SurfaceUnits
03-05-09, 11:06 PM
A Crisis Beyond Comprehension …
by Larry Edelson 03-05-09
No, I’m not talking about the global financial crisis. Nor am I talking about the AIG disaster … Citibank’s failure … the collapse of GM or Ford. I’m not even referring to the Dow’s recent plunge to below 7,000.
Don’t get me wrong: I am not minimizing the financial crisis that’s affecting people all over the world.
I just don’t want anyone to forget about a crisis that’s killing 12 million people per year, including 10,000 children per day.
I’m talking about the worst crisis of all time, the intense and critical shortage of water … pure fresh water. What I call “blue gold” — a term I coined back in 2004 to describe one of the most precious natural resources of all and to help motivate others to take notice of the growing crisis.
Festering for years, sadly, the world’s water crisis is now getting worse by the day. And the global financial and credit crisis is merely one reason why.
* Another is the ongoing modernization of major parts of the world, which continues despite the world’s financial meltdown. This is increasing demand for water, while at the same time polluting it.
* Yet another is major droughts around the world, including in our own back yard, where 60 percent of the U.S. is officially experiencing a drought. In fact, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency just last weekend due to the state’s now three-year running water crisis, its worst on record.
http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/a-crisis-beyond-comprehension-3-29987
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's main source of irrigation water is expected to go dry this year for most of its growers due to drought, idling at least 60,000 workers and up to 1 million acres of farmland, federal officials and experts said on Friday.
The zero allocation for most of the farmers who buy water from the federally managed Central Valley Project was declared as California water officials repeated their plans to cut amounts supplied from a separate state-run water system to 15 percent of normal.
The drought-forced cutbacks are a huge blow to thousands of farmers in the Central Valley, which produces over half of the fruit, vegetables and nuts grown in the United States. Higher prices are likely for a wide range of crops as a result.
The Central Valley, a fertile but arid region stretching some 500 miles from Bakersfield to Redding, is the agricultural heartland of California, which ranks as the nation's No. 1 farm state in terms of the value of crops produced -- more than $36 billion a year.
The principal source of water for farms and ranches in the valley is the federally built and managed CVP, a vast network of dams, pumping stations and canals that collects runoff from the Sierra Nevada mountain range and delivers it to irrigation districts throughout the region.
A recent forecast by University of California economists projected losses of 60,000 to 80,000 jobs and over $2 billion in income from a scenario like the one announced on Friday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE51J6MO20090221?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
by Larry Edelson 03-05-09
No, I’m not talking about the global financial crisis. Nor am I talking about the AIG disaster … Citibank’s failure … the collapse of GM or Ford. I’m not even referring to the Dow’s recent plunge to below 7,000.
Don’t get me wrong: I am not minimizing the financial crisis that’s affecting people all over the world.
I just don’t want anyone to forget about a crisis that’s killing 12 million people per year, including 10,000 children per day.
I’m talking about the worst crisis of all time, the intense and critical shortage of water … pure fresh water. What I call “blue gold” — a term I coined back in 2004 to describe one of the most precious natural resources of all and to help motivate others to take notice of the growing crisis.
Festering for years, sadly, the world’s water crisis is now getting worse by the day. And the global financial and credit crisis is merely one reason why.
* Another is the ongoing modernization of major parts of the world, which continues despite the world’s financial meltdown. This is increasing demand for water, while at the same time polluting it.
* Yet another is major droughts around the world, including in our own back yard, where 60 percent of the U.S. is officially experiencing a drought. In fact, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency just last weekend due to the state’s now three-year running water crisis, its worst on record.
http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/a-crisis-beyond-comprehension-3-29987
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's main source of irrigation water is expected to go dry this year for most of its growers due to drought, idling at least 60,000 workers and up to 1 million acres of farmland, federal officials and experts said on Friday.
The zero allocation for most of the farmers who buy water from the federally managed Central Valley Project was declared as California water officials repeated their plans to cut amounts supplied from a separate state-run water system to 15 percent of normal.
The drought-forced cutbacks are a huge blow to thousands of farmers in the Central Valley, which produces over half of the fruit, vegetables and nuts grown in the United States. Higher prices are likely for a wide range of crops as a result.
The Central Valley, a fertile but arid region stretching some 500 miles from Bakersfield to Redding, is the agricultural heartland of California, which ranks as the nation's No. 1 farm state in terms of the value of crops produced -- more than $36 billion a year.
The principal source of water for farms and ranches in the valley is the federally built and managed CVP, a vast network of dams, pumping stations and canals that collects runoff from the Sierra Nevada mountain range and delivers it to irrigation districts throughout the region.
A recent forecast by University of California economists projected losses of 60,000 to 80,000 jobs and over $2 billion in income from a scenario like the one announced on Friday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE51J6MO20090221?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews