Water changes health, education, food security, the lives of women and children. The more people we at charity: water meet in the field, the more we realize how much water touches every part of a person's life.
Things you wouldn't even think about when you've had clean water your whole life, like time spent collecting water. Women and children in developing countries spend about three hours a day walking to collect drinking water, usually from sources that can make them sick. In Africa alone, people spend up to 40 billion hours just walking for water -- that's time they can't spend working, studying or taking care of their families.
We're a water organization. We're constantly talking about the water crisis and asking others to join our fight against it. On Earth Day, there can be some confusion -- by water crisis, do we mean our depleting water sources? Are we advocating water conservation?
The answer is no. We know that's certainly a problem, but our sights are set elsewhere. We're focused on helping the nearly one billion people who live without access to clean drinking water.
It's a crisis because it only starts with water. But when you're living without access to life's most basic need, you know that water changes everything.
For Earth Day, we wanted to break this down so anyone could learn, in just three minutes, how clean water can change everything for a person in need. So we teamed up with Jonathan Jarvis (you might remember his animation work about the financial crisis) as well as our friend and supporter, actress Kristen Bell, to create a simple film on how water changes everything.
Help us make this Earth Day all about water.
Almost a billion people live without access to safe drinking water -- that's about one in eight of us. Watch the video to see what this means for that one. Then share it with seven or more of your friends. Our mission this Earth Day is to help make the seven of eight people with clean water, learn about the one without it.
Learn more at charitywater.org/whywater.
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What is unsettling is the trend today that involves huge international corporations quietly trying to "own" water and buy water supplies from local towns and cities in the US and elsewhere. Moving massive quantities of water for profit can destroy the natural environment, drain the wells of farmers or others living even far away from the extraction location, drain streams, create dangerous depressions in the earth that cave in and more. The water can be sold to the highest bidder even in droughts.
In Bolivia, a large corporation "bought" the water, raised prices to 25% of people's salaries, influenced Bolivian lawmakers to write a law that allowed the company to take the property of those who couldn't pay the outrageous water bills. They even made it illegal for people to collect the rain that fell on their property. When the people protested, some were shot dead, until finally the people literally chased the water company out of the country.
Paris just got its water back under public control again. Many towns and cities that made the mistake of putting their water in the control of private companies are fighting to regain control after seeing the consequences.
-----------Help others, but also keep an eye on your local water supply!
http://www.tappedthemovie.com/
We could not solve the worlds problems of poverty, hunger and despair when the world had 5 billion people and adequate resources. How will we solve these problems in a world of 9 billion people and limited resources of food, water, oil and jobs?
http://vodpod.com/watch/3038936-blue-gold-world-water-wars-01?u=sabelmouse&c=sabelmouse
whole lakes in russia and africa are disapearing because of cotton and flower production.
In Long Beach CA. U.S.A., in experiment is being conducted to utilize wave power to power a device that will desalinize ocean water for drinking. Its inventions like these that will make drinking water easily obtainable.
Desal could be helpful, if it wasnt for the profit margin that is creating them.
I don't remember the principals but one of the funding sources was an extremely wealthy Jordanian I believe.
Here's a link to a paper I ran across this AM after reading your post:
http://books.google.com/books?id=iA75bZKcilYC&pg=PA162&lpg=PA162&dq=solar+and+desalination+in+north+africa&source=bl&ots=CKXr-IRotN&sig=sr994qcCNhaZpEvnJj3DTCdyUC4&hl=en&ei=c_KyTe7_Is-2tgfR4sXpDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=solar%20and%20desalination%20in%20north%20africa&f=false
I hope the article is shorter than the link.
Also, at the same time human suffering does not negates the belief wether God exist or not, since that wilt not cease or change all the hardship human has endured present and past.
From a scientific hypothesis we were all created from stardust that was caused by a violent explosion of a super-massive star. Through the pangs of giving birth that a mother has to bear for her child and the struggle during old age to our death. this is what the Creator has decree for us human being. This reality will never change whether one belief in Him or not .
So Though on earth this will never changed, as a believer there is at least hope there will be an afterlife, where this pain and suffering will cease to exist.
An ever expanding world population.
This is a recipe for disaster.
How is this possible?
I bring to your attention, for the sake of the humanity and in the intereset to end the evil agenda by the International Water Cartels.
Bechtel(America), Azurix (America, and a subsidiary of Enron), Vivendi(France), Thames(UK), Suez(I believe from Spain but possibly French aswell). As further evidence I want it known that the American Compaies dont own American Water. Bechtel for example as a result of NAFTA and CAFTA have spread there interest across South America. Most apparent is Cochobamba, Bolivia. The European Water Cartels have invested interest across America, every major cities water rights from New York to LA is owned by Thames, Vivendi, or Suez. In some countries these corporations charge more for water than food.
For the sake of humanity, the commoditization and trading of Water needs to be stopped.
A Global Crisis For Almost A Billion People ....WHO NEEDS WATER?
Electric cars, light bulbs and solar panels won't change anything as weather becomes extreme. It will worsen as China and India's 2,500,000,000 people move up the success ladder and demand more energy.
Check all sciences and you’ll discover everything in the process of collapse due to over population of the planet including starvation, which has been going on for years, will pick up momentum.
Dufar in the Sudan looks on the surface to be ethnic cleansing. Next time you look, look not at the starving people but the desert they live in that won't support the winners of this war.
The Sahara is moving south 20 miles a year. Soon they will all starve while in China, 37% of the ground water is not fit for human consumption and 34% of that is not fit for irrigation.
Because of religions grip on procreation, people continue reproducing at a breakneck pace, refusing to recognize that this planet can’t sustain 7,000,000,000 devouring everything like a plague of locus.
Extreme weather at this point is beyond THE POINT OF repair, picking up momentum as anything does when going down hill. We don't have 100's of years left in spite of what many people want to believe.
The planet will continue to heat up for the next several thousand years since it is now running on automatic and regardless of what you hear not much can be done about it.