In the world of ocean conservation, most people certainly know Danson’s name. He recently released his book Oceana, a compelling analysis of ocean degradation and efforts to stop it.

“For over 20 years, I’ve been watching this issue grow and build in the public consciousness and I am convinced that we’re now at a tipping point. The rise in awareness of, and fight against, climate change has convinced me that people are ready for a book to that brings to light the critical issues regarding the future of our oceans,” said Danson.

When off the set of shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and Bored to Death, Danson is busy lecturing on the significance of ocean degradation and damages to marine life from ocean acidification, global overfishing, and global climate change.

According to an article published on looktothestars.org, Danson lobbied for ocean conservation in front of Congress and the Senate. Danson also narrated The End of the Line, a documentary that spelled out the harsh realities of ocean degradation.

To learn more about Danson’s commitment to ocean conservation, please check out his organization Oceana.org

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The central government plans to spend an additional 2.2 billion yuan for drought relief equipment and supplies. Reports indicate that residents in China’s mountainous regions are suffering directly from the drought. 

Crop production has declined and residents of rural and mountainous areas are walking even longer distances to find clean drinking water. The central government also confirmed that 1.4 billion yuan would subsidize rural residents who are feeling the drought more than others. 

Thus far, reports indicate that 3.2 million people have been affected by the drought. But, if the drought persists into the month of March 2011, it is estimated that water supplies to one million people will cease.  

One million people without access to clean water supplies in a country advancing as rapidly as China seems strange. But no amount of economic growth or infrastructural development can contend with the forces of nature. 

If the drought in China persists, there is a risk of increased rates of hunger, decreased exports of agricultural goods, and the fundamental vulnerability of the population of the People’s Republic of China. 

How can the country continue to flourish if citizens are left without necessary water supplies to conduct their lives and business as usual? The central government’s response to the droughts in China will indeed demonstrate the country’s commitment to upholding the ideal that water is a human right. 

So far, government investments in measures to prevent the drought from crippling parts of the country have amounted to billions of yuan. Ironically, a Chinese proverb warns that calling on a doctor in sickness is like digging a well when you’re thirsty. Hence, billions of yuan investments in water conservation projects directly contrast the ancient word of wisdom. Perhaps agreeing on an international carbon emission policy on climate change would do the trick? If you enjoyed this article, you should also read:

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The event began in 1990 by the Brainerd chapter of the United States Junior Chamber as an effort to empower youth, impact the local community, and support local charities. In the first year of the BJIE, the event netted $5,000. Now, in its 21^st year, the event nets roughly $500,000 and counting.

Mary Devine, marketing coordinator and past chairman of BJIE, told WaterWideWeb “Estimates based on information from the Brainerd Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce indicate that the event fuels $2 million into the local economy.”

Brainerd is the hub of Minnesota’s lake country. It’s a popular summer tourist destination but visits to the area are less frequent during the frigid winter months. So, the BJIE presents an opportunity for local businesses to earn extra income in the off season.

Approximately $250,000 of BJIE earnings are given to local charities each year. Seventy percent of this ice fishing philanthropy is allocated yearly to the Confidence Learning Center, a program that facilitates outdoor activities for individuals with developmental disabilities.

BJIE assures responsible fishing in Brainerd waters as well. Competitive fishing events pose a threat to the ecological environment of lakes and freshwater ecosystems if careful attention is not paid to balancing the amount of fish retrieved and returned to the freshwater system.

“We make a contribution to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources every year,” assured Devine. More than 100,000 fish are returned to the lake after the competition. This amount totals more than the fish removed, according to Devine.

Unfortunately, the environment of Brainerd has suffered from the adverse affects of global climate change. As a result, the cost-effective sport of ice fishing has become increasingly popular. “Over the past ten years, the weather pattern has altered. We haven’t had enough snow to support winter sports like skiing and snowmobiling,” informed Devine.

The natives of Minnesota are adapting to these moderate climate changes by adopting new hobbies, most notably, ice fishing. “Snow fall is not the same as it has been historically. I’m sure local businessmen have seen the increase in fishing equipment sold,” noted Devine. Product development for ice fishing is occurring rapidly and the sport is garnering more attention. Ironically, global climate change is accompanied by changes in leisure time activities as well.

The BJIE is more than a gathering of thirteen thousand men, women, youth and prime aged in ice cold competition for cash and prizes. The competition is a boost to the local economy, and a family fun activity. Collaboration with Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources is also a noble and public endeavor to promote fish friendly competition in Brainerd.

