World is running out of water, says UN adviser Randeep Ramesh in New Delhi Monday January 22, 2007 Guardian Unlimited The world is running out of water and needs a radical plan to tackle shortages that threaten the ability of humanity to feed itself, according to Jeffrey Sachs, director of the UN's Millennium Project. Professor Sachs, who is credited with sparking pop star Bono's crusade for African development, told an environment conference in Delhi that the world simply had "no more rivers to take water from". The breadbaskets of India and China were facing severe water shortages and neither Asian giant could use the same strategies for increasing food production that has fed millions in the last few decades. Article continues "In 2050 we will have 9 billion people and average income will be four times what it is today. India and China have been able to feed their populations because they use water in an unsustainable way. That is no longer possible," he said. Since Asia's green revolution, which began in the 1960s and saw a transformation of agricultural production, the amount of land under irrigation has tripled. However, many parts of the continent have reached the limits of their water supplies. "The Ganges [in India] and the Yellow river [in China] no longer flow. There is so much silting up and water extraction upstream they are pretty stagnant," said Prof Sachs. The US academic said that the mechanisms of shrinking water resources are not well understood. "We need to do for water what we did for climate change. How do we recharge aquifers? What about ground water use? There's no policy anywhere in place at the moment." The US academic said that the rise of Asia was altering the world's resources in an unprecedented way - for the first time humans were shaping the environment rather than nature. "China is on course to be the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide by 2010 in the world. India is building eight 4,000MW power plants - are they ready for carbon capture? I don't think so." The British government has been trying to persuade a reluctant New Delhi to embrace green technology. Officials in India still talk about the need for accelerating growth and see tackling climate change as a brake on the economy. David Miliband, the environment minister, said he was confident that the country would join a scheme for managing greenhouse gas emissions after the present Kyoto protocol runs out in 2012. "India is already the fourth largest emitter [in the world]. It is already being affected by climate change and I have been encouraged to see that ministers here are engaging with the issue," said Mr Miliband
How can the world "run out" of water - it's a renewable resource! Anyway, this is just like food, the more you have of it, the more people will expand and you will always have hungry. Population control is key.
What about desalination (is that the correct word?) Over 70% of the world's surface is covered in water. I'm thinking we find a way to get clean water. More urgent is the need for clean water in countries RIGHT NOW that don't have wells or filters to clean out the water they do have. And that problem could absolutely be solved relatively cheap.
There aren't really that many places where you have a sustainable supply of fresh surface water. For instance, if you look at Oregon, a place that gets lots of rain and snow, there are only 3 communities in the entire state that depend exclusively on surface water for their municipal water needs. The problem is we (mankind) have been mining groundwater heavily for the last 50 years and groundwater is a very difficult thing to sustain. For instance, if it weren't for the Ogallala Aquifer, one of the largest in the world, there would be even fewer people and virtually no agriculture or cows on the Plains... As it is, the Ogallala is being used at up to 100 times its recharge rate and is already critically low in spots.
When we running out of water and it is threatening survival I seriously doubt cost or difficulty to produce will be much of an issue Rocket River
It was a good policy for China and the world. Imagine the population of China now if they did not limit the kids, could easily be something like 2Billion.
I agree, I am a bit worried that the male-to-female ratio is all out of whack for that generation. I wonder what's going to happen to the many lonely Chinese men that can't find a woman. They may even need to share. That'd be interesting irony considering the past popularization of concubines in China.
Once the parents see how much money they can get for marrying off a daughter in the future, you bet more people will be having girls.
I think I have put you in the wrong context MadMax, I apologize... I can't edit my posts, so disregard it.
no problem. if i meant that only about chinese people, you should criticize me! actually, my criticism was more directed at the western world. those of us who live in excess and b**** about not having enough...while others around the world worry about kids dying from malaria because they don't have a filter to clean water. or they don't have the ability or know-how to drill water wells. and yes, i'm part of those selfish, greedy people. but i'm trying, ringo.
