World Water Week in Sweden Affects All of Us

August 12 -18 , 2007, Stockholm hosts over 2500 water experts from 140 organizations for a conference to discuss and debate shortages and water quality caused by climate change and pollution. North Americans are Earth's wasteful water hogs, using twice as much as Europeans and almost 400% more than what someone who is lucky gets from a developing nation .

While the average European uses 200 litres of water every day, North Americans use 400 litres, and the average poor person in the developing world uses 10 litres of water every day for their drinking, washing and cooking.

More water goes on someone's lawn in America than goes to a struggling malnourished child in a developing nation. Food and water are in a symbiotic stormy relationship, forever. Add in the causes for Climate Change and we have a disaster of epic proportions washing over us. Many of the fresh water sources around the world are polluted or used poorly, creating more devastating water shortages because of our human need for food. It is a vicious cycle.

An example, corn is a crop turned into ethanol, a biofuel product that fetches super big buck$ on the market. In order to raise corn, it needs to get wet and stay wet, especially during droughts. More corn (one of many crops) is turned into a biofuel just as population rates soar requiring more food and water. Increasingly, corn is used to make fuel efficient energy to reduce reliance on imported oil. More cars than ever before, means more corn needed, resulting in more hungry desperate people and dirtier air. More poor farmers must sell to the highest bidders, biofuel processors. This means less corn on the cob. Check the tiny fine print on the labels in your kitchen cabinet. Corn is a staple in many food products, especially the sweet ones with high fructose corn syrup as an ingredient. High fructose corn syrup is the best thing to happen to corporate farmers, known as the big giant agribusinesses, because food costs more as certain crops become scarce, like corn. Executives of these business get great bonuses for bidding up the price of corn as they also wheel and deal for great tax subsidies for water.

If water is polluted by, let's say a nearby cow pasture, then people can die. Ecoli contamination is one of the potential deadly results of polluted water sources. This was an issue with spinach in California. What type of farm or business is next to a water source matters. Sanitation matters. Who is watching to ensure nations trading and selling their crops used clean water before the food is on the table?

Bank and company investments in the water sector and water management between neighboring states (sic, countries) will also be broached during World Water Week.

A July Release book is The Blue Death: Disease, Disaster and the Water We Drink by Dr. Robert Morrison enlightens every one to the perils of water borne diseases and toxins in drinking water - especially American drinking water which is after all, in a first world nation.

Are you excited about Water Week now?