|
Water has been vital to the development and survival of
civilization in history. The first great civilizations
arose in the valleys of great rivers-- the Nile Valley of
Egypt, the Tigris-Euphrates Valley of Mesopotamia, the Indus
Valley of Pakistan and Northwestern India, and the Huang He
Valley of China. All these civilizations built large irrigation
systems to help make the land productive, and prospered.
As in ancient times, today's challenge is for people to make the
best use of water. However, the challenge is greater than ever before
because more water is needed as industry and population grow. Earth
has enough water to meet the growing demand, but the problems are that
water is unevenly distributed, and people waste and pollute water.
People have just begun to realize how precious water really is, and
how necessary it is to understand water problems in order to solve them.
Nations have begun to cooperate with one another in trying to solve
water problems.
|
