Water used to be free.
In fact, it still is -- at least in nations blessed with plentiful clean tap water like the U.S. -- but that doesn't stop the world from spending over $100 billion on bottled water a year.
This strange industry is exploding overseas as well.
Who got the idea to sell us something we can get for free? And how did it get so popular that now more than half of Americans drink it?
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Wednesday 9 November 2011
Monday 7 November 2011
Thursday 3 November 2011
Acque perdure
Ridurre gli sprechi e assicurare che l'acqua utilizzata torni all'ambiente in condizioni tali da essere un problema ecologico. Il sistema idrico italiano entro tre anni deve dimostrare di essere in "salute" per non incorrere nelle sanzioni Ue. Il Paese però è molto lontano da questi obiettivi: mancano le fognature, i depuratori e il sistema in alcune regioni è in mano alla criminalità organizzata
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Tuesday 1 November 2011
Wednesday 26 October 2011
“When We Speak about Economic Growth We Speak about Water Resources”
Report from GWP’s Side Event at Astana 2011
At the Seventh “Environment for Europe” Ministerial Conference in Astana, Kazakhstan, GWP convened a side event titled, “Economic Growth and Water: An Integrated Approach Helps” on September 23, 2011. GWP Chair Dr Letitia A Obeng emphasized that “When we speak about the economy and economic growth we speak about water resources.”
The Conference addressed two main themes: Sustainable management of water and water-related ecosystems; and Greening the economy: mainstreaming the environment into economic development. The GWP side event linked these two aspects: how to make water resources available and yet protected when countries embark on economic development. The Conference recognized the “hydro-centric” and “eco-engineering” themes are closely related.
Four of the speakers at the GWP side event illustrated why water is attracting more political attention, while highlighting water’s complexity and the need for an integrated approach to guide its use, management and development.
Prof. Nariman Kipshakbaev from GWP Kazakhstan presented their experiences of developing a National IWRM Plan (presentation). He made a brief summary of water resources policy reform and emphasized that “there is a need to balance multiple uses of water in a water scarce region.” He stressed the important role of newly established water councils, citing examples of water councils that have a transboundary character, for instance in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
GWP Georgia Chair Ms Nino Chkhobadze looked at role of civil society and non-governmental organizations in support of water reform in the Caucasus (presentation). “It is not well understood the role NGOs play in supporting governments to develop and implement river basin management plans,” said Ms Nino Chkhobadze, who was Georgia’s Minister of Environment for eight years. “Involvement of society is understood as the right of people to be informed, but participation in decision making is moved aside.” She said that stakeholders and the public ensure positive results when they participate in processes that introduce Integrated Water Resources Management principles at local level, and subsequently, better acceptance of future investments.
GWP invited speakers that do not belong directly to the “water family” because GWP acknowledges that for water management to be successful it must involve experts from outside the “water box.” Prof. Laszlo Miklos from the Technical University of Zvolen in Slovakia is a geographer by background and a politician by experience. Having been the Minister of Environment for two terms, and a member of the national Parliament, he reminded the audience of the political commitments made under Agenda 21, and the adoption of the principle of an integrated approach to the management of land resources (presentation).
Recognizing that “integrated management” needs to be understood, he asked, “What exactly do we want to integrate? Different understandings of integration resulted in a myriad of policy reforms that integrated institutions and agencies and administration but not the planning process itself.” He recommended making land use plans the legal, obligatory framework for each sectoral plan because how we use land takes into account every sector including water management.
Prof. Lučka Kajfež Bogataj, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize together with other climatologists, looked at climate change from a national and international security point of view rather than from the environmental perspective (presentation). A number of studies suggest that the worst effects can be avoided by keeping global temperature rise below 2°C. But Prof. Bogataj said that if current problems are not solved, they will be aggravated regardless of mathematical scenarios that predict a temperature rise. She showed the participants the map of continents originally developed by the Ministry of Defense to illustrate, in graphic terms, the security challenges posed by a warming planet. Climate change is likely to make essential resources (notably freshwater, arable land, crop yields and fish stocks) scarcer in many parts of the world, particularly in already vulnerable societies.