WaterWideWeb will follow up with the BJIE committee to report on the event winners and other eco-friendly facets of the event. Stay tuned for more on ice fishing in Brainerd.

The photo above was provided by the Brainerd Jaycee Ice Fishing Extravaganza Committee.

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Australia’s coal and mining industry are suspended and farming operations are at a standstill. Damages incurred by the floods could total up to $5 billion.The economy of Australia, which is largely contingent upon agriculture, has been completely compromised by the floods.

Eight people were reported dead and seventy-two others are missing because of the torrential rain. Over 200,000 people have been affected by the floods. Civilians livelihoods have been washed away with the overwhelming amounts of rain that have swept the countryside.

Water management policy in Australia is mostly geared toward stewarding resources efficiently. However, the water world will witness a complete shift in Australian natural resource policy as officials respond to the floods.

The tricky part of managing water resources appropriately, is that unexpected natural events occur. Timely revisions in Australia’s national water management policy must be implemented to address the crisis. Of course, the rising water level is just the first consequence of the floods. The real trouble for Australia lies ahead.

Crops from irrigated farming will undoubtedly be compromised due to the flooding rains. Other deleterious affects brought on by the disaster will only compound the socio-economic problem that the country now grapples with. One has to wonder if an impending food shortage will follow the floods, since harvests may not yield the same output as prior years. Public health and safety, and the spread of communicable diseases is a major concern in the flood equation as well.

The international community will surely have to invest and intervene in relief efforts for Australia. A formal “meeting of the minds” to discuss short and long term consequences of the flooding is required to mitigate the devastation before it gets any worse.

At present, the country exists in a perpetual state of water crisis. Unfortunately, Australia now faces the other side of the water crisis coin. Infrastructure to deal with an event such as flash flooding was not in place. And consequently, civilians are suffering more because of it.

Water reform policy will be in interesting outcome of Australia’s unfortunate tragedy. Adapting to the exact antithesis of what has plagued the nation for a decade, will prove arduous yet interesting. Moderating existing policy and planning for future legislation must be tackled systematically such that short term needs of civilians are satisfied while long term investments in the economy are secured.

The floods in Australia undermine sustainable development on several fronts. The country has suffered a serious blow to the economy, infrastructure is toppled, and people have been internally displaced from their homes and livelihood.

Cyclic drought and flooding is typically common in Least Developed Countries. However, seeing such an event wipe out an industrialized nation puts issues like global climate change and water resource management at the top of the international agenda.

For everything that remains out of human control, officials must grab the reigns on what is in our control. Organizing a comprehensive water management agenda that prioritizes an enforceable global climate change policy and includes a budget for disaster relief needs to be agreed upon by developing and industrialized countries. Because the floods are not just Australia’s problem, they are the world’s problem. And the world must join in solidarity to implement a reasonable solution.

The photo above is credited to Business Insider.

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Mohammad Rakibul Hasan, a photojournalist, captured the faces of Bengali climate displaced people in his series Climate Genocide, Hasan evocatively depicts the cyclones’ immediate effect on the local community of Bangladesh in a series of black and white photos.

“Cyclone victims have to leave their homes and migrate to other dry areas. In the coastal area, people have to gather safe drinking water from distant villages,” said Hasan.

Photo Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

In 2007, Cyclone Sidr was named the strongest cyclone in the Bay of Bengal ever. Damages totaled approximately$450 million. The capital city of Dhaka was severely affected by the cyclone. Electricity and water services were cut as a result of the disaster.

Agricultural projects were destroyed as a result of the cyclone. Rice crops were wiped out. According to Hasan, climate refugees migrated to Dhaka in search of job opportunities. But with the agricultural center, these jobs were likely not as readily available.

Cyclone Sidr claimed the lives of roughly 3,447 people. Entire communities collapsed. Post cyclone relief efforts in Dhaka required a fundamental society restructuring because   schools and houses were lost as a result of the cyclone. But the climate displaced people had scant options when they were forced to relocate after the disaster.

Photo Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

Two years after Cyclone Sidr, Cyclone Aila hit Bangladesh, leaving even more desperation in its wake. Overall, 2.6 million people were affected by Cyclone Aila. The torrential rains that followed cyclone Aila resulted in approximately 179 casualties, 800 injured people, and over 400,000 people isolated from aid efforts. Roughly 500,000 people were left homeless.

