CLIMATE CHANGE: The Consequences of a Global Water Shortage

By Jennifer Carpenter

While the oil crisis is getting lots of press there is another more critical resource shortage that is falling mostly under the radar. I'm talking about the global water shortage which threatens drinking water and crop production around the world.

According to Charity water, a non-profit committed to bringing clean drinking water to people who don't have it, 1.1 billion people around the world don't have access to clean drinking water. As more and more water gets polluted that statistic will rise.

There are many things ruining the state of our drinking water including old pipes and rusting structures running under most American cities, major droughts, and the prevalence of asphalt roads covering the country. Older pipes are falling apart and contaminating the liquid that runs through them. There are many parts of the country where the water coming out of their taps is brown. Other areas are recommended to boil their water from time to time due to contamination.

Some municipalities have treated their water with so much chlorine that it is barely drinkable. Meanwhile asphalt roads prevent water from being absorbed and instead directs it to runoff to the side where is become practically useless. State and local authorities have only a few choices between filtering dirty water and desalinating salt water. Both options are extremely expensive and somewhat inefficient.

The shortage also affects irrigation to crops. Without water for growing food, farmers won't be able to produce enough to stay in business and the price of food will go through the roof. Even now, some farmers in parts of the western United States have to think up alternative ways to irrigate their land since their regular water sources are running dry.

As it becomes more difficult to get, the price of clean and drinkable water will become out of reach for many families both here in American and around the world. The market for water will become more volatile than that of oil. In fact it's likely that the water shortage will put the world's oil shortage to shame.

Only by careful conservation and drastically changing out overly wasteful ways will there be any chance of slowing down or even possibly stopping the global shortage. Government official have to start taking water conservation seriously by passing laws to prevent wasting water and fixing the decrepit structures around our cities. At home every person should be shutting off faucets when washing dishes or brushing teeth; installing water saving shower fixtures, toilets, dishwashers and washing machines; and only running appliances when full.

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ZEITGEIST: Organic Farming - Small and Local

By F. Tadesse

I am convinced that truly organic farming can be done better by smaller farms.The bigger the farm is the more likely that the farm has to resort to methods that are not organic and environmentally sustainable. The sheer size of the farm demands it. Many people must feel the same way because CSAs, (community supported agriculture) are becoming very popular.

What are CSAs? CSA's are farms where the surrounding community is directly involved with the growing of food. People become members of a CSA and pay membership fee and for that they get weekly seasonal vegetables and fruits throughout the growing season.

Members share the risk that is involved in farming such as not getting good crop because of bad weather or blight. CSA were first created about 20 years ago in the 80s to practice farming in an ecologically balanced manner.These farms use Organic or biodynamic farming methods. There are about 2,500 CSAs throughout the US according to LocalHarvest, an organic and local food website. The idea for this kind of farming came from Europe. Here in the US these farms were first started in the North east and now has spread to the West Coast. In some parts of the country there are not enough of these farms to keep up with the demand (information source the USDA).

There are many advantages for both the farmer and the members to this kind of community farming. For the farmer he gets to spend less time marketing and gets to sell his products before his long 16 hour days in the field starts. He has enough cash flow to run things smoothly. Farming risks are shared with the community.
For the CSA members it is getting the freshest, in season, local, and organic foods. Reconnecting to the land and knowing where their food comes from is another. Getting to know the farmer who grows yo food is really wonderful. Another unexpected benefit is kids seem to like eating vegetables from these farms that they would not eat if bought from a supermarket..

So with community supported agriculture people gain back sense of real community, that sense of connection to each other and to that of the land and our stewardship of the environment.

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