Water crisis > Food prices

‘Water is not a renewable resource’. The looming water shortage is a bigger threat than rising food prices, writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in The Telegraph

A catastrophic water shortage could prove an even bigger threat to mankind this century than soaring food prices and the relentless exhaustion of energy reserves, according to a panel of global experts at the Goldman Sachs “Top Five Risks” conference.

Nicholas (Lord) Stern, author of the Government’s Stern Review on the economics of climate change, warned that underground aquifers could run dry at the same time as melting glaciers play havoc with fresh supplies of usable water.

“The glaciers on the Himalayas are retreating, and they are the sponge that holds the water back in the rainy season. We’re facing the risk of extreme run-off, with water running straight into the Bay of Bengal and taking a lot of topsoil with it,” he said.

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The greenest citizens?

Indians and Brazilians top in a list of country’s whose citizens have the most environmentally friendly lifestyles finds a survey conducted by the National Geographic. Brian Hendwerk reports for the National Geographic News.

The National Geographic Society and the international polling firm GlobeScan today unveiled “Greendex 2008: Consumer Choice and the Environment–A Worldwide Tracking Survey.” (The National Geographic Society owns National Geographic News.)

“The Greendex gives us an unprecedented, meaningful look at how consumers across the globe are behaving,” said Terry Garcia, National Geographic’s executive vice president of mission programs.

Consumers in Brazil and India tied as most “green,” while those in the United States scored lowest, or most wasteful.

To create the survey, GlobeScan conducted Internet surveys of consumers in 14 countries, which together represent more than half of the world’s population and use about 75 percent of its energy.

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