14th Oct 09
BreetThis is a gloomy report coming out of India. The water wars there are gearing up with the acceleration of melting ice caps.
In a Nutshell
On the other side of the globe, the people who read this information, have a tendency to ignore the warning signs. This glacier in India supplies water to two-thirds of the population (from the AP) there, but we think nothing of it. Why? Because it is not affecting us? That is far from the truth.
There are food supplies (in certain regions) cultivated to sustain the global supply chain. India is not without a status of being a food producer to many other countries. That all mighty drive to make money, is of course in the nations best interest. Without having the water, there can be no food. Without the food, there can be no global-food supply. That could be disastrous for not only their nation, but the rest of the world.
Alert and awareness for the purpose of conservation
Aside from deciphering science talk and reading between the lines on the limited water reports – it comes down to this, the region we live in must become alert and aware of the water supply.
Alert and aware? What the heck? What does that mean? Well, it means conservation. The simplest act of being alert and aware to how much water is being consumed and/or wasted.
Conservation of the water supply will ensure better crops and thus meet the demands for consumption. Check out the info below. Granted this is a broke down version of information, but there is not point in reinventing the wheel.
- Information exist about when is the best time to take a shower, wash clothes, or run the dishwasher. That time is during the off-peak. Meaning when others are not doing the same thing you are doing.
- For a number of years, watering the grass during off or peak times has been addressed. Let’s try not watering the grass, especially during drought time. There is plenty of regions that suffering stronger droughts. This begs the question…what about the food supply here? Note: not much is being talked about that on the news.
A conservation step could be the act of re-route x amount of a water supply to certified USDA organic farms, or others (because that might have just re-sparked the organic or not organic controversy) to ensure the crops for local consumption.
Simple, small, and adjustable steps in order to promote the future and limit the impact of water wars.
Shout out for Adventures on the Web! Earthfirst has a good entry called, Climate Change Costs: 25 Million More Starving Children by 2050
Other source (news): Experts warn glaciers in India Kashmir melting, by Aijaz Hussain, Associated Press Writer, Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Popularity: 15% [?]
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John Farnham
November 15th, 2009 at 09:23
I saw a headline that said 1 billion were in starvation conditions now…no waiting.
India has had a policy that paid for fuel so farmers could pump irrigation water from deep underground. ( CEDA had a similar project in the Sahel some time back for villages. It depleted the aquifer.) Lately the Indian government has put a ‘thumbs down’ to an initiative to divert floodwaters in rivers to drought-stricken areas.
Africa is a hotbed of innovation for cheap solutions to a changing world, especially with regards to simple inventions for sanitation and water supply.
Breet
November 15th, 2009 at 09:44
Hi again Mr. Farnham
With all of the inventions around the world for cleaning up sanitation issues and supplying water – there should not be a single starving person. I kind of elude to that on here…the combined gray matter power has been able to overcome so much together that no one should be starving.
Since there are two sides to every story, I think that India has said no to deep pumping of water because the “reserves” are ancient water supplies – very deep in the ground. India has learned through watching the Saudi’s to not do that…it will only magnify the issue. As far as diverting water…well, that can go 50/50 from this humble persons opinion. I can say that having seen water supplies here in Virginia (locally) the streams have ALL dried up. (The smaller ones running through the parks.) In the name of progress, no one has stopped to determine the long term consequences of this action. India has the capabilities to overcome issue though since the nation is close to the sea. I would say utilize the renewable energies (solar panels) to generate a conductor to pump the sea water through filters – then to the masses. Why do I say this? For too many years, military powers have shown that they can accomplish this to have successful occupation, or after major hurricanes/events. Solutions are there and continuing to do the same thing is not going to work.