“Increased scarcity increases the risk of competition over resources within and between communities and states,” she said. “This can create instability, increasing vulnerability to conflict. On current projections, substantial parts of the world risk being left uninhabitable by rising sea levels, reduced freshwater availability and declining agricultural capacity. This will exacerbate existing migratory pressures from rural areas to cities, from unproductive land to more fertile land, and across international borders.”
www.gwp.org
At the Seventh “Environment for Europe” Ministerial Conference in Astana, Kazakhstan, GWP convened a side event titled, “Economic Growth and Water: An Integrated Approach Helps” on September 23, 2011. GWP Chair Dr Letitia A Obeng emphasized that “When we speak about the economy and economic growth we speak about water resources.”
The Conference addressed two main themes: Sustainable management of water and water-related ecosystems; and Greening the economy: mainstreaming the environment into economic development. The GWP side event linked these two aspects: how to make water resources available and yet protected when countries embark on economic development. The Conference recognized the “hydro-centric” and “eco-engineering” themes are closely related.
Four of the speakers at the GWP side event illustrated why water is attracting more political attention, while highlighting water’s complexity and the need for an integrated approach to guide its use, management and development.
Prof. Nariman Kipshakbaev from GWP Kazakhstan presented their experiences of developing a National IWRM Plan (presentation). He made a brief summary of water resources policy reform and emphasized that “there is a need to balance multiple uses of water in a water scarce region.” He stressed the important role of newly established water councils, citing examples of water councils that have a transboundary character, for instance in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
GWP Georgia Chair Ms Nino Chkhobadze looked at role of civil society and non-governmental organizations in support of water reform in the Caucasus (presentation). “It is not well understood the role NGOs play in supporting governments to develop and implement river basin management plans,” said Ms Nino Chkhobadze, who was Georgia’s Minister of Environment for eight years. “Involvement of society is understood as the right of people to be informed, but participation in decision making is moved aside.” She said that stakeholders and the public ensure positive results when they participate in processes that introduce Integrated Water Resources Management principles at local level, and subsequently, better acceptance of future investments.
GWP invited speakers that do not belong directly to the “water family” because GWP acknowledges that for water management to be successful it must involve experts from outside the “water box.” Prof. Laszlo Miklos from the Technical University of Zvolen in Slovakia is a geographer by background and a politician by experience. Having been the Minister of Environment for two terms, and a member of the national Parliament, he reminded the audience of the political commitments made under Agenda 21, and the adoption of the principle of an integrated approach to the management of land resources (presentation).
Recognizing that “integrated management” needs to be understood, he asked, “What exactly do we want to integrate? Different understandings of integration resulted in a myriad of policy reforms that integrated institutions and agencies and administration but not the planning process itself.” He recommended making land use plans the legal, obligatory framework for each sectoral plan because how we use land takes into account every sector including water management.
Prof. Lučka Kajfež Bogataj, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize together with other climatologists, looked at climate change from a national and international security point of view rather than from the environmental perspective (presentation). A number of studies suggest that the worst effects can be avoided by keeping global temperature rise below 2°C. But Prof. Bogataj said that if current problems are not solved, they will be aggravated regardless of mathematical scenarios that predict a temperature rise. She showed the participants the map of continents originally developed by the Ministry of Defense to illustrate, in graphic terms, the security challenges posed by a warming planet. Climate change is likely to make essential resources (notably freshwater, arable land, crop yields and fish stocks) scarcer in many parts of the world, particularly in already vulnerable societies.
“Increased scarcity increases the risk of competition over resources within and between communities and states,” she said. “This can create instability, increasing vulnerability to conflict. On current projections, substantial parts of the world risk being left uninhabitable by rising sea levels, reduced freshwater availability and declining agricultural capacity. This will exacerbate existing migratory pressures from rural areas to cities, from unproductive land to more fertile land, and across international borders.”
www.gwp.org
Friday 23 September 2011
25 Signs That A Horrific Global Water Crisis Is Coming
Every single day, we are getting closer to a horrific global water crisis. This world was blessed with an awesome amount of fresh water, but because of our foolishness it is rapidly disappearing. Rivers, lakes and major underground aquifers all over the globe are drying up, and many of the fresh water sources that we still have available are so incredibly polluted that we simply cannot use them anymore. Without fresh water, we simply cannot function. Just imagine what would happen if the water got cut off in your house and you were not able to go out and buy any. Just think about it. How long would you be able to last? Well, as sources of fresh water all over the globe dry up, we are seeing drought conditions spread. We are starting to see massive "dust storms" in areas where we have never seem them before. Every single year, most of the major deserts around the world are getting bigger and the amount of usable agricultural land in most areas is becoming smaller. Whether you are aware of this or not, the truth is that we are rapidly approaching a breaking point.
