Im in the Atlantic Ocean off Rockaway Beach in New York, on a 36-degree day in mid-January. The last few years have seen dozens of studies citing the benefits of cold-water swimming for longevity. If I don't get hypothermia, I may live forever. That's not why I'm splashing in the ocean in a Speedo, though, with 20 other swimmers.
I'm risking death by freezing because I'm contemplating our most fetishized and most threatened natural resource.
And what better vantage from which to do it? "As Coleridge said: 'Water, water, everywhere, / Nor any drop to drink," I observe through chattering teeth to a fellow swimmer, attired in a string bikini and black neoprene booties. Before I can explain that I'm being both literal and metaphorical, I realize that I can't feel my feet.
I'm referring to humanity's water crisis. In one sense, we live at peak water-in thalassic terms, you might call it the crest of a wave. The global market for bottled water is worth over $300 billion. Stanley cups-extra-large adult sippy vessels required for #WaterTok-have gone viral, with a Cosmo Pink Galentine's Day drop listed for $250 on Poshmark.
On the other hand, all the hype obscures a fact: The future of water must look different than the past. Not only because of obvious portents of climate change-see: a flooded Los Angeles in February, or a 2023 drought that cut Spain's olive oil production in half.
This January, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences released a study that found the average liter of bottled water contains about 240,000 bits of micro- and nanoplastics. (A quick primer from the Ocean Conservancy's Anja Brandon, PhD: "Nanoplastics are the next size down from microplastics the vast majority are secondary microplastics that shed from other plastics or break down in the environment."
Esta historia es de la edición April 2024 de Vogue US.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición April 2024 de Vogue US.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
FINAL CUT
\"WE WANT YOU TO GO FOR IT!\" ANNA TOLD ME
SCREEN TIME
Three films we can't wait to see.
Impossible Beauty
Sometimes, more is more: Surreal lashes and extreme nails put the fierce back in play
Blossoms Dearie
Dynamic, whimsical florals and the humble backdrops of upstate New York make for a charming study in contrasts.
HOME
Six years ago, Marc Jacobs got a call about a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Making it his own, he writes, would be about love, commitment, anxiety, patience, struggle, and, finally, a kind of hard-fought, hard-won peace.
GIRL, INTERRUPTED
Anna Weyant found extraordinary fame as an artist before she had reached her mid-20s. Then came another kind of attention. Dodie Kazanjian meets the painter at the start of a fresh chapter
ROLE PLAY
Kaia Gerber is someone who likes to listen, learn, read books, go to the theater, ask questions, have difficult conversations, act, perform, transform, and stretch herself in everything she does. That she's an object of beauty is almost beside the point.
CALLAS SHEET
Maria Callas's singular voice made her a legend on the stage. In a new film starring Angelina Jolieand on the runwaysthe romance continues.
BOOK IT
A preview of the best fiction coming
GLOBAL VISTAS
Three new exhibitions offer an expansive view.