Britain's Defense Secretary John Reid (standing next to Rummy) is predicting that water shortages brought on by global warming will result in chaos involving military conflict if the world does not act soon.The London Independent provides some facts about water consumption:
* On our watery planet, 97.5 per cent of water is salt water, unfit for human use.
* Most of the fresh water is locked in the ice caps.
* The recommended basic water requirement per person per day is 50 litres. But people can get by with about 30 litres: 5 litres for food and drink and another 25 for hygiene.
* Some countries use less than 10 litres per person per day. Gambia uses 4.5, Mali 8, Somalia 8.9, and Mozambique 9.3.
* By contrast the average US citizen uses 500 litres per day, and the British average is 200.
* In the West, it takes about eight litres to brush our teeth, 10 to 35 litres to flush a lavatory, and 100 to 200 litres to take a shower.
* The litres of water needed to produce a kilo of:
Potatoes 1,000
Maize 1,400
Wheat 1,450
Chicken 4,600
Beef 42,500
The Independent's Michael McCarthy explains how dire the situation truly is:
Across the globe, perhaps a third of all people suffer from "water stress". There are 1.1 billion people lacking access to clean water, 2.4 billion lacking access to improved sanitation, and half the world's hospital beds at any one time are thought to be occupied by people suffering from water-borne diseases. You think this is bad? It's going to get worse.
4 comments:
It may be going to ge worse, but with all the Prozac leaching into the groundwater no one will worry about it. (It survives the um, sewage systems, and is reported to be on the increase in British and probably also American groundwater. I suppose Big Pharma will have to seize the aquifers then, since they could be legtally proven to be large containers for their product by lawyers who also seem to survive the um, sewage system, intact.)
yeah, I feel sorta guilty when I get hungry and eat something I know I shouldn't.
I have been vegan for about a year now after being the stereotypical cowboy redneck type (minus getup and music :)for quite a long time.
I tried vegetarianism for about two years in the 90s and plan to go back to it at some point (I found in the 90s that you really need to know how to cook to do vegetarianism the right way, and I did not know how. I still don't, and that's why I have held off on going back.). Being a vegan I imagine is much tougher than being a vegetarian, and I admire anyone who is able to do it. -Tony
That's the problem we ran into and why things are still difficult. Only mum can cook and she isn't around much so things turn out crappy. I do ok...well at least I dont burn things :)
I admire those that are able to live 1000% that way too, it's been very difficult for me. Do your best, that's my motto.
Post a Comment