1 June 2015, The Diplomat, The world water crisis is both severe and entirely avoidable: With the approach of World Environment Day, on June 5, it is worthwhile to reflect on a major crisis that is now confronting the world but receiving inadequate attention. If current trends continue, the world will face a water crisis that will be unprecedented in human history. During the past decade, there has been extensive discussion on the adequacy of physical availability of water to meet escalating needs for various uses for an expanding global population and accelerating economic activities. However, inadequate attention has been paid to the rapid deterioration of water quality, which is further reducing a significant stock of water that can no longer be used without expensive and sophisticated treatment. Water, unlike oil or minerals, is a renewable resource. This means it can be used, treated properly, and then reused. This cycle with good management can continue indefinitely. It has been estimated that each drop of the Colorado River water is used seven times. With good management, there is no reason why this could not be increased to 20 or 30 times. The current overwhelming concern is that the world is going to run out of physical availability of water in the foreseeable future. We differ. Read More here
Category Archives: Ecosystem Stress
29 May 2015, The Conversation, Australia reprieved – now it must prove it can care for the Reef: UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has decided not to add the Great Barrier Reef to the List of World Heritage in Danger, for now at least. In a draft decision released ahead of its annual meeting next month, it has welcomed Australia’s plan to save the Reef, but also demanded a progress report on its policies by the end of 2016, as well as a full update on the Reef’s conservation status by December 2019. The move draws a temporary line underneath an issue that has loomed large for the past three years, bringing Australia’s stewardship of the Reef uncomfortably into the international spotlight. Read more here
8 May 2015 One Million Women is seeking support: We have been campaigning over the past 12 months urging the World Heritage Committee to declare the Great Barrier Reef as ‘World Heritage in Danger’ to protect it from reckless industrialisation for dirty coal and coal seam gas, and from chronic climate change threats. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE We have over 40,000 signatures to our open letter to the World Heritage Committee but we want to get that to 100,000 by the end of the month! (NEXT MONTH the World Heritage Committee meets to rule on the Reef’s fate – whether or not to declare it ‘in Danger’ and protect it for future generations.) PLEASE SHARE our new 1 Million Women clip with all your networks and ADD YOUR NAME to protect the Reef (if you haven’t already)! To Give Support go here
1 May 2015, The Conversation: Climate change could empty wildlife from Australia’s rainforests. Climate change is one of the greatest challenges that the world’s wildlife and those who want to conserve it have ever faced. To save wildlife, we are going to have to help animals, plants and ecosystems adapt. But first we need to know just how many species are at risk and why. A paper published today in Science by Mark Urban, Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut, estimates on average we will lose about 17% (or about one in six) of all species on Earth by 2100. This massive impact will be felt across all groups of species and ecosystems although it is predicted to be worse in South America, Australia and New Zealand. Australia is predicted to lose approximately 14% of its species…. Read More here