Water And The Future Of Humanity

This unique, engaging, and highly authoritative volume enlightens readers on changes needed in the way society accesses, provides, and uses water. It further shines a light on changes needed in the way we use food, energy, and other goods and services in relation to water, and offers projections and recommendations, up to 2050, that apply to water access challenges facing the poor and the common misuse of water in industry, agriculture, and municipalities. Written by an unparalleled slate of experts convened by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the book takes on one of the most critical issues on the planet today. In a frank yet optimistic assessment of major developmental challenges, but also opportunities, facing future generations, the author elucidates linkages between water and a range of other drivers from various disciplinary and stakeholder perspectives. Ultimately portraying the belief that Humanity can harness its visionary abilities, technologies, and economic resources for increased wellbeing and sound stewardship of resources, the book presents an optimistic statement stressing actions scientists, policy makers, and consumers can and must take to meet the water management challenges of a warming planet anticipating nine billion inhabitants by 2050. Gulbenkian Think Tank on Water and the Future of Humanity: Benedito Braga, Pres. World Water Council & Prof. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of São Paulo, Brazil; Colin Chatres, Director General of the International Water Management Institute, Sri Lanka; William J. Cosgrove, Pres. of Ecoconsult Inc. & Senior Adviser for the UN World Water Development Report, Canada; Luis Veiga da Cunha, Prof. Environmental Science and Engineering, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal; Peter Gleick, Pres. of the Pacific Institute, USA; Pavel Kabat, Director, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria; and Prof. & Chair, Earth Systems Science, Wageningen University, The Netherlands; Mohamed Ait Kadi, President of the General Council of Agricultural Development, Morocco; Daniel P. Loucks, Prof. of Civil Engineering, Cornell Univ. USA; Jan Lundqvist, Senior Scientific Advisor, Stockholm International Water Institute, Sweden; Sunita Narain, Director, Center for Science & Environment, New Delhi, India; Jun Xia, Pres., International Water Resources Association, Chair Prof. & Dean, The Research Institute for Water Security (RIWS), Wuhan University, China.

We need to change to solve the water crisis. It is impossible for 10 billion people to exist together on this Earth – as predicted for the year 2100 – unless the ricer part of the world no longer merely focuses on its own health, prosperity and happiness, and instead starts working seriously on developing a higher consciousness. In this essay, Cess Buisman sharply analyses some of the problems facing mankind, such as fresh water shortages, whilst overturning several clichés and offering unexpected, positive solutions. Overpopulation is not the problem; the effects of our actions on the rest of the world have a much greater impact. ‘Back to nature’ is not the solution, nor is an overreliance on science and innovation. In fact, large-scale technologies could even increase our problems. The growth of humanity depends on the growth of our consciousness. We need to change now. We Need to Change to Solve the Water Crisis, published by Bornmeer & Noordboe in 2018 as Humanity is not a Plague: How 10 Billion People can Exist Together

Selected for The Globe 100 Books in 2013. The final book in Maude Barlow’s Blue trilogy, Blue Future is a powerful, penetrating, and timely look at the global water crisis — and what we can do to prevent it. The global water crisis has dramatically deepened. The stage is being set for drought on an unprecedented scale, mass starvation, and the migration of millions of refugees leaving parched lands in search of water. The story does not need to end in tragedy. In Blue Future, international bestselling author Maude Barlow offers solutions to the global water crisis based on four simple principles. Principle One: Water Is a Human Right chronicles the long fight to have the human right to water recognized and the powerful players still impeding this progress. Principle Two: Water Is a Common Heritage and Public Trust argues that water must not become a commodity to be bought and sold on the open market. Principle Three: Water Has Rights Too makes the case for the protection of source water and the need to make our human laws compatible with those of nature. Principle Four: Water Will Teach Us How to Live Together urges us to come together around a common threat — the end of water — and find a way to live more lightly on this planet. The final instalment in Barlow’s Blue trilogy, Blue Future includes inspiring stories of struggle and resistance from marginalized communities, as well as examples of government policies that work for people and the planet. A call to action to create a water-secure world, it is, in the end, a book of hope.

