I didn't hear any so far...if not for a couple of newspaper articles i came across when i was in New Zealand (that was more than a year ago), India (during my recent trip) and now here in Rhode Island (just read it today), i wouldn't have a clue that many countries are facing an escalating water shortage problem.
And i don't think i'm alone...so long as u're a city mouse, such news become widespread only when it's probly at its terminal stage (global warming being our last diagnosis)...
But a sad thought crosses my mind at this point...so what if one DOES know it early enough? like now? (assuming it is) Will we people from the previleged cities where fresh water comes to us from a turn of the tap anytime anyday become spurred into action already?
Or does it always take the usual route of waiting for our government to signal "CODE RED"; legislations to introduce new measures; communities to campaign before we're convinced of the need to change our lifestyles?
This bespoke of the blessing n tragedy of city living...'blessing' because our daily lives are hardly compromised by climate change (our ready abundance of well-stocked resources offsets that risk), but 'tragic' because we've lost our sensitivity to the Earth's warning signs...
Ignorance is bliss..?Still, people in other parts of the less developed world are suffering from depleting water resources, whether man-made or natural. They are, as in most cases, the infantry units that got hit first; if we still choose not to confront the enemies within us, we'll be turning onto each other next.
If nothing else, the next time you let clean water run off freely out of convenience, think of the million others who may have never even used a tap in their life...
Wall Street Journal, USA - 6 April 2007The Warriors:
The Sunday Express, India - 28 Jan 2007
The Times of India - 19 Jan 2007
New Zealand Newspaper - 2005NB: sorry about the last article...have already rotated it, but it always ends this side up!
3 comments:
Hi Nien Ming,
For some reasons, water issues always interest me. I did a water research project in Mongolia in 2000 under my college funding to test water qualities in rural communities in Mongolia. The results were not as worrying as the depleting underground water which the nomads in the landlock country rely on. I was surprised to come across many dried streams, rivers, disrepaired and dried wells during the project.
I remembered vividly on one tiring evening, we were camping by about 50 meters from a river, and I was about to hit my sleeping bag. But there were some locals came chasing us away as they feared that we will polute their only source of water by camping so near to the river. We dutifully moved to another campsite further away. The next morning, we met up with the locals and learnt that the nomadic families in that region were facing serious problems with good water sources. Many rivers had slowly dried up. That was during the year 2000. I wondered how bad the situation has become now?
Today I was watching BBC World and they made a documentary about Climate Change. (You should catch it if possible). During the 1 hour documentary, I was saddened by some of the images and footages flashed on TV. The most dramatic one was the Amazon rainforest experiencing a serious drought in 1995 where many rivers there were dried up. Some of the bigger trees in the lush rainforest are now dying, says one of the researchers from England. If so, then there will have no rainforest big enough to make oxygen for the whole world.
Global warming seems like the main culprit. Maybe you should start a campaign to reduce the carbon dioxide emission in USA which was reported the highest in the world. That is why USA has yet signed the Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon dioxide emssion. Perhaps Al Gore may make a better president?
Cheers,
PJ
Thanks for sharing your experience n thots, PJ...it seems like there's nothing but sad news for us now...who really likes to listen to them anyway?
But like it or not, i think awareness is wiser than ignorance...it is the first signal to future actions..
Recently I read this book 'Collapse' by Jared Diamond. The book writes about why some past societies collapsed and how other survived. Societies include the Mayans, people of the Easters Isle, the Vikings etc... Pretty interesting but sometimes too factual and dry. On the whole a good read.
Anyway past societies collapsed as a result of poor environmental managment. Apparently trees were fell for building boats, making way for roads and buildings. Once the trees were gone, the topsoils for cultivation were washed away and crops became scarce to feed societies, hence their collapse.
For our case, our rainforests are being threatened and I wonder if we would end up like past societies - starved to death. I guess there is also a threat of drowning.
BBC World has some good documentaries about global warming and talk shows on the same issue. Catch them if you have time. Some of the documentaries serve good wake up calls for our ignorance to what had happened in other parts of the world as a result of global warming.
PJ
Post a Comment