The Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2009

Posted on April 30, 2009 by Paul Stewart

Washington DC, (April 27, 2009)—Legislation introduced in the House of Representatives on Earth Day would put the United States in the lead of responding to the worldwide crisis in drinking water and sanitation. The new bill, “The Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2009,” commits the U.S. to extending safe, affordable and sustainable supplies of water and sanitation to 100 million people by 2015. Joining companion legislation introduced in the Senate last month, this major bipartisan initiative would put the U.S. in the forefront of addressing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for drinking water and sanitation.

Water Advocates commends Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), George Miller (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT), John Boozman (R-AZ), Dan Burton (R-IN), Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), and Zach Wamp (R-TN) and the Senate’s lead sponsors who introduced companion legislation in March: Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bob Corker (R-TN) and Susan Collins (R-ME).

“No other country has set out to reach as many people in need of safe drinking water and basic sanitation in this period of time,” said David Douglas, President of Water Advocates. “This is one of the most effective actions the United States can take to improve health worldwide.”

Nearly a billion people currently lack access to safe water, and 2.5 billion people lack a way to dispose of their human wastes safely. More than two dozen resulting diseases—including cholera, typhoid, hookworm and schistosomiasis—trigger the world’s most serious public health problem. Diarrheal dehydration caused by these diseases kills more children than AIDS, malaria and TB combined.

Development experts point out that inadequate water and sanitation undermine not only global health but efforts to protect the environment, keep children in school, and empower women. Women and children, as the primary water-haulers across the developing world, bear the brunt of this crisis.

“The Water for the World Act answers the call to act and helps build a healthier, safer and more equitable future,” said bill sponsor Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR).

The bill would also strengthen the capacity of USAID and U.S. Department of State to ramp up U.S. developmental and diplomatic leadership, while buttressing American private-citizen initiatives to provide safe, affordable and sustainable drinking water and basic sanitation. The bill builds on the similarly-named landmark 2005 legislation (“The Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act”) that at long last made safe drinking water and sanitation a priority of U.S. foreign development assistance.

“This new legislation is critical for bringing support—both financial and human—for the water and sanitation crisis to respectable levels,” said Patricia Simon, wife of the late Senator Paul Simon. “We shouldn’t forget that this problem is solvable; we know the solutions.”

Visit http://www.wateradvocates.org/ for more details on how you can help overcome the issues and access to potable water.

WHO raises swine flu alert level

Posted on April 28, 2009 by Paul Stewart

From the BBC…

Level four means the virus is showing a sustained ability to pass from human to human, and is able to cause community-level outbreaks.

“What this can really be interpreted as is a significant step towards pandemic influenza. But also, it is a phase that says we are not there yet,” Mr Fukuda said.

“In other words, at this time we think we have taken a step in that direction, but a pandemic is not considered inevitable.”

He said the virus had become too widespread to make containment a feasible option, and said countries must focus on trying to put measures in place to protect the population.

He also stressed that the experts did not recommend closing borders or restricting travel. “With the virus being widespread… closing borders or restricting travel really has very little effects in stopping the movement of this virus,” he said.

Lots of details here leading from this BBC article…

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Asian developments here at The Bangkok Post | Thailand and here

Southeast Asia Faces Soaring Economic Costs If Climate Change Action Delayed - New Study

Posted on April 28, 2009 by Paul Stewart

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Southeast Asia, one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to climate change, faces a poorer future unless global warming is controlled, says a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) study.

The Economics of Climate Change in Southeast Asia: A Regional Review can be downloaded from this page.

Using reviews of previous studies, impact assessment models and extensive consultations with national and regional climate change experts, the study examines climate change challenges facing Southeast Asian nations, both now and in the future.

The study finds that the benefits to the region of taking early action against climate change far outweigh the costs.

If the world continues with business as usual, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam could experience combined damages equivalent to more than 6% of their countries’ gross domestic products every year by the end of this century, dwarfing the costs of the current financial crisis.

