May cause more human strife, despotism, and conflict then the end of oil. Here are some facts that indicate an ominous world crisis.

Told ya so!

What?  That Chorizow has left a really significant mark?

We now know conclusively that the center of the US has a darker shade of orange over it than the other parts, for the most part.

I'm sorry, but that's brick red.  Does that mean cursed or blessed? hmmm.

Interesting topic. Very important for crops in the generations ahead.

I now live in California where water has been an issue for almost a century.  It's a political hot button. If you're interested, read The Water Seekers by Remi Nadeau.  And the majority of the third world does not have access to clean drinking water. 

watching Chinatown is more fun

Global warming will melt the Ice Caps soon and all the water problems will be over.

Except that just contributes to sea levels, the water from which we can't drink, at least without great expense.

yes life does take some effort.Nothing worthwhile is easy 

Melting of polar ice that has been floating such as the Arctic ice cap will not contribute to sea level rise.  Because it is floating, it is already displacing sea water.      

You would have to melt the Antarctic and Greenland land borne ice caps to make any contribution to sea level rise.  

What about all the water that we pump back below the ocean floor to force out Oil?  Does that make our sea level drop?

(Dunno if you're familiar with the issue...but..here's a quick illustration for everyone)

Insignificant volume.  

Thank you, I read the first page on Amazon and it looks like a good read. This has been a problem for LA since 1877...

Well if global warming goes the way everybody predicts it will go, Greenland, Russia, and Canada will be reaping the benefits like crazy.
In the case of Russia and Canada, the melting of permafrost will yield nutrient-rich soil coupled with suitable climates for growing cool-climate crops. And Greenland would have an abundance of glaciated soil and melt water for irrigation and export.

Hell, no one can be sure, but if history has told us anything, it is that areas such as the Sahara and Middle East actually had more rainfall in warmer periods, resulting in pretty lush areas.

Water is once again becoming a big political issue in California. 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 1AEM7G.DTL

And here is an article about water problems in South America
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 909S71.DTL

Sadly, that longstanding thirst for water for urban California directly led to two of the more regrettable  environmental events in US history; the flooding of Hetch Hetchy Canyon for SF water supply and the destruction the agricultural economy of Owens Valley by LA.  The overall thirst for water and power in California (and Vegas) also figured into the flooding of Glen Canyon on the Colorado River to create Lake Powell.     

Given that construction started in October, 1956 and planning started way before then I doubt that Vegas was on the minds of the planners of Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell.

Of course you might be thinking of Hoover Dam and Lake Mead but construction for that started in 1931, when Vegas wasn't even Vegas.

One interesting thing that happens in bad drought years in California is that the shrinking water level in the lakes behind the many dams start to show what was flooded - remains of old towns, etc.  Always sad to see.