DK GreenRoots

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A catastrophic water shortage could turn out to be a much bigger threat to mankind this century than wars, soaring food prices and the ever relentless consumption of known sources of energy. The annoying thing is either water is so abundant (in some parts of the world) that it can be used leisurely and foolishly (amusement parks, fountains, golf) or it's so scarce that you fight wars over it. Which region will be most affected? I'll tell you over the jump.

Nicholas Stern, author of the Government's Stern Review on the economics of climate change, warned several years ago that underground aquifers could run dry at the same time as melting glaciers play havoc with fresh supplies of usable water. That report, dated October 2006, (lauded by such luminaries as Joseph Stiglitz and Jeffrey Sachs) states clearly that fresh rainfall is not enough to refill the underground water tables and that water is not a renewable resource. BTW, the very same Stern later this year will publish another huge UN study - dubbed the "Stern for nature" which will attempt to put a price on global environmental damage, and suggest ways to prevent it. I can't wait.

Here's the part of Stern's telling report that really worries me:

"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."

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You may remember that in the middle of the snow storms, Senator James Graft Inhofe (R - OK) constructed an "igloo" in Washington, DC and posted a sign reading "Honk if you heart global warming." That other clown, Senator Jim DeMint -bleated- tweeted "It's going to keep snowing in DC until Al Gore cries uncle." Chiming in like a pair of demented marionettes Rush Limbaugh and Hannity blathered on with story after story distorting the facts to fit their dishonest narrative and Murdoch's bottom line.

Today's main feature in the Guardian has some revealing facts, undeniable facts:

World's top firms cause $2.2tn of environmental damage, report estimates.

Report for the UN into the activities of the world's 3,000 biggest companies estimates one-third of profits would be lost if firms were forced to pay for use, loss and damage of environment

Dig into those companies and you'll discover, well, the usual suspects!

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I have walked in a few rainforests in my lifetime, mostly in Australia and Indonesia. I would never forget the time I spent trekking through the majestic Kakadu National Park trails and being entranced by the amazingly luscious layers of its tropical rainforest, teeming with life and fragile ecosystems. I have witnessed the long-tailed Balinese Macaques playing with one another and trying to steal my lunch in the Ubud santuary, a short visit to Sumatra took me to the Harapan rainforest which is home, among other species, to an astounding array of charismatic butterflies....but I have never been to the Yasuni National Park in the north-east of Ecuador and that's what I want to discuss in this diary.

riting about water shortages and access to clean, potable water can be frustrating, particularly in the wake of the Copenhagen -debacle- modest achievement. According to WHO, almost one fifth of the world's population live in areas where the water is either scarce or vanishing. One quarter of the global population also live in developing countries that face water shortages due to a lack of infrastructure to fetch water from rivers and aquifers. The lack of political will is palpable.

This is grim news indeed. However in this diary I would like to sing the praises of one man and his valiant efforts to bring clean water to some of those who need it most.

Btw, pic above is from Ezio Burani. It does convey the message.

I loathe to use a Ballardian catchword in the title but it conveys the sheer insanity and the destructive practices that the palm oil business does to our planet (if you have five minutes to spare please peruse the preceding linked pdf)

Now, thankfully (and quite possibly because of "gentle pressure"), we have the globe’s two biggest food firms, Nestlé and Kraft, who have launched internal investigations after a Greenpeace report claimed both purchase palm oil from Indonesian company PT Smart whose parent group Sinar Mas allegedly engages in widespread illegal deforestation and peatland clearance in Indonesia.

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I was happy to read that my morning newspaper, The Irish Times, has joined another 55 newspapers in 45 countries, to launch an unprecedented appeal to the opening of the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen.

How unprecedented, you might ask. Well, all 56 newspapers are publishing the SAME EDITORIAL, run in each of the newspapers.

It is addressed to the heads of government at the 190-nation summit which, hopefully, will try to broker a new global pact to combat the ever threatening climate change.

Italy's Chamber of Deputies in Rome passed into law this week (by a vote of 302 to 263) this asinine deal which allows private investment in public utilities, including water. The Minister of European Affairs, Andrea Ronchi, who wrote the bill, assured the public that water rates wouldn't rise, that privatization would help utilities afford repairs to leaking pipelines and that the government would monitor the water sector. What most people don't realize is that the -buffoon- PM, Silvio Berlusconi, received a vote of confidence called to facilitate the passage of a bill allowing private firms to buy stakes in public utilities. Berlusconi's ruling majority won by 320 votes to 270 (if they had lost, his government would have collapsed.)

"The Noblest of the elements is water." Pindar, 476 B.C.

What does have the privatization of water in Italy got to do with the rest of the world, you may ask.

Plenty is the answer.

I have been monitoring the demise of the (wild) tuna for some time, particularly the bluefin and to a lesser extent the yellowfin kind. It's not good news.

A recent analysis of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna population by the WWF shows that the breeding population of the species will disappear by 2012 if the fisheries continue with business as usual, and urges the immediate cessation of fishing this particular species to stop the impending collapse.

“Mediterranean bluefin tuna is on the slippery slope to collapse, and here is the data to prove it. Whichever way you look at it, the Mediterranean bluefin tuna collapse trend is dramatic, it is alarming, and it is happening now.” - Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean

You might say, "well, we have the Atlantic and Pacific and we still have fish farming."

I need your help in the lead up to the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen this December. I don't have to remind you of how high the stakes are. I have started a Face Book group here which is self-explanatory. Please join me in this action, I need five minutes of your time.

All you have to do is provide a piece of paper, an envelope and a stamp (good for Germany). Ask your kid(s) to write a short letter (with your help) to the organizers of this summit as to what kind of world they will be facing in two or three decades from now if nothing gets done this December. Send the letters to Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UNFCCC, P.O. Box 260124D-53153 Bonn, Germany (where they are based).

If enough letters reach them, they will be read. My three daughters (13, 12 and 9) have sent theirs.

"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors. We borrow the earth from our children."

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Bottled Water: I call it one of the greatest "con job" of the preceding 3 or 4 decades and a marketing dream...aimed at the gullible. It is also my main pet hate. One of the biggest untruth in our world is the following line: "bottled water is safer than tap water." It is not. It is...errr...the same.

Here are the simple and undisputed facts: roughly 40% of ALL bottled water sold is nothing more than yer ole municipal tap water put into a fancy plastic bottle which may cost an arm and a leg and will find a way, one day, to add to our polluted planet (sadly only 1, maybe 2 out of 10 plastic bottles get recycled.) On a yearly basis, bottled water needs some 320 billion plastic bottles to accommodate multinationals such as Pepsico, Coca-Cola and a slew of others in order to what I call "double-taxing" the unsuspecting consumers (since you pay water taxes and various levies to your local government to acquire the certainty of untainted & safe water - though in most instances you are paying for recycled, treated and purified water).