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World Hunger and Food Shortages Are Pressing Global Issues, Say Experts in Current Events and Politics
PASADENA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In an article for the quarterly journal Vision titled “What Shall We Eat and Drink?” publisher and international relations scholar David Hulme discusses the global issues of world hunger and water security. Slicing through the Gordian Knot of current events and politics, Hulme explores the complex factors relating to food shortages and the building water crisis.
People share a universal need to eat and drink, yet nearly a billion people go hungry every day. Concerns about food and water shortages were behind the eight goals of the 2000 UN Millennium Declaration, with the primary Millennium Development Goal being to reduce the number of undernourished and poverty-stricken people in developing countries from the current 16 percent to 10 percent by 2015.
“Part of the difficulty,” writes Hulme, “arises from the potential volatility of food prices accentuated by natural disasters, severe weather, surging fuel Read more…
Prepare for the Next Conflict: Water Wars
Every minute, 15 children die from drinking dirty water. Every time you eat a hamburger, you consume 2400 liters of the planet’s fresh water resources — that is the amount of water needed to produce one hamburger. Today poor people are dying from lack of water, while rich people are consuming enormous amounts of water. This water paradox illustrates that we are currently looking at a global water conflict in the making.
We are terrifyingly fast consuming one of the most important and perishable resources of the planet — our water. Global water use has tripled over the last 50 years. The World Bank reports that 80 countries now have water shortages with more than 2.8 billion people living in areas of high water stress. This is expected to rise to 3.9 billion — more than half of Read more…
Billion-plus people to lack water in 2050: study
(AFP)
WASHINGTON – More than one billion urban residents will face serious water shortages by 2050 as climate change worsens effects of urbanization, with Indian cities among the worst hit, a study said Monday.
The shortage threatens sanitation in some of the world’s fastest-growing cities but also poses risks for wildlife if cities pump in water from outside, said the article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study found that under current urbanization trends, by mid-century some 993 million city dwellers will live with less than 100 liters (26 gallons) each day of water each — roughly the amount that fills a personal bathtub — which authors considered the daily minimum.
Adding on the impact of climate change, an additional 100 million people will lack what they Read more…
California water future called ‘bleak’
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by Staff Writers
Sacramento (UPI) Feb 24, 2011
Scientists say the water situation in California is “bleak” and the state needs to act to bolster its entire aquatic ecosystem.
“Our assessment of the current water situation [in California] is bleak,” says Ellen Hanak, a Public Policy Institute of California economist. “California has essentially run out of cheap, new water sources.”
The institute has released its findings in a publication written by a team of scientists, engineers, economists and legal experts from three University of California campuses and Stanford University, AAA ScienceMag.org reported Thursday.
Their report says water quality is deteriorating, pollution from agricultural runoff is increasing, and efforts to manage water and species recovery are Read more…
Global warming could increase diseases originating from water sources
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Climate change could increase exposure to water-borne diseases originating in oceans, lakes and coastal ecosystems, and the impact could be felt within 10 years, US scientists told a conference in Washington on Saturday.
Several studies have shown that shifts brought about by climate change make ocean and freshwater environments more susceptible to toxic algae blooms and allow harmful microbes and bacteria to proliferate, researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
In one study, NOAA scientists modeled future ocean and weather patterns to predict the effect on blooms of Alexandrium catenella, or the toxic “red tide,” which can accumulate in shellfish and cause symptoms, including paralysis, and can sometimes be deadly to humans who eat the Read more…
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