In Hasan’s photographs, one sees the face of climate displaced people and the impact of global climate change in a new way. Global climate change does not discriminate against factors such as age or gender. Mostly, Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island States (SIS) disproportionately bare the environmental consequences of ineffective climate policies of industrialized nations.

The work of Mohammad Hassan is crucial to the fight for effective climate policy because his images speak louder than words. Statistics and reports do not have a face or a name. However, photojournalism is a key element in raising awareness about the severity of global climate change on vulnerable populations.

A passive approach to global climate change is no longer a viable alternative to strict policy efforts by governments and the international community. Efforts can either be invested in long term sustainable solutions or in an ever present and ready emergency relief response.

Climate change is altering the world as we know it, and it’s starting with communities that are already struggling with poverty. For Hassan and other photojournalists, the works speaks for those who can’t speak for themselves. It’s up to the rest of the world to move towards effective decisions inspired by this compelling image, photograph by photograph.

The first photograph in this article was provided by Mohammad Rakibul Hasan.

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Improved models and predictability of the global water and energy cycle are increasingly important as the Earth faces a global water crisis. Researchers in the WECFA keep track of trends in the rate of the Earths’ water and energy cycles. They also predict changes in the frequency and intensity of related meteorological and hydrological events like floods and droughts.

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Water and energy cycles are continuously shifting especially as water resources are influenced by global climate change. NASA researchers are investing efforts in managing data that will allow policy makers to make informed decisions about water budgets and resources. Without this data, the world community will be inadequately prepared to face shifting weather patterns induced by global climate change.

Facing a new world that is climate compromised and ever changing requires qualitative and quantitative reports about the shifts and trends that influence weather patterns. Water is integral to life on the planet environmentally and meterologically. Studying in advance is preparing in advance.

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Peter Harvey, Senior Adviser of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), told WaterWideWeb, “Access to local water resources increases women’s opportunities and raises women’s rights in the developing world”.

In a survey conducted by UNICEF in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO), survey results found that in 45 developing countries, 76 percent of those who collected water where either women or girls. “Reducing distance traveled or time spent collecting water will benefit women and girls far more than anyone else in the community,” said Harvey.

In sub-Saharan African, 25 percent of the female population spends roughly thirty minutes round trip gathering water on a daily basis. Water supply management at the community level is largely handled by women since their lives are impacted by access to water more than others.

“Clean water is a step toward hygiene promotion, which obviously is primarily linked to reduction to mortality”, continued Harvey. Hygiene within the school environment, at home, and with food is ultimately increased when no clean water is available.

When hygiene and health improve in local communities, women can invest well-being, time and energy saved in their entrepreneurial efforts.

Issues like poor hygiene or walking long distances to find clean water are manifestations of inequality and poverty. Initiatives that tackle infrastructural issues and public health concerns are noble, but a comprehensive action plan that specifically targets women’s hygiene is essential to promoting gender equality and empowering women.

If the end goal of development work is to build up communities, empowering women must not be underestimated. Fulfilling the MDGs will be enhanced if women are put at the forefront of the international development agenda. While experts are developing programs to dig water wells, allocating micro-finance loans and other economic development projects, interests in the sphere of women’s personal hygiene and health should not be overlooked.

Empowering women in all capacities demands an investment in their personal hygiene and health with clean water. A healthy woman is a confident woman. A confident woman is a cornerstone to her community, leading the way to economic prosperity and sustainability.

The photo above is UN Photo taken by Olivier Chassot

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Is it acceptable that children trudge three miles a day to reach water that they know makes them sick, potentially sick enough to die? If children are the future, then solid investments in education and child health are non-negotiable. In the developing world, these two areas intersect at the point of water—clean water.

Architecture for Humanity (AFH) in partnership with the Nobelity Project (NP) recently completed the Mahiga Rain Court (MRC), in Mahiga, Kenya. Mahiga is a small sustenance based community near Nairobi.  In Mahiga, children can only look forward to attending classes through grade 8.

NP was at work with the St. Joseph Mahiga Primary School, before spearheading the MRC.  NP realized that impacting the community of Mahiga in a meaningful way was through education and water supply.

Together, AFH and NB constructed a self-sustaining rainwater court that services the local community by providing clean drinking water, a simple solution to the multifaceted issues facing Mahiga. Greg Elsner is a Design Fellow with AFH. Elsner lived in Kenya for 14 months while the MRC was underway. In an interview, Elsner told WaterWideWeb, “While I was in Kenya, the municipal water line ran for maybe two weeks in total”.

