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• I read with interest and concern the comment that droughts around the world happen in spite of the actions or inactions of mankind suggesting that humans are mere spectators waiting for things to happen and observe as they do. Fast changing pattern of land use (misuse) and practices that thwart the recharge of aquifers cannot be ignored and wished away. Transporting water whether for agricultural use or for human consumption is at tremendous costs and hence requires planning based on dispersion of settlements and locations of agricultural lands.
  Water is an essential component in the eco balance stream and its lowering levels will certainly cause problems and issues with respect to food production and human consumption. While we can do nothing to counter the droughts caused by nature we could at the least be prepared to plan and protect the human population by intelligently deploying safe and non-toxic methods to put to use the available water resources. Recycling of water, consumption management, storage, crop selection, harvesting cycle, avoidance of fertilisers demanding huge amount of water are some of the practices that require examination and adoption.
  Though theoretically we could produce water out of ‘thin air’ it does not provide the solace when you consider the amount of energy spent in the conversion process. It would appear that water is inextricably associated with the energy and food security policies and as such requires consideration as among equals like energy, weather and other living conditions.

  Posted 27 March 2009, 00:28 by S L Narasimhan

• What is the connection between water security and wealth?

  Water requirements for food production are more than 1,000 times the amount we drink.

  The population growth projected for the world means an increased need for water.

  What role does the market play?

  Feeding the world’s future population requires water efficiency be enhanced.

  Water security is critical to wealth.

  Posted 21 March 2009, 08:49 by Brian Lewis

• Argument:

  World Reserve Bank

  Water is elemental to life in our eco-system.

  Water takes many forms and is constantly being cycled through living organisms. More and more water is being cycled through processes that discharge pollutants; this is creating substantial stress points.

  To sustain the ability for human life to survive amidst a rich eco-system is required.

  Exchange Units

  Lakes Currents Rapids Eddies Winds Seas

  Value Functions

  Blues Greens Purples Yellows Blacks Whites Clear Reds

  Goal:

  Develop financial instruments utilizing water for standard of support for financial system.

  Posted 8 March 2009, 12:00 by Brian Lewis

• I have been thinking about the importance of water to life in all its diverse forms. Aside from air, water is the most important resource we have.

  And yet, there is no real “value” that is placed on it beyond the uses for agriculture or industry in which case virtually everyone wants to use it at the least possible expense and virtually no one wants to take care of it after they use it.

  As such, what if the Water Standard were to be implemented as the valuation tool for all exchanges and there were created a currency based on water?

  Posted 5 March 2009, 14:32 by Brian Lewis

• Hi Joe,

  i hope you’re right. and i appreciate all the research you have done (looked in a book and read about tree rings!!) But these weather issues that are being identified internationally are being raised by Experts and professionals and are being marked against historical events.

  And if you want to mark against historical events. lets look at Ice Shelves in the poles. and holes in the ozone… there is no evidence (that I have come across) that these have every been in the condition that they are in today.

  So Joe…I hope you’re right, but i think i’ll take a few of the precautions the experts suggest.

  Posted 4 March 2009, 23:21 by Paul Cunningham

• The premise that man is responsible for the “current global warming” phase in the life of earth may be not entirely wrong. Man is only speeding up the process of what would have been reckoned in the past as the natural cycle.
  It is inevitable in God’s scheme of things that man has progressively become more and more intelligent and is acting as God intended him to. Surely God/Nature’s will cannot be altered by man and we would see either the earth getting even more warmer or cooling down and following its natural course which we are unable to visualise or predict despite our intelligence.
  Before this happens we would probably witness great corrections to the world populations by way of people starving to death or dying due to diseases caused by the warm climates and the lack of enough water and food.
  We need not feel sorry that great populations will die off, since this probably would render the natural balance between the population and the earths resources. This would be similar to natural forest fires that are good in maintaining the balance.

  Posted 4 March 2009, 21:57 by B.Sridhar

• Drought: Some Realities

  We live in south central Colorado in a valley at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. A couple of years ago, we were in the seventh year of a pretty bad drought. My wife asked me one morning, “Didn’t the Anasazi civilization collapse because of a drought?” The Anasazi lived in the cliff dwellings in the four corners area for 400 years. To answer Jayne’s question, I went to a book that we bought during our last visit. It said that these people left after a 27 year long drought back in the 14th century. Yup, it was a 27 year long drought, long before the fear mongers ever introduced the phrase “global warming.”

  As I write this, Governor Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency for California due to year two of a drought. Since he is a big “man caused global warming” zealot, he is no doubt looking for help from the feds. It is likely that California’s $42 billion budget shortfall could also be a motivator. Well, I looked into California’s history to see if these drought conditions ever happened in the past. Lo-and-behold, back in the mid-1100, California experienced a 25 year long drought. The growth rigs in trees in the area provide a permanent record of these and other natural phenomena. Severe, but shorter droughts occurred in 1600, 1900 and in the 1980s too.

  Much of what we are experiencing today has happened in the past. Mankind doesn’t cause droughts, hurricanes, ice ages or heat waves that we observe today any more than we did 800 years ago. Weather just happens. The good news is that the US Weather Service is correct 50% of the time. With that record, they are the envy of the world’s weather forecasters. Thanks to these outstanding dedicated professionals and modern day communications, we can prepare days in advance for most weather emergencies. Except for sudden tornados, Americans can usually get out of the way.

  Lengthy droughts are another thing. Maybe some day we will be able to estimate their duration, Although, I doubt it. Droughts are a little like recessions, we don’t know how long the will last until they’re over. For the foreseeable future, we will just have to plan for the worst and hope for the best. Here in Colorado, we could use a couple of more reservoirs. Just as in Aesop taught us with The Ant and the Grasshopper, we could store the water during wet years and be able to use it during those unavoidable drought years. The grasshopper just had his laziness to deal with.

  Posted 4 March 2009, 08:46 by Joseph Cascarelli

• Australia is an interesting case in point. Given its land area, imagine the population that would be resident now in Australia if it had lots of water. At 21m residents, it is showing real strain. The drought has an obvious & visible effect. But other factors are less visible eg. Australia is only just starting to loose arable land to salinity – a trend expected to accellerate. And as the rainfall reduces, there is a turn to the fossil water in aquifiers, which may not enjoy recharge rates of the past. Given that Australia is a significant food products provider to world markets, imagine the market and social impact if Australian agriculture is less and less able to produce.

  Posted 3 March 2009, 00:55 by Conrad Mackenzie

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