{"id":100438,"date":"2024-11-20T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/planete-aqua\/"},"modified":"2025-01-07T17:19:06","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T16:19:06","slug":"planete-aqua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/planete-aqua\/","title":{"rendered":"Planet Aqua"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Jeremy Rifkin is one of a long line of American futurists who, like Alvin Toffler, have been able to put forward convincing visions of the future based on analyses that are both cross-disciplinary and well-documented.<\/h6>
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Rifkin<\/span> Jeremy, Planet Aqua: Rethinking Our Home in the Universe<\/em>, Cambridge: Polity Press, September 2024, 360 p.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n \"\"\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

After convincing the world\u2019s elites of the imminence of a \u201cthird industrial revolution\u201d,[1]<\/a><\/sup> this time he turns his sights on another challenge: the ecological and geopolitical issues linked to water management. To put these issues in the highest possible perspective, he points out that our Earth \u2014 which he renames \u201cPlanet Aqua\u201d \u2014 is one of the few planets in the Universe whose surface is mainly occupied by water, and that access to this vital resource is currently threatened by a number of man-made phenomena (droughts, floods, pollution, depletion of water tables etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n

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To explore our future, the author relies more than in his previous essays on a detailed analysis of our \u2018hydraulic past\u2019. His book is therefore also part of the impressive body of work devoted in recent years to geohistory and environmental history.[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

To set the scene, the author recalls that the greatest civilisations \u2014\u00a0Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Chinese, Roman, Mayan\u00a0\u2014 were \u2018water civilisations\u2019, basing their prosperity (agricultural as well as cultural and geopolitical) on mastery of the water cycle. And their decline was often associated with the loss of this mastery.<\/p>\n

Our industrial civilisation is also a hydraulic civilisation, and even one that has pushed the consumption necessary for the daily life of each human being to an unprecedented level (for the record, 450 litres per day for a North American, 150 litres per day for a French person). But for several decades now, the management of this resource has been totally irresponsible. For example, 60% of the Earth\u2019s water reserves are already polluted, and man-made global warming is causing lasting disruption to the water cycle by causing droughts, fires, floods and hurricanes.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n

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\n Voir aussi<\/span>\n
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\n \n \"\"<\/a>\n <\/span>\n \n The Earth Transformed<\/a>\n \n \n \n <\/use>\n<\/svg>\n <\/a>\n <\/span>\n
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6 December 2024<\/div>\n HA\u00cbNTJENS Jean<\/a>\n
\n 4 min.\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \n <\/use>\n<\/svg>\n\n Read, Seen, Heard\n <\/a>\n Environment<\/a>\n Geopolitics<\/a>\n Society<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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According to the author, these critical situations are set to multiply, triggering climatic migrations that will soon affect several billion human beings and thus have a lasting impact on geopolitical balances. \u201cSet in motion by global warming, the waters are breaking their chains and destroying the very fabric of civilisation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We must therefore prepare to leave behind the \u201cAge of Progress\u201d (which began with the Enlightenment and is now coming to an end) and enter the \u201cAge of Resilience<\/a>\u201d. \u201cToday, and for a very long time to come, climate change will set the rules of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having set this course, Jeremy Rifkin explores the main consequences of this new rule of the game. He explains, for example, that the management of water, and therefore of the \u201ccommon good\u201d, will have to be organised first and foremost at local rather than national level. Or that our sedentary ways of life, designed to occupy a relatively stable terra firma, will become more nomadic. Another consequence will be an in-depth revision of the law: \u201cthe redefinition of water as the generator of all life and therefore deserving of legal recognition, enshrined in constitutions, laws, codes, regulations and the daily activity of all authorities and all cultures, constitutes the most important change in the relationship of our species to the earth since the beginning of civilisation\u201d. Even the relationship between men and women is likely to be affected. In many myths and religions, isn\u2019t the earth the domain of men and water that of women?<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n

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The least expected of Jeremy Rifkin\u2019s forecasts concerns his relationship with the virtual world and artificial intelligence (AI). Previously a champion of the digital revolution (and its supposed contribution to solving ecological challenges), he is now adopting a much more critical stance towards the world of tech. The change of foot is radical. In his view, the colossal quantities of water that will be needed to manufacture and operate the giant computers required by the deployment of AI will quickly come into conflict with the satisfaction of more vital needs. A head-on battle will therefore be waged between the supporters of the real world \u2014\u00a0the defenders of Planet Aqua\u00a0\u2014 and the irresponsible ostriches taking refuge in the Metaverse.<\/p>\n

As you will have realised, the scope of this book goes far beyond the issue of water alone. The \u201cthread of water\u201d is used here as a guideline to offer a \u201cwide angle\u201d prospective vision of life on our planet.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n

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\n Voir aussi<\/span>\n
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\n \n \"\"<\/a>\n <\/span>\n \n What is the environmental impact of artificial intelligence?<\/a>\n \n \n \n <\/use>\n<\/svg>\n <\/a>\n <\/span>\n
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30 July 2024<\/div>\n LE BEC Antoine<\/a>\n MARTI Pierre-Antoine<\/a>\n
\n 6 min.\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \n <\/use>\n<\/svg>\n\n Newswatch\n <\/a>\n Environment<\/a>\n Science and Technology<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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N.B.: <\/em>this article has been translated from French by DeepL, and revised by the author and Futuribles.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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  1. \n

    The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power Is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011 (reviewed in Futuribles<\/a>). \u2191<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Futuribles has reviewed works by Christian Grataloup<\/a>, Amin Maalouf<\/a>, Michel Aglietta<\/a> and others. \u2191<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Jeremy Rifkin is one of a long line of American futurists who, like Alvin Toffler, have been able to put forward convincing visions of the future based on analyses that are both cross-disciplinary and well-documented. Rifkin Jeremy, Planet Aqua: Rethinking Our Home in the Universe, Cambridge: Polity Press, September 2024, 360 p. After convincing the … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":101050,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[202,212],"keyword":[981,1479,1251,1030,908,991,1007],"class_list":["post-100438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-seen-heard","tag-environnement-en","tag-societe-en","keyword-civilisation-en","keyword-changement-climatique-en","keyword-transition-en","keyword-environnement-ressources-naturelles-en","keyword-alimentation-en","keyword-migration-en","keyword-ressources-en-eau-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100438"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101052,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100438\/revisions\/101052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100438"},{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=100438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}