Once-lush Mediterranean turning to desert. Italy’s largest environmental protection group, Legambiente (League for the Environment) recently published a report on the growing desertification of southern Europe, in which it is estimated that 74 million acres of once fertile land along the Mediterranean are becoming desert.
The report called for immediate water conservation measures, saying that the desertification was due to depletion of ground water going to agriculture.
Italy has about 5 million cattle and, according to the UN report “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” both beef and dairy production consume immense amounts of water.
Moreover, because of the current level of depletion and proximity to the sea, once the sweet water is pumped out of the underground aquifers it is being replaced by salty ocean water, which in turns renders the farmland useless.
Our sincere thanks Legambiente, for advising of these immediate concerns that confront southern Europe.
May citizens of the region and indeed all nations switch now to the water-conserving and life-saving plant-based diet. In the face of growing scarcities, Supreme Master Ching Hai frequently reminds that a primary key to water conservation is to halt livestock raising, as she shared in a March
2009 videoconference discussion with Juice Fast parti cipants from California, USA.
Supreme Master Ching Hai: Stockholm International Water Institute states that 70% of water is used by agriculture. Of that amount, a lot of it is going into planting corn and soy and that is to feed animals, not humans! That’s why we’re short of water, short of food. It’s a waste of precious food.
Not just our precious water as well.
At a time when we have water shortage and all the reservoirs are dwindling at such an alarming rate, we are truly afraid that even if we don’t take shower at all, it will not do much help because all the human uses and everything together is only 30% of water around the world. Everything else is mostly used for meat industry.
Meat industry should be cut. That will help the planet. That will help to reserve our water, to refill our lakes and our rivers again.
So if we really want to save the water for the world to be able to use for our daily necessity, not to talk about future generations, then we have to change to a vegetarian diet, animal-free diet.
Referencehttp://www.digitaljournal.com/article/274958 http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2009-06-25_125345332.html http://www.cababstractsplus.org/abstracts/Abstract.aspx?AcNo=19960102315 http://www.legambiente.eu/documenti/2009/0129_aboutLegambiente/index.php High school students invent solar water purification system. After a series of hurricanes struck Haiti last year, a team of students from Gulliver Preparatory School in Florida, USA wanted to see what they could do to help. When they learned of the need for clean drinking water, the team of students found that purification of contaminated water with UV (ultraviolet)
light was the most effective treatment.
They then went on to design a solar-powered system with wheels for easy transport, and a grant from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology enabled them to build a prototype for US$5,000.
In the upcoming school year, the students plan to build another system, which they will give to a charitable organization serving children in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Gulliver Prep School students, you have our accolades and admiration for your creative innovation and for applying your talents and teamwork to benefit others.
May Heaven bless people in Haiti and everywhere with accessible, clean and fresh water.
In recognition of their remarkable accomplishments, Supreme Master Ching Hai is bestowing the Gulliver Prep School students with the Shining World Inventor Award, as well as US$20,000 to further their good cause.
Referencehttp://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/family-life/kids/gulliver-prep-helps-haitians.htmlhttp://www.miamiherald.com/295/story/1133650.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulliver_Preparatory_School Extra NewsAmerican Artist Ann Wizer starts the XSproject, which provides extra income to people picking up plastic waste in Jakarta, Indonesia, that she collects and then transforms into usable accessories.
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2009/07/08/iyw.xsproject.jakarta.cnn?iref=24hours Researchers in Florida, USA caution that the state’s Keys, a coastal region of some 80,000 residents surrounded by the third largest barrier reef in the world, is threatened by rising sea levels, with even best case predictions indicating complete submergence by 2100.
http://www.fiu.edu/~mozumder/ http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2009/06/29/Rising-sea-levels-threatening-Florida-Keys/
UPI-86431246292593/ http://news.fiu.edu/?p=3261 Israeli company 3GSolar develops the first commercial-size solar energy system that uses colored dyes rather than the more costly silicon and also functions in sunless conditions. For this beneficial innovation, Supreme Master Ching Hai is conferring the Shining World Inventor Award upon 3GSolar, along with a US$10,000 donation to support their good cause.
http://globalgoodnews.com/business-news-a.html?art=12471629616848846 A so-called passive and eco-friendly heating technique developed in Sweden is becoming more popular, as it combines the radiant heat of household appliances and human inhabitants with well-insulated walls and roofs, for an energy savings of up to 90%.
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2009/07/09/gg.boulden.sweden.passive.houses.cnn?iref=24hours http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Work-live/Sustainability/blog-about-sustainability/
Passive-houses-for-a-better-climate/
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