For over the past few months, my brother and I have been discussing declining water resources in China and India, whom together account for 1/3 of the world's population. And although they hold such a substantial percentage of 6.7 billion people, both India and China are far below the global average of water resources (per capita). A low-carbon developmental path must be taken in order to avoid both environmental and humanitarian disaster.
Although it is easy to forget our very distant neighbors, it hits much closer to home when you realize that many have close familial ties to these nations, such as myself.
A UN study two years ago stated that if climate changes continued at its present pace, over the next 30 years 80% of the Himalayan glaciers would disappear. As we know, over 1 billion people in these areas rely on this water to survive. And so for the future, this means a serious lack of water supply and a serious likelihood of international disputes.
Today marks the date when only 100 days remain until the Copenhagen Climate Summit.
http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=1987
"The United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 will be the most important international gathering since the end of the Second World War. We have now just 100 days left before that meeting to put in place all of the elements of a strong international agreement."
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Shilpa this will be a very interesting display of national needs versus international benefits. I'm glad you talked about this... I don't think many people are aware of the significance of this climate summit!
ReplyDeleteNik