Before the MRC began, Mahiga suffered a four year drought. A long rainy season followed the drought, flooding areas where development work was taking place. High rates of absenteeism in school attendance were reported because children were trekking three miles per day to fetch unsafe drinking water from a small creek within miles of Mahiga. These children got sick from the unsafe water and missed additional days of school.

Livestock were dying, farmers couldn’t produce adequate crops for food supply and the crime rate was high. Immediate relief efforts for residents of the Mahiga community would be short-term. A long-term sustainable plan that controlled for global climate change and meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) needed to be implemented in Mahiga.

Drilling a bore hole for a water well would cost up to $60,000. The MRC was the most cost-effective and sustainable option for the community. So, architects and designers set out to assemble a full basketball court that collects rainwater during the rainy season. The MRC is complete with a solar powered UV purification system. The MRC is self-sustaining and operates on an alternative energy system.

“Already, 30,000 liters of water have been collected. The rain water was collected in just two days” confirmed Elsner to WaterWideWeb. AFH estimates that a total of 90,000 liters of rainwater could be collected by the MRC.

The water shortage in Mahiga affected the community in several capacities. Inadequate water supplies impeded social progress from the most fundamental levels of daily living. If the water issue was unaddressed in Mahiga, a generation of uneducated young adults who couldn’t farm their land because of a lack of water would have damned the community into economic and social stagnation.

If successful, the community of Mahiga can use water provided by the MRC for other needs beyond primary education. Rations of water can be used for livestock, agriculture, and hygiene. Most importantly, school children will no longer be forced to make the critical decision between fetching unsafe drinking water and attending school.

Over time, literacy rates in the area will increase. NP is currently working to develop a Mahiga Hope High School, in partnership with the Education District. The MRC reaches beyond the education sector and into the infrastructural development of the village as well.

With clean water, agricultural products will be reliable sources of food. Healthy livestock can make harvesting processes more efficient for farmers, leading to a source of income. With more reliable water systems, farmers can produce high quality agricultural products at fair prices. Markers of economic development will be evidenced by innovative social enterprises that generate income for villagers.

Perhaps the most important contribution that will be made to Mahiga as a result of the MRC and other initiatives like it is the shift from a mentality of limited choices and barely surviving. Once the immediate needs of the community are secured, help from the government, local businessmen and aid agencies can expand beyond disaster management. Only then will the educated children have a true future to look forward to, one that they are prepared to face and one that can embrace them.

The photo above was taken by Turk Pipkin Photography.

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Nature photography is as important now as it ever was. As the Earth’s temperature gets warmer, natural wonders like waterfalls, lakes, and rivers are slowly disappearing. Nature photographers capture shots of landscapes that are threatened by global climate change. If action isn’t taken to stop climate change, some photographs of nature will be the only memory that human kind has of famous bodies of water.

Esteban Cahuimpan is a professional photographer who finds inspiration from the scenery of his beautiful homeland, Patagonia, Argentina. On his hiking and mountain climbing ventures, Cahuimpan snaps photographs of pristine rivers and waterfalls.

The photograph at the top right is entitled Lake Mirror. This lake is nestled in the mountains of Argentina, far from industrialization and deforestation. The serene waters of Lake Mirror are crystal clear.; the glassy surface of the lake reflects the floating clouds in the blue sky above the lake.

In his photo Iguaza Falls, Cahuimpan highlights the dualism of the Argentine experience. “You can have sweetness or bitterness at any time of day here in Argentina”, says Cahuimpan. One can experience both sensations in the metropolitan cities or remote countryside’s of Argentina. In Iguaza Falls, Cahuimpan captures this reality with the vast waterfall in the background, and a spice pot at the forefront of the photograph.

In the photo to the bottom right entitled Lago Nahuel Huapi, Cahuimpan again focuses on the rustic beauty of Patagonia. This pastoral motif is a central theme in his work;. the mountains, lakes, and trees in the picture catch the grandeur of this Argentinean paradise.

Photographers like Cahuimpan work to preserve the cultural richness and diversity of their environment. For artists like Cahuimpan, nature itself is the very essence of their inspiration. It’s as if the muses sing to Cahuimpan from the mountaintops of Argentina, begging him to capture the magnificence of their appearance.  If Cahuimpan wasn’t working to save the images of this paradise, who would?

Global climate change is a threat to humanity and the environment. Life, on all levels, hangs in the balance of the rising temperature of the climate. Will Cahuimpan’s Patagonia retain the beauty that it boasts of now if the world continues to get warmer?

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