It was the cradle of civilization in China before human extraction from the land turned the lush landscape into a desert. Creating the hydrocycle brought it back.
Watch: Lessons of the Loess Plateau
[Podcast] How to save a planet
Late in 2022, the #1 podcast about climate change (and what each individual could do to address it) was canceled by Spotify. This podcast inspired many of us to change our behaviors and to share our compassion for the planet with others, but advertisers didn’t find it commercially viable enough. We see this as an example of the misalignment that can exist between current ambitions of corporations and the needs of Mother Earth.
Read & listen: How Not to Save a Planet: Cancel a podcast about climate solutions
The poetry of water
Water is a poetic element. Every drop of water here today arrived 4 billion years ago when frozen asteroids bombarded the Earth, and those drops have never left. The water that circulates within you has circulated through a plant on the opposite side of the world, the river that flows 100 miles away from you, the soil that grew the food that transformed into your meal yesterday, and through every person you love and despise.
Below is a small collection of poetry that expresses the different powers and cultural comprehensions of water. Please be warned that some of the content below contains honest-yet-explicit content.
[Watch & Listen] After Sacred Water
Kinsale Hueston recites a poem about the pollution of simpler, more sacred Diné waters.
Tune in: Poet Kinsale Hueston Performs “after Sacred Water”
[Watch & Listen] Water
Porsha Olayiwola addresses a charged question: “Why do Blacks possess the fear of water?”
Tune in: Porsha Olayiwola - Water
[Watch & Listen] When the Water is Gone
Rudy Francisco reflects on the endlessness of water and wonders if his grandkids will have any water left.
Tune in: Rudy Francisco - When the Water Is Gone
[Watch & Listen] Water Does Not Exist Here
Symone “Brielle” Johnson-Hawkins speaks on how the weaponization of water can make it seem as if it doesn’t exist.
Tune in: Symone "Brielle" Johnson-Hawkins - Water Does Not Exist Here
[Watch & Listen] To Make Use of Water
Safia Elhillo demonstrates the reality of cultural dilution through a metaphor of water.
Tune in: Safia Elhillo - To Make Use of Water
The end.
I’m focused on water this Earth Week because we can grasp it easier than we can fathom 1.5°, more than we comprehend high-level policy, and often more than we can understand each other.
All climate issues find their way back to water. When there’s a drought, there’s no water. When there’s an inundation, there’s too much water at once. Water connects us with every other being, and those connections make us us.
Mní wičóni.