Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Three Interconnected Crises Facing Our World

It's no secret. In our world today there are 3 interconnected crisis facing us:

  1. the crisis in water security,

  2. the crisis in energy security, and

  3. the crisis in food security.
I ran across some startling statistics today from ISIS regarding the water supply on our tiny planet which might lend a sense of urgency to #1 above.

"In terms of water, within the 20th Century, global water consumption increased six fold -- twice the rate of population growth.

There's a fair majority of people who will expect, within reasonable circumstances, to still be alive in 2025. Many will have children of their own by 2025 that they don't have now.

But the figures for global water crises suggest that by 2025, in twenty years time, the proportion of people on the planet who will be living in areas of 'significant water stress' will rise from 34% to 63%.

In absolute numbers it's a total sum of about six billion people, which is the entirety of today's world population."

When you stand back and look at the BIG picture of where we are now in our history, and where we will be twenty years from now, the above numbers do NOT look promising.

Consider this: water in its pure form is essential to all known forms of life and is known also as the most universal solvent.

The percent water that makes up the human body (by weight) varies with age, sex, and physical conditioning -- but generally speaking, about 72% of the fat free mass of the human body is made of water. To function properly the body requires between one and seven litres of water per day to avoid dehydration, the precise amount depending on the level of activity, temperature, humidity, and other factors.

Wikipedia states: "Water that humans consume is called potable water. This natural resource is becoming more scarce in certain places as human population in those places increases, and its availability is a major social and economic concern."

When you also consider how important water is to plant life -- specifically agriculture and our food supply -- the picture that is forming shape based on ISIS statististics should cause concern for all of us.

If you are on our customer-only newsletter mailing-list, you'll be receiving your copy in the mail (no, not by email -- by snail-mail) early next week with some additional informtion on this thought-provoking subject.

Until then, stay well and be healthy.