Erring on the safe side
Thursday, April 26, 2007
ONE of the most circulated environmental presentations these days is entitled "Year 2070 — The World without Water" which translates the recent IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) dire warnings into a message to touch a person's fears for life and survival.
The presentation depicts a 50-year-old man who looks as old as 85, suffering from kidney problems because of dehydration. "I am one of the oldest people in this society," the man says, reminiscing about how green the world was when he was five and how he used to enjoy shower for half an hour. "Nowadays we use towels with mineral oil to clean our skin. Before, women had beautiful hair. Now we have to shave our heads to keep them clean without the use of water."
"Desalination plants are the main source of employment and workers receive part of their salary in drinkable water. Assaults at gun point on the streets for jerry-cans of water are very common. Before, the recommended quantity of water to drink for an adult was eight glasses a day. Nowadays, I am only allowed half a glass."
The "futuristic" presentation shows the horrible appearance of the world: wrinkled, emaciated bodies due to dehydration, suffering from sores caused by ultraviolet radiation, skin cancer, gastrointestinal and urinary tract infections. Due to the excessive drying of the skin, the young people of 20 look like 40. The average life expectancy is 35 years. "In countries where some green still remains, these zones are guarded by heavily armed soldiers and water becomes a very coveted treasure, more precious than gold and diamonds."
"I remember there were SAVE WATER warnings on posters, radio and TV, but nobody paid attention. We thought that water was to last forever," the man says.
Though it looks like it was created by an amateur, the presentation whose writer is unknown delivers the message more strongly than the IPCC and its statistics: "Between one and 3.2 billion individuals will go without water each day in 2070. Between 200 and 600 million individuals won't get enough to eat. Between two and seven million men and women will have to leave their homes because of rising tide levels."
Critics say the IPCC report, authored by hundreds of climatologists around the world, is based on partial or even fallacious data and that it works for the alarmists only.
Be that as it may, for some parts of the world, 2070 is today.
On 20 April 2007, The Independent ran a report by Kathy Marks in Sydney about Australia warning its citizens that it will have to switch off the water supply to the continent's food bowl unless heavy rains break an epic drought — heralding what could be the first climate change — driven disaster to strike a developed nation.
The Murray-Darling basin in southeastern Australia yields 40 per cent of the country's agricultural produce. But the two rivers that feed the region are so pitifully low that there will soon be only enough water for drinking supplies. "Unless there is significant rainfall in the next six to eight weeks, irrigation will be banned in the principle agricultural area. Crops such as rice, cotton and wine grapes will fail, citrus, olive and almond trees will die, along with livestock. (This) spells possible ruin for thousands of farmers, already debt-laden and in despair after six years of drought," Marks says.
Now, if the Bruneians heed the environmental preservation messages repeatedly delivered by the government we will insya-Allah be spared the worst scenario. Even if we err, we'd better err on the safe side.
The presentation depicts a 50-year-old man who looks as old as 85, suffering from kidney problems because of dehydration. "I am one of the oldest people in this society," the man says, reminiscing about how green the world was when he was five and how he used to enjoy shower for half an hour. "Nowadays we use towels with mineral oil to clean our skin. Before, women had beautiful hair. Now we have to shave our heads to keep them clean without the use of water."
"Desalination plants are the main source of employment and workers receive part of their salary in drinkable water. Assaults at gun point on the streets for jerry-cans of water are very common. Before, the recommended quantity of water to drink for an adult was eight glasses a day. Nowadays, I am only allowed half a glass."
The "futuristic" presentation shows the horrible appearance of the world: wrinkled, emaciated bodies due to dehydration, suffering from sores caused by ultraviolet radiation, skin cancer, gastrointestinal and urinary tract infections. Due to the excessive drying of the skin, the young people of 20 look like 40. The average life expectancy is 35 years. "In countries where some green still remains, these zones are guarded by heavily armed soldiers and water becomes a very coveted treasure, more precious than gold and diamonds."
"I remember there were SAVE WATER warnings on posters, radio and TV, but nobody paid attention. We thought that water was to last forever," the man says.
Though it looks like it was created by an amateur, the presentation whose writer is unknown delivers the message more strongly than the IPCC and its statistics: "Between one and 3.2 billion individuals will go without water each day in 2070. Between 200 and 600 million individuals won't get enough to eat. Between two and seven million men and women will have to leave their homes because of rising tide levels."
Critics say the IPCC report, authored by hundreds of climatologists around the world, is based on partial or even fallacious data and that it works for the alarmists only.
Be that as it may, for some parts of the world, 2070 is today.
On 20 April 2007, The Independent ran a report by Kathy Marks in Sydney about Australia warning its citizens that it will have to switch off the water supply to the continent's food bowl unless heavy rains break an epic drought — heralding what could be the first climate change — driven disaster to strike a developed nation.
The Murray-Darling basin in southeastern Australia yields 40 per cent of the country's agricultural produce. But the two rivers that feed the region are so pitifully low that there will soon be only enough water for drinking supplies. "Unless there is significant rainfall in the next six to eight weeks, irrigation will be banned in the principle agricultural area. Crops such as rice, cotton and wine grapes will fail, citrus, olive and almond trees will die, along with livestock. (This) spells possible ruin for thousands of farmers, already debt-laden and in despair after six years of drought," Marks says.
Now, if the Bruneians heed the environmental preservation messages repeatedly delivered by the government we will insya-Allah be spared the worst scenario. Even if we err, we'd better err on the safe side.
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