In Which We Save the World From Drought, Water Wars and Other Looming Disasters
HOO BOY. IT’S gonna be hard for policymakers to halt the many mega-disasters expected to slam Planet Gaia in the coming decades because of our undying lust for fossil fuels. The International Energy Agency and a rising legion of scientists have warned in recent years that we’re at a dangerous point for global climate change. If we don’t throttle back carbon emissions over the next 25 years, the world’s temperature will rise 4% to 6%, and all the hybrid cars and solar panels in the world won’t make a damn difference.
Even the famed British physicist Stephen Hawking says in an interview with The Canadian Press that we’re unlikely to survive planetary disaster 
over the next 100 years, much less the next 1,000 years. Hawking believes that we need to build space colonies for the human race to survive. That’s not science fiction.
Grim, scary stuff. For our sanity, though, can we at least ward off one climate-related catastrophe that’ll shake the world? Maybe. Among many other natural-resource problems, the looming fresh-water crisis might be managable, if the political will exists. Lot of potential solutions in the experts’ literature, such as Running Out of Water by Peter Rogers and Susan Leal.
While the big brains and lawmakers debate climate change, what can we do? Well before any crisis strikes, many millions of everyday consumers can pitch in like so many legions of soldiers. We can conserve huge amounts of water and end our water guzzling simply by changing our daily habits. To wit: my water utility company says that my average-sized family uses 40% less water a day than households of the same size in California. Nearly half less than other homes. How? Easy:
By taking quick showers of 5 minutes, not 10 to 15 minutes. (If I ain’t rank and stanky, I’ll skip the shower and just use the sink.)
By not flushing the toilets after we pee. (Heed the old environmental saying: “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down.”)
By watering the lawn and plants with laundry water. (Full of dirt, bacteria and natural detergent, the water works better than fertilizer, and hauling the buckets is great exercise.)
Imagine if 113 million U.S. households and other indoor-water customers slashed half of our daily water use. That’s half of the 44 billion gallons a day consumed for indoor use in 2005, says the U.S. Geological Survey. That’s trillions of gallons conserved a year in America alone.
Simplistic? Probably. Realistic? Yes. We’ve got to wake up. If not for our sakes, then for our children and grandchildren. The cradle’s rocking above the abyss for Mother Earth. Oh no it isn’t. Oh yes it is. Call me crazy, but I’ll bet on Stephen Hawking and a growing cadre of concerned scientists. The great cosmic clock keeps ticking, and we’re running out of time.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “IPCC Report (2014): A Changing Climate Creates Pervasive Risks….“
Foreign Policy, “The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water” by Maude Barlow.
ZDNet’s Smart Planet, “Why we’re running out of water” by Andrew Nusca.
Nature Conservancy blog, “New Study: Billions of City Dwellers in Water Shortage by 2050?” by Robert Lalasz.
Google e-Books, excerpts from Running Out of Water: The Looming Crisis and Solutions to Conserve Our Most Precious Resource by Peter Rogers and Susan Leal.
International Energy Agency news release on World Energy Outlook 2011, “The world is locking itself into an unsustainable energy future which would have far-reaching consequences.”
McKinsey & Company, “Charting Our Water Future.”
Editor’s note: This post has been updated since appearing originally in my old blog, CoolGlobalBiz.com. Everything still applies, with even more urgency .
Filed under: Corporate Social Responsibility, Environment Tagged: conservation, corporate social responsibility, drought, environment, water
