The only way I got my mother to stop using the phrase "Finish your food. There are starving children in .....(you can fill in the blank with the name of your favorite nation)" was by gathering the courage to say "Why don't we send the food to them?" Of course, such a delivery never took place but this conversation clearly showed me that human communities are in some ways totally independent from other human settlements.
Super-storm Sandy's early legacy
When the storm hit, power and services were lost in many areas of New York. Today, nearly a week later, Lower Manhattan and Staten Island are like world's apart even though they are just 10 miles, as a crow flies, from each other.
Electric power and many other services are fully operational in Lower Manhattan but not yet available for many Staten Island communities.
To residents of Staten Island without electricity, Lower Manhattan is today a world away.
Rich and poor nations share borders
This feeling of being a world apart, when you are really only next door, also separates countries e.g. The wealthy US shares a border with the developing nation of Mexico.
As we are well aware, rivers cross country boundaries and a truckload of case law and agreements specify how much water each country can draw from these rivers.
This inter-dependency with freshwater is one ordained by nature
Freshwater is both a Global and a Local Issue
If New York figures out a way to be freshwater secure, it does not imply that Miami cannot also be freshwater secure. However, if New York industries starts spewing excessive amounts of carbon in the atmosphere, it can impact the climate in Miami, which in turn could alter rainfall patterns for Miami. Freshwater inter-dependency, if any, for New York and Miami is the result of them being interconnected by the Earth's atmosphere. What one does to its atmosphere can and is felt by the other. Thus, freshwater security is typically a local issue if the atmosphere cooperates. When it does not, freshwater can become a regional and even a global issue.
Super-storm Sandy's early legacy
 |
| Super storm Sandy turns lights off Source - news.yahoo.com |
Electric power and many other services are fully operational in Lower Manhattan but not yet available for many Staten Island communities.
To residents of Staten Island without electricity, Lower Manhattan is today a world away.
Rich and poor nations share borders
 |
| Asuper wealthy country inext to a not-so welthy nation Source - churchworldservice.org |
As we are well aware, rivers cross country boundaries and a truckload of case law and agreements specify how much water each country can draw from these rivers.
This inter-dependency with freshwater is one ordained by nature
Freshwater is both a Global and a Local Issue
If New York figures out a way to be freshwater secure, it does not imply that Miami cannot also be freshwater secure. However, if