Nourished by fears of global warming and climate change, water has become an issue of urgent international concern. Is flooding across Europe and Asia a warning of more extreme weather conditions in times to come? Will rising sea-levels threaten some of the most densely populated regions of the Earth. And as the world population approaches 7 billion, placing increasing demands on our limited global water supply, will there be conflict over access to water? Fundamental questions about the future of humanity are being asked, and for the first time in history they have to do with the role of water and our ability to control it. In 'A Journey in the Future of Water' leading water expert, TerjeTvedt, explores the impact of our growing water concerns. In a journey that takes him to more than twenty-five countries and across all continents he talks with water experts, politicians and local people to find out more about the ways in which different nations are seeking to respond. From Project Moses, where gigantic underwater gates will rise to prevent the inundation of Venice, to India's River Link Plan, connecting thirty-seven Himalayan rivers to rivers in the south, the author has examined some the world's largest engineering projects, travelled the great river valleys, explored the rain-soaked coasts of Scandinavia and the rain-starved deserts of the Sahara and Oman. From Las Vegas to Lourdes, from Norway to the Nile, he has taken part in water festivals and rituals in Africa and India, travelled to poor nomadic societies and some of the largest cities in the world, in order to better understand this most precious of resources and its determining role in the life of the planet. The result is both one of the most comprehensive and accessible accounts of current and future global water issues and a celebration of water itself.

This volume collects essays from academics and practitioners from a diversity of areas and perspectives in order to discuss water security at various levels and to illuminate the central idea of water security: its focus on the individual. Beginning with the big picture, this book aims to illustrate the depth of the water security crisis and its interconnections with other aspects of societal development. It particularly draws a connection to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and discusses that challenges faced in meeting the 17 sustainability development goals (SDG) by the year 2030. Moving from international to domestic and community perspectives, this book provides a unique analysis of issues and solutions to the water issues we face today in light of the ever looming global changes brought on by climate change. Over the past few decades the recognition of our common need for water has increased, as policymakers have sought to place more focus on the individual within policy. After the recognition of water and sanitation as a fundamental human right by the United Nations General Assembly in 2010, there is increasing recognition of the individual as the building block for the struggle for water security. This reality also intersects with adverse impacts of global climate change, and the book responds to the broader question: will clean and safe water be available where we need it and when we need it in the future?

Today, 785 million people are living without access to safe water. Water-related illnesses are responsible for almost 1 million deaths each year. Clean water should be a basic human right, but far too few people have access to it. With this informative book, readers will study the global water crisis, how it reached its current state, and its impact on the environment and human lives. Real-life examples of the steps being taken to save Earth's water resources and improve the quality and availability of drinking water will inspire budding environmentalists to take action.

People are increasingly aware of the role that water has in shaping society and how it impacts quality of life. This is the first book to provide a holistic perspective on water, capturing the full breadth of the science, technology, policy, history, and future outlook for the most important substance on earth — written at a level accessible to non-experts in each of these areas.Water is shockingly bizarre in its properties and of unsurpassed importance throughout human history, yet so mundane as to often be invisible in our daily lives. In Water Is ..., the two Seths (Darling and Snyder) walk the reader through all of the diverse perspectives on water. The journey begins with an exploration of the mysteries of water's properties on the molecular level, zooming out through its central role at biological and geological scales. Next, the Seths travel through the history of human civilization, highlighting the fundamental part water has played throughout, including the complexities of water policy, privatization, and pricing in today's world. Attention then turns to technology and innovation, emphasizing the daunting challenges dictated by increasing water stress and a changing climate as well as the enticing opportunities to achieve a secure global water future.Water is arguably the single most interdisciplinary topic. Students in business, policy, history, science, and engineering can best position themselves to make an impact by learning about the entire range of diverse, unexpected, and fascinating angles on water.Related Link(s)

How changing the way we think about water and energy can secure the long-term sustainability of both precious resources Although it is widely understood that energy and water are the world's two most critical resources, their vital interconnections and vulnerabilities are less often recognized. This farsighted book offers a new, holistic way of thinking about energy and water--a big picture approach that reveals the interdependence of the two resources, identifies the seriousness of the challenges, and lays out an optimistic approach with an array of solutions to ensure the continuing sustainability of both. Michael Webber, a leader and teacher in the field of energy technology and policy, explains how energy and water supplies are linked and how problems in either can be crippling for the other. He shows that current population growth, economic growth, climate change, and short-sighted policies are likely to make things worse. Yet, Webber asserts, more integrated planning with long-term sustainability in mind can avert such a daunting future. Combining anecdotes and personal stories with insights into the latest science of energy and water, he identifies a hopeful path toward wise long-range water-energy decisions and a more reliable and abundant future for humanity.