While the world is ever so slowly moving to address the challenges presented by climate change - rampant desertification and rapidly depleting supplies of fossil fuels, among other known facts - the same awareness does not seem to register when it comes to water. In fact we will probably run out of water long before we run out of fuel. We should not wait until it's gone.
Like most progressives I was saddened at the sight of Glenn Beck's puerile attempts at "explaining" to his viewers why we have experienced more snow and rain this winter, dismissing out of hand the simple facts that real climate scientists have been predicting all along: we're culpable and we will pay dearly for our collective lack of vision in the not so distant future. Rain & floods, by all means, do not mean endless supplies of water.
If you have a moment read the ten facts about Water Scarcity on the WHO site, it is sobering news.
I started to write about water some twenty years ago and people then thought I was some kind of nut. Well, those in denial right now ought to think again and wake up and smell the mud 'cause it ain't going to be water that's going to make their coffee.
About 40 per cent of the world’s populations are already affected to some degree, but population growth, climate change and rises in living standards will worsen the situation: the UN Environment Agency warns that almost 3 billion people will be severely short of water within 50 years. Last week, the United Nations children's agency UNICEF marked World Water Day on 22 March by warning that more than 155 million people, or 39% of the population, in western and central Africa lack access to safe drinking water. Furthermore, 291 million people have no access to sanitation.
Today, one-third of the world's population has to contend with water scarcity, and there are ominous signs that this proportion could quickly increase. Up to twice as much water will be required to provide enough food to eliminate hunger and feed the additional 2.5 billion people that will soon join our ranks.
Ok, the quote above is old news (2008) but not many are paying attention because recent estimates show that global water requirements will grow by over 50% over the next 30 years: I'm not great at math but I can see the writing on the wall as this seems to translate into some 40% greater or more than what can currently be sustainably supplied (if any mathematician among you can do better, please correct me).
In my last DK Greenroots diary I highlighted the very real problem facing most of South East Asia's populations namely the thawing of the Tibetan Plateau glaciers:
"The glaciers on the Himalayas are retreating, and they are the sponge that holds the water back in the rainy season. We're facing the risk of extreme run-off, with water running straight into the Bay of Bengal and taking a lot of topsoil with it. A few hundred square miles of the Himalayas are the source for all the major rivers of Asia - the Ganges, the Yellow River, the Yangtze, the Mekong, Brahmaputra, Salween, and Sutlej, among others - where 3bn people live.That's almost half the world's population."
Two weeks ago Euronews ran a segment on the Alps: Italian, French and German scientists have gathered data on what is known as "Europe’s water tower". Their glaciers provide 40 percent of Europe’s fresh water. Think of that: 40% of fresh water! Have you heard from politicians about the melting Tibetan Plateau and the Alps?
The best case scenario is that until 2100 about 50% of glaciers will disappear, and the worst-case scenario is about 90%. Obviously, that will completely change the morphology of what we’re calling "Europe’s water tower" – the Alpine domain. We already have certain conflicts of interests concerning water usage between energy, tourism and agricultural sectors, and obviously there’s a risk of their aggravation, if water becomes more scarce
Unfortunately efficiency in water usage is not improving fast enough. We do know that agriculture accounts for 70% of global water usage today (estimates vary from country to country), and how the need to feed the growing population of the world will put an even greater strain on already scarce water resources. Adding to our problems food and water supplies have also been significantly affected by the use of agricultural land and resources on the production of biofuels (just Google biofuels & agriculture and you'll be surprised).
The challenge facing us the people, governments & businesses, is to work out how to close the gap in supply in a way that is both environmentally sustainable and economically viable. This challenge has to be met because according to WHO, the track record of water efficiency from both agriculture and industry does not inspire confidence: between 1990 and 2004 the annual rate of efficiency improvement in both sectors was approximately only 1%. One effing per cent!
The sooner governments, industry and consumers start to see the links between climate change, energy, food and water security the better it will be to ensure that water scarcity gets the profile it deserves in the MSM and policies are put into place. But all I seem to read about from the plethora of available pdf's is how governments and multinationals have plunged headlong into privatizing known water sources:
Rather than taking the dramatic action necessary to protect precious water resources, governments around the world are retreating from their responsibilities. Instead of acting decisively, they are bending to the will of giant transnational corporations that are poised to profit from the shortage of water. Fortune magazine has predicted that "water is the oil of the 21 century" and corporations are rushing to invest in the water business.
Ominous signs of water privatizations are everywhere:
Giant water, energy, food, and shipping companies have plans to buy water rights, privatize publicly owned water systems, promote bottled water, and sell "bulk" water by transporting it from water rich areas to markets desperate for more water. At the same time, to ensure maximum profits, these companies are lobbying to weaken water quality standards, and pushing for trade agreements that hand over the U.S. water resources to foreign corporations.
Now that we know about the Obama's administration plans for oil drilling, and apart from the possibilities of oil spillage, almost all offshore oilfields produce large quantities of contaminated water that can have significant environmental effects if not handled properly.
Last week, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) strongly defended the scientific evidence claiming that global warming is genuine and is linked to human activities: think of deforestation by logging & burning, soil erosion by tillage (tillage erosion moves soil from the top of the field downward, exposing subsoil at the crest while burying soil at the bottom which means that after years of tillage, topsoil accumulates at the bottom of the slope), overuse & unregulated irrigation practices, biofuels and plain greed (yes, greed is man made).
Last month, an American think tank, the Pew Project on National Security, Energy and Climate released a presentation, which highlighted how solving global climate change can make America,and conversely the world, safer. They believe that, if left unchecked, "global warming could lead to civil strife, economic stress, conflicts over water and other resources, mass migration, and increased terrorism."
And a final word, taken from one of my earlier DKGreenroots piece on the evil of water privatization:
Here is further food for thought: The Water Lords.
There are over ten major corporate players now delivering freshwater services for profit. The two biggest are both from France Vivendi Universal and Suez, considered to be the General Motors and Ford of the global water industry. Between them, they deliver private water and wastewater services to more than 200 million customers in 150 countries and are in a race, along with others such as Bouygues Saur, RWE-Thames Water and Bechtel-United Utilities, to expand to every corner of the globe. In the United States, Vivendi operates through its subsidiary, USFilter; Suez via its subsidiary, United Water; and RWE by way of American Water Works.
They are aided by the World Bank and the IMF, which are increasingly forcing Third World countries to abandon their public water delivery systems and contract with the water giants in order to be eligible for debt relief. The performance of these companies in Europe and the developing world has been well documented: huge profits, higher prices for water, cutoffs to Customers who cannot pay, no transparency in their dealings, reduced water quality, bribery and corruption.
To round this diary up here's Ten Facts About The Water We Waste.
GreenRoots is a new environmental series created by Meteor Blades and Patriot Daily for Daily Kos. This series provides a forum for educating, brainstorming, discussing and taking action on various environmental topics.
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