Climate Chaos

(Originally posted on waterefficiency.net)

By Elizabeth Cutright
Editor
Water Efficiency

A recent headline over at Bloomberg News—“Water Fights, Wandering Homeless Are Planet’s Future”—brought to mind the first editorial I wrote for Water Efficiency. Writing under the title, “Can Melting Ice Caps Inspire Sabotage?” I summarized the 2007 London conference entitled “Climate Change: The Global Security Impact,” where experts warned global warming could exacerbate refugee issues as more of the world’s poor found themselves escaping inhospitable climates. And while participants like Sir Crispin Tickell, Britain’s former ambassador to the United Nations, insisted these displaced people would end up as either potential victims or recruits for extremist terrorist groups, in the end the most important point made at that London conference was that climate change left unfettered could have ghastly consequences for our global water supply.

Water Fights, Wandering Homeless Are Planet’s Future

In an interview for the “Water Fights” article, Gary Braasch, discusses his book, Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming Is Changing the World, and talks about some of the impacts he anticipates as a result of climate change and rising sea levels. What I found most important in relation to water efficiency and conservation was his characterization of a future of extreme flooding followed by extended drought, which would, of course, severely impact agricultural and sustenance farming around the world. And just like Sir Crispin Tickell, Braasch warns of global migration and hordes of displaced refugees descending upon areas that manage to remain hospitable while the rest of the world descends into global warming chaos.
Whether you think these claims are melodramatic flourishes or opportunist rants, I think it’s worth restating what I said two years ago—“I am not much concerned whether or not you believe human actions are impacting the world’s climate. I’d rather the lesson behind the rhetoric not be lost. Whether we like it or not, we are in a codependent relationship with the earth, and without water we will not survive….In the end, whether it is Mother Nature or a pipe bomb, at some point there will be an attack on your infrastructure. Planning for it now will help you prevail during the onslaught and put you in a stronger position over the long haul. Ultimately, the ethos of efficiency is “be prepared.” Cut waste, plan your actions, and guard your resources, and you’ll be able to weather any adversarial event that lands on your doorstep.”
So, what are you doing to prepare for climate change and its possible impacts on your water supply? Is global warming influencing your resource management decisions, or are budgeting and managing costs still taking precedence?