World Running Out of Water
The world is running out of potable water and a major policy initiative to guarantee freshwater as a human right is required. In a most interesting article from the Guardian, Jeffery Sachs of the UN's Millennium Project notes the world simply has "no more rivers to take water from". And the near total lack of basic water policy for the future is noted, such as how are aquifers to be recharged and how to sustain ground water use? For some time I have thought that a major water shortage crisis [search] that ravishes millions may, even more so than climate change (though it may be the cause), galvanize the world to realize the extent to which the global biosphere teeters upon the edge of ruin. Then we may see the surge of personal lifestyle changes and policy prescriptions from governments and businesses adequate to achieve global ecological sustainability. The article notes that not only are China's and India's water supplies threatened but their food production as well. These "economic miracles" have largely been built upon the back of unsustainable water and other resource use - a deck of cards waiting to fall. In closing Sachs is quoted as making a point I have harked on for years, that "for the first time humans were shaping the environment rather than nature". Where does your water come from? What happens if it runs dry? What will you do, where will you go?
