Happy World Water Day
Wednesday, March 22, is World Water Day, a time to ponder the issue of worldwide water supplies. Fresh water will be the crucial resource of the next decade or two. Already, one-third of the world’s population don’t have adequate sewage or sanitation. Expect that statistic to get worse. Expect famine to rise as farmers lose access to the water their crops need. Expect more wars as the parched and impoverished eye their neighbors’ water supplies.
Expect shareholder profits to rise as well. As this article in the San Francisco Chronicle points out, corporations see dollar signs in the looming disasters. Not just from selling fresh water to thirsty nations, but from winning lucrative contracts to help nations keep water in their own borders.
Profiting from a war is hardly a new practice, but this time it feels particularly callous.
Thanks to GnG reader Marc from Mental Masala for the pointer to the Chronicle article.
The S.F. Chronicle has had a flood of stories about water issues lately. Today’s paper included coverage of a taste test:
“…passers-by … were presented with four cups, lettered A, B, C and D. Two contained tap water, one contained Dasani and one contained Aquafina. Test takers tried to match the cups with the source.
After two hours, the results were tallied. Only three people out of 32 identified all the cups correctly.”
Full article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/22/BAG33HS4DG1.DTL&hw=tap+water&sn=002&sc=940