If dramatic changes are not made soon, in the years ahead water shortages are going to force large groups of people to move to new areas. As the global water crisis intensifies, there will be political conflicts and potentially even wars over water. We like to think of ourselves as being so "advanced", but the reality is that we have not figured out how to live without water. When the water dries up in an area, most of the people are going to have to leave.
And yes, it will even happen in the United States too. For example, once Lake Mead dries up there is simply no way that so many people are going to be able to live in and around Las Vegas.
Right now, most of us take for granted that we will always have access to an unlimited amount of clean water.
But when you take a hard look at the data, it quickly becomes clear that everything that we have always taken for granted about water is about to dramatically change.
That following are 25 signs that a horrific global water crisis is coming. The first 12 facts are about the United States, and the last 13 are about the rest of the world....
#1 Today, the United States uses approximately 148 trillion gallons of fresh water a year.
#2 According to the U.S. government, 36 U.S. states are already facing water shortages or will be facing water shortages within the next few years.
#3 Since 1998, the level of water in Lake Mead has plunged by more than 50 percent. Lake Mead supplies about 85 percent of the water used in Las Vegas, and at this point the lake has 5.6 trillion gallons less water than it used to have. Lake Mead is falling so fast that some believe that the Hoover dam could actually stop producing electricity in a few years. Needless to say, that would be a total disaster for that entire region of the country. In addition, if things continue at the current pace, it is being estimated that Lake Mead will run completely dry some time around the year 2021.
#4 According to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. interior west is now the driest that it has been in 500 years.
#5 The Ogallala Aquifer, which is a massive underground lake that stretches from South Dakota all the way to Texas, is rapidly drying up. The Ogallala Aquifer is believed to be the largest body of fresh water in the world, and right now it is being drained at a rate of approximately 800 gallons per minute. Right now it covers approximately 174,000 square miles, and since the 1950s we have drained enough water from it "to half-fill Lake Erie". Once upon a time, the Ogallala Aquifer had an average depth of about 240 feet, but today the average depth is just 80 feet. If something is not done, we will definitely see a return of the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s. We need to start listening to the experts. Just consider what David Brauer of the Ogallala Research Service had to say when asked about the future of the Ogallala Aquifer....
"Our goal now is to engineer a soft landing. That's all we can do."
#6 A federal judge has ruled that the state of Georgia has very few legal rights to Lake Lanier. Lake Lanier is the main water source for the city of Atlanta. Millions more people are expected to move into the Atlanta area in the coming years, and this is creating an absolute nightmare for city officials.
#7 It is estimated that California only has a 20 year supply of fresh water left.
#8 It is estimated that New Mexico only has a 10 year supply of fresh water left.
#9 Things have gotten so dry in Arizona that now giant "dust storms" have been blowing through the city of Phoenix.
#10 Texas is has experienced one of the driest stretches that it has ever seen. Right now, approximately 81 percent of the state of Texas is experiencing "exceptional drought" conditions, and wildfires have burned an astounding 3.6 million acres in the state.
#11 Approximately 40 percent of all U.S. rivers and approximately 46 percent of all U.S. lakes have become so polluted that they are are now considered to be too dangerous to fish in, swim in or get drinking water from.
#12 Eight states in the Great Lakes region have signed a pact banning the export of water to outsiders - even to other U.S. states.
#13 It is being projected that by the year 2030, global demand for water will be 40 percent higher than it is today.
#14 Worldwide demand for fresh water tripled during the last century, and is now doubling every 21 years.
#15 According to USAID, one-third of the population of the earth will be facing severe or chronic water shortages by the year 2025.
#16 Of the 60 million people added to the world’s cities every year, the vast majority of them live in impoverished areas that have no sanitation facilities whatsoever.
#17 It is estimated that 75 percent of the surface water in India is now contaminated by human and agricultural waste.
#18 If you can believe it, according to a UN study on sanitation, far more people in India have access to a cell phone than to a toilet.
#19 In the developing world, 90 percent of all wastewater is discharged completely untreated into local rivers, streams or lakes.
#20 Every 8 seconds, somewhere in the world a child dies from drinking dirty water.
#21 Due to a lack of water, Saudi Arabia has given up on trying to grow wheat and will be 100 percent dependent on wheat imports by the year 2016.
#22 In northern China, the water table is dropping one meter every single year because of drought and overpumping.
#23 Incredibly, a new desert the size of Rhode Island is created in China every single year because of drought and overpumping.
#24 In China, 80 percent of all major rivers have become so horribly polluted that they do not support any aquatic life at all at this point.
#25 Collectively, the women of South Africa walk the equivalent of the distance to the moon and back 16 times a day just to get water.
Right now, more than a billion people around the globe do not have access to safe drinking water.
That number is going to keep increasing.
Without enough fresh water, people cannot grow enough food. Global food prices are already starting to skyrocket, and the coming global water crisis certainly is not going to help matters.
A massive, massive disaster is on the horizon. The era of gigantic amounts of cheap food and "unlimited" amounts of clean water is over.
A horrific global water crisis is coming.
You better get ready.
The Economic collapse 21-9-2011
If dramatic changes are not made soon, in the years ahead water shortages are going to force large groups of people to move to new areas. As the global water crisis intensifies, there will be political conflicts and potentially even wars over water. We like to think of ourselves as being so "advanced", but the reality is that we have not figured out how to live without water. When the water dries up in an area, most of the people are going to have to leave.
And yes, it will even happen in the United States too. For example, once Lake Mead dries up there is simply no way that so many people are going to be able to live in and around Las Vegas.
Right now, most of us take for granted that we will always have access to an unlimited amount of clean water.
But when you take a hard look at the data, it quickly becomes clear that everything that we have always taken for granted about water is about to dramatically change.
That following are 25 signs that a horrific global water crisis is coming. The first 12 facts are about the United States, and the last 13 are about the rest of the world....
#1 Today, the United States uses approximately 148 trillion gallons of fresh water a year.
#2 According to the U.S. government, 36 U.S. states are already facing water shortages or will be facing water shortages within the next few years.
#3 Since 1998, the level of water in Lake Mead has plunged by more than 50 percent. Lake Mead supplies about 85 percent of the water used in Las Vegas, and at this point the lake has 5.6 trillion gallons less water than it used to have. Lake Mead is falling so fast that some believe that the Hoover dam could actually stop producing electricity in a few years. Needless to say, that would be a total disaster for that entire region of the country. In addition, if things continue at the current pace, it is being estimated that Lake Mead will run completely dry some time around the year 2021.
#4 According to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. interior west is now the driest that it has been in 500 years.
#5 The Ogallala Aquifer, which is a massive underground lake that stretches from South Dakota all the way to Texas, is rapidly drying up. The Ogallala Aquifer is believed to be the largest body of fresh water in the world, and right now it is being drained at a rate of approximately 800 gallons per minute. Right now it covers approximately 174,000 square miles, and since the 1950s we have drained enough water from it "to half-fill Lake Erie". Once upon a time, the Ogallala Aquifer had an average depth of about 240 feet, but today the average depth is just 80 feet. If something is not done, we will definitely see a return of the Dust Bowl days of the 1930s. We need to start listening to the experts. Just consider what David Brauer of the Ogallala Research Service had to say when asked about the future of the Ogallala Aquifer....
"Our goal now is to engineer a soft landing. That's all we can do."
#6 A federal judge has ruled that the state of Georgia has very few legal rights to Lake Lanier. Lake Lanier is the main water source for the city of Atlanta. Millions more people are expected to move into the Atlanta area in the coming years, and this is creating an absolute nightmare for city officials.
#7 It is estimated that California only has a 20 year supply of fresh water left.
#8 It is estimated that New Mexico only has a 10 year supply of fresh water left.
#9 Things have gotten so dry in Arizona that now giant "dust storms" have been blowing through the city of Phoenix.
#10 Texas is has experienced one of the driest stretches that it has ever seen. Right now, approximately 81 percent of the state of Texas is experiencing "exceptional drought" conditions, and wildfires have burned an astounding 3.6 million acres in the state.
#11 Approximately 40 percent of all U.S. rivers and approximately 46 percent of all U.S. lakes have become so polluted that they are are now considered to be too dangerous to fish in, swim in or get drinking water from.
#12 Eight states in the Great Lakes region have signed a pact banning the export of water to outsiders - even to other U.S. states.
#13 It is being projected that by the year 2030, global demand for water will be 40 percent higher than it is today.
#14 Worldwide demand for fresh water tripled during the last century, and is now doubling every 21 years.
#15 According to USAID, one-third of the population of the earth will be facing severe or chronic water shortages by the year 2025.
#16 Of the 60 million people added to the world’s cities every year, the vast majority of them live in impoverished areas that have no sanitation facilities whatsoever.