Rice production will dramatically decline because of climate change, threatening food security. Rising sea levels will force the relocation of millions living in coastal communities and islands, and more people will die from thermal stress, malaria, dengue and other diseases.

“Climate change seriously threatens Southeast Asia’s families, food supplies and financial prosperity, and regrettably the worst is yet to come,” says Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, Vice-President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development.

“With the world mired in the current financial crisis, climate change risks being pushed down the policy agenda,” she adds. “If Southeast Asian nations delay action on climate change, their economies and people will ultimately suffer.”

The report argues that Southeast Asian nations should address the dual threats of climate change and the global financial crisis by introducing green stimulus programs - as part of larger stimulus packages - that can simultaneously strengthen economies, create jobs, reduce poverty, protect vulnerable communities and lower emissions.

There are a series of cost-effective measures that can help countries protect themselves from the worst effects of climate change, including improving water management, enhancing irrigation systems, introducing new crop varieties, safeguarding forests and supporting the construction of protective sea walls.

The study also notes there are “win-win” mitigation options in the energy sector - particularly more efficient power plants, more energy-efficient lighting, appliances and industrial equipment, and cleaner transportation - that could allow Southeast Asian nations to mitigate carbon emissions up to 40% by 2020 at a negative net cost.

“Countries have everything to gain and nothing to lose by investing in these low-cost and no-cost adaptation and mitigation measures,” says Ms. Schaefer-Preuss.

The forestry sector is the largest contributor to Southeast Asia’s greenhouse gas emissions, and has the greatest potential to reduce the region’s emissions through reduced deforestation, the planting of new forests and improved forest management.

Southeast Asia also has the highest technical potential to sequester carbon in the agriculture sector of any region of the world.

All four countries have adopted wide-ranging measures to counter the harsh impacts of climate change, but the study says they could do more to tap the broad array of global and regional initiatives that offer funding, technology and other support for countering climate threats.

At the same time, many climate challenges could be more effectively countered through closer regional cooperation, particularly in the areas of water basin management, shared marine ecosystems, extreme weather events and the containment of infectious diseases.

Since the negative impacts of climate change will continue to worsen, the study finds that only global action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions can effectively address the root causes of the current climate crisis.

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Drought threatens 'Garden of Eden' marshes in Iraq

Posted on April 23, 2009 by Paul Stewart

HADI MIZBAN, Associated Press Writer reports from the Southern Iraq – Wed Apr 15.

HOR AL-HAMMAR, Iraq – A severe drought is threatening Iraq’s southern marshes — the traditional site of the biblical Garden of Eden — just as the region was recovering from Saddam Hussein’s draining of its lakes and swamps to punish a political rebellion.

The Marsh Arab culture existed for more than 5,000 years in the 8,000 square miles of wetlands fed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The marshes boasted hundreds of species of birds and fish, and periodic flooding created fertile farm lands.

The flooded, flat plain is said to have played an important role in the development of an agriculture-based culture that helped raise civilization to new heights. Some biblical scholars identified the vast marshes — the most extensive wetlands in the Middle East — as the site of the fabled Garden of Eden.

Read article…

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World's major rivers 'drying up'

Posted on April 22, 2009 by Paul Stewart

Matt McGrath, the BBC’s environment reporter studies a recent report published by the American Meteorological Society’s (AMS) Journal of Climate.

From the Yellow river in northern China to the Ganges in India to the Colorado river in the United States - the US scientists say that the major sources of fresh water for much of the world’s population are in decline.

The researchers analysed water flows in more than 900 rivers over a 50-year period to 2004.

They found that there was an overall decline in the amount of water flowing into the world’s oceans.

Much of the reduction has been caused by human activities such as the building of dams and the diversion of water for agriculture.

But the researchers highlighted the contribution of climate change, saying that rising temperatures were altering rainfall patterns and increasing rates of evaporation.