 |
| Lake Champlain in October |
Looking over the waters of Lake Champlain, I wondered how many water bottles can be filled with that water. At 6.8 trillion gallons, it would fill 27.2 trillion quart water bottles.
The population of Canada and America is about 390 million. For perspective, 1 trillion is 1000 billion and a billion is 1000 million. Easier to think in terms of zeros.
1,000,000 million 6 zeros
1,000,000,000 billion 9 zeros
1,000,000,000,000 trillion 12 zeros
So, everyone would be well hydrated. But, for how long? At 6-8 quarts per day for folks to drink, my math inquiries don’t want to think how to calculate that answer.
Aha! Search assistant.
How many days can 390 million people survive on 27 trillion quarts of water?
7.5 days (with less than 6/8 quarts per day)
How useful is the information we wonder about on a sunny afternoon? It isn’t as much about the usefulness as it is the experience. Wondering, pondering, exploring what ifs are good mental exercises. Our brains enjoys figuring things out. Easy or difficult, the terrain of questions is our own doing. We can go easy or have a muddy slosh wearing sandals.
I for one, will lean away from questions that may involve math.
Beautiful photo! Yes, questions involving math can get complicated.
ReplyDeleteLinda,
DeleteToo complicated. The search assistant’s answer is
more complicated because it pulls out key words to draw a conclusion
instead of just answering the question.
May
That's a pretty sobering statistic isn't it. And then we compound it by building all those data centres that gobble up water with no thought to the damage it will do to humankind overall.
ReplyDeleteMaryanne,
DeleteThankfully the population of Canada and the USA will never need
their water in the same day, week or month.
Data centers make no sense. The why if it, I fear has yet to be revealed.
May
That's very interesting and sobering info because I think water will ultimately be 'the big issue' in the future.
ReplyDeleteJeanie,
DeleteLake Mead and the Colorado River are already in crisis.
It is concerning what the West is going to do about the water supply there.
May
That is crazy!
ReplyDeleteJim and Barb,
DeleteThere’s no way Lake Champlain would dry up.
It does add perspective though. Some websites say humans need 6-8 quarts a day and
others say only 2. Catastrophic event, rationing would be imposed.
May
It's a shame at how many water bottles could possibly be in the lakes and ocean. I wish you a wonderful October week.
ReplyDeleteSheri,
DeleteI’ve seen photos of foreign beaches choked with trash.
It is very sad the amount of plastic floating around the world.
May
You have a wonderfully curious mind and this information today is quite sobering. Thank you for this information.
ReplyDeleteNicole,
ReplyDeleteAllowing an idle mind to wander on a fall afternoon is therapeutic. 😂
May