#17 It is estimated that 75 percent of the surface water in India is now contaminated by human and agricultural waste.
#18 If you can believe it, according to a UN study on sanitation, far more people in India have access to a cell phone than to a toilet.
#19 In the developing world, 90 percent of all wastewater is discharged completely untreated into local rivers, streams or lakes.
#20 Every 8 seconds, somewhere in the world a child dies from drinking dirty water.
#21 Due to a lack of water, Saudi Arabia has given up on trying to grow wheat and will be 100 percent dependent on wheat imports by the year 2016.
#22 In northern China, the water table is dropping one meter every single year because of drought and overpumping.
#23 Incredibly, a new desert the size of Rhode Island is created in China every single year because of drought and overpumping.
#24 In China, 80 percent of all major rivers have become so horribly polluted that they do not support any aquatic life at all at this point.
#25 Collectively, the women of South Africa walk the equivalent of the distance to the moon and back 16 times a day just to get water.
Right now, more than a billion people around the globe do not have access to safe drinking water.
That number is going to keep increasing.
Without enough fresh water, people cannot grow enough food. Global food prices are already starting to skyrocket, and the coming global water crisis certainly is not going to help matters.
A massive, massive disaster is on the horizon. The era of gigantic amounts of cheap food and "unlimited" amounts of clean water is over.
A horrific global water crisis is coming.
You better get ready.
The Economic collapse 21-9-2011
Sunday 24 July 2011
L'acqua è dappertutto nell'universo: scoperta la più grande riserva
Gli oceani? Grandi, vasti, addirittura smisurati. Così sono descritti dai viaggiatori e dai poeti e chi è stato in una spiaggia oceanica quest'impressione la capisce bene. Eppure di acqua non ne hanno poi tanta, almeno in confronto ad APM +5255 08 279 un ben strano corpo celeste, un quasar, che sta a 12 miliardi di anni luce da noi. Praticamente ai confini dell'Universo visibile, dato che pensiamo che la sua età sia di 13,5 miliardi di anni. Bene già allora, agli albori dell'espansione, di acqua ce ne era da vendere, dato che questo quasar attorno ne ha una quantità pari a 140 trilioni di volte quella di tutti gli oceani terrestri. E un trilione equivale a un milione di miliardi.
Quindi lontanissima, antichissima e abbondantissima. È la scoperta del giorno, molto sicura dato che è stata fatta e confermata indipendentemente da due gruppi di ricerca americani, gli astronomi del Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Jpl) della Nasa e del California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Un quasar è uno degli oggetti celesti più strani ed enigmatici, presenti fin dalle prime epoche dell'Universo, composto da un enorme buco nero che assorbe costantemente, e potremmo dire voracemente, materia da un altrettanto enorme disco circostante di gas e polveri.
Man mano che il materiale gassoso e le polveri vengono "catturate" dal buco nero, il quasar emette enormi quantità di energia e per questo è ben visibile anche da distanze per noi inimmaginabili, come i 12 miliardi di anni luce in questione. Questo quasar poi è effettivamente di grandi dimensioni, dato che ospita un buco nero almeno 20 miliardi di volte più massiccio del nostro Sole e produce tanta energia, ad ogni secondo, quanto un migliaio di miliardi di stelle simile alla nostra. Tutto insomma in una scala difficile da immaginare, da "Universo violento" come si legge in qualche testo di fantascienza.
...
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Quindi lontanissima, antichissima e abbondantissima. È la scoperta del giorno, molto sicura dato che è stata fatta e confermata indipendentemente da due gruppi di ricerca americani, gli astronomi del Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Jpl) della Nasa e del California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Un quasar è uno degli oggetti celesti più strani ed enigmatici, presenti fin dalle prime epoche dell'Universo, composto da un enorme buco nero che assorbe costantemente, e potremmo dire voracemente, materia da un altrettanto enorme disco circostante di gas e polveri.
Man mano che il materiale gassoso e le polveri vengono "catturate" dal buco nero, il quasar emette enormi quantità di energia e per questo è ben visibile anche da distanze per noi inimmaginabili, come i 12 miliardi di anni luce in questione. Questo quasar poi è effettivamente di grandi dimensioni, dato che ospita un buco nero almeno 20 miliardi di volte più massiccio del nostro Sole e produce tanta energia, ad ogni secondo, quanto un migliaio di miliardi di stelle simile alla nostra. Tutto insomma in una scala difficile da immaginare, da "Universo violento" come si legge in qualche testo di fantascienza.
...
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