With much of the US and the world media preoccupied with the war with Iraq, its aftermath and the battle against international terrorism, a much less visible showdown is taking shape over the US' and the world's energy and environmental issues. These are not simply issues left for debate by the politicians, governments and environmentalists, but they are serious symptoms of Earth's ecology and human health that the media will report on and tend to let drop in light of the continuing war talk.
The ravages of war, such as the devastation shown here in Yugoslavia in 1999, may well result over environmental issues, such as drinking water, in the near future.
Even United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan declared in the spring of 2002 that future wars would likely be fought over water rights and access. And sure enough, we are seeing reports from the media that the world's potable water supply may very well not meet human water demands by 2045. This has appeared in numerous reports, albeit buried deeper in the mainstream publications and certainly not carried everyday. Yet the looming war between Iraq and the US and international political maneuvering continue.
And what about global warming…?
The world's energy sources. (Source: Understanding Energy 2003)
Surprisingly, global warming - so much in the news a couple of years ago - appears all but absent from the current debate. This coverage is usually couched in a more political context that covers access to federal lands for energy exploration, easing - or tightening - of restrictions on businesses, power plants and property owners in meeting regulated standards for clean air, clean water and the preservation of endangered species.
As a result, most of us have come to see the environmental status quo as a showdown between those who believe current energy and environmental laws hamper industrial development and endanger the nation's economy and those who argue that any relaxation of these laws will do irreparable harm. The showdown stakes are high, yet the information is colored by debate.
According to the World Water Development report, drinkable water per person is expected to fall, leaving between two - seven billion people with scarce drinking water. Already, one person in five has little or no potable water. Fresh water sources such as rivers and snow melts (right) are under stress from use and pollution of the rising population.
Consider one the recent top environmental stories covered by the media. In 2001, the Bush administration rejected the Kyoto treaty, which called for mandatory reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, primarily on economic grounds, saying that compliance with the treaty could stifle growth. Instead, the administration called for voluntary measures by American business to slow the rate of carbon dioxide emissions that cause greenhouse gases and contribute to global warming and promising to consider additional measures if more scientific evidence is produced indicating a higher risk.
That additional evidence is mounting almost by the day. And to find the evidence, we have to look beyond the mainstream political headlines and stories to the sources that are directly connected to the trenches, so to speak.
Consider these stories -- the bad and the good -- that have generally been missing from the mainstream national and international headlines but appear in various other places:
One of the world's leading experts on climate change, Tom Wigley of the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, recently warned that rising global temperatures could destroy the Amazon rainforest, which in turn would cause a catastrophic build-up of carbon dioxide further accelerating global warming.
Scientists at the University of Michigan say they have found growing evidence that there is clear link between climate change and outbreaks of cholera, a serious health problem in many parts of the world.
The United Nations warned last month that mercury pollution must be tackled before global warming exacerbates its toxic effects. The U.N. Environment Program said coal-fired power plants and mining activity has tripled mercury levels in the air since pre-industrial times. Mercury works its way into the food chain, with women and children most at risk from poisoning, which can cause brain and nerve damage.
According to a February report by the Carbon Disclosure Project, global warming is set to have a big impact on financial markets as investors revalue companies based on their exposure to climate change. Agriculture and tourism sectors appear to be the most vulnerable.
The nation's crippled economy and high electricity costs have produced an unusual environmental bonus in the United States. In 2001, emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases declined for the first time in a decade. Still, the trend of annual increases in carbon dioxide is expected to continue as the nation's economy improves.
Microbes in the water of Boston Harbor may have a greater capacity to devour fuel waste than originally thought, suggesting the harbor could cleanse itself within 20 years, according to a CNN report.
Will the Arctic ice cap turn into Arctic slush? According to NASA scientists, the permanent Arctic ice cover is melting at a rate three times faster than previously thought, with much of it attributed to global warming. At this rate, the polar ice cap will be gone by the end of this century. (Photo: NOAA)
The melting of the Arctic ice cap and the glaciers of Greenland reached unprecedented levels last summer, citing human-driven changes to the environment as significant contributors.
Continued melting of the world's largest ice mass, the ice of Antarctica -- with its unprecedented spawning of massive icebergs and accelerated melting -- is expected to create sea level rises that will engulf many land masses in the future.
These news stories lie at the heart of the continuing debates, but their true value appears muted by the debate. They are the direct symptoms of our planetary health that need attention -- what is right and what needs help -- even as the world prepares for war and confronts international terrorism.
And then there is the story of the Antarctic Patagonian toothfish which recently traveled to the northern waters of Greenland, catching a very deep, cold ocean current to migrate underneath the warm tropical waters across the equator. It's an innocent comment to us that says how totally interconnected this planet is and that, aside from human activity, nature somehow finds a way.
-- John Palmer
Did You Know?
Alternative energy today meets only about 13.8% of the world's power demands.
Every minute enough of the Sun's energy reaches the Earth's surface to meet the world's energy demands for a whole year.
The Earth contains about 326 million cubic miles of water, with 97 percent of that -- over 316 million cubic miles -- existing in the oceans.
About 70% of the world's fresh water supplies is contained in the Antarctic ice cover. Yet overall, only .3% of the world's total water supply is usable by humans. That's less than one million cubic miles!
The Earth's atmosphere currently contains about 750 billion tons of carbon dioxide. When coupled with the fact that the world's oceans and forests are only absorbing about 50% of the the world's carbon dioxide emissions, there's no wonder the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts a 5.8% rise in the average global temperature this century. (Source: ECO Farmers Association)
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said in November 2002: " The lesson [of war] to be drawn is that modern warfare needs environmental rules, just as earlier wars highlighted the need to regulate the impact of war on civilians and prisoners of war."
