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The Water Report
Harriman House Publishing, May 2008
We can do without oil - as we did until the latter years of the Nineteenth Century - but we cannot do without water; without it we die. Whilst debates on fossil fuel reserves rage and tensions over oil fields and supplies continue, this new groundbreaking book urges the focus to change - WATER is the next big idea.
In the summer of 2007, Britain was battered with torrential rain and the Environment Agency had to issue 42 flood warnings in one day. In America, continuing drought led to bans and an increase in rates to cope with the water shortage. Comments on the weather are our national pastime - this peerless study will be the book to turn that habit into a life-saving agenda on the desks of governments and corporations worldwide.
The book starts its analysis by discussing the science behind where rain falls and the factor of ocean oscillations, which have only recently been discovered, which has led to the surprising weather patterns we have had. The areas that were expecting rain will find their water supplies low and their arable land parched. Areas prepared for drought will find their land saturated. The book is a warning that we must change our attitude to this vital resource.
The in-depth analysis continues with a look at how much precious water is allowed to run to waste - particularly in hot countries where evaporation is the highest. The authors consider how the twenty percent of arable land that is irrigated could save water. Whilst the climatic shifts described earlier will affect our ability to grow food. The reality that we will soon have to face has already begun as the wheat-growing area of the Yellow River Delta is becoming unfit for use through pollution and up-stream abstraction, and the climatic shifts are reducing previously productive areas in the US and Australia. This is a situation that calls for urgent action otherwise it will cause distress to thousands.
The book contains updated key studies that have been in progress for many years, and from this the highly regarded authors predict that refugees will be forced to seek shelter in other countries due to the lack of arable land, putting more pressure on depleting water reserves in these foster countries. Another facet of this full-scale debate is the rise of industrialisation and the price we will have to pay. While most eyes are looking for a potential conflict over Taiwan it will probably be over water that China, Pakistan and North Korea will be forced to address their own deficits.
However, if we redefine what is important to the survival of the human race and apply our scientific and technological advancements to our relationship with water, humanity may have a chance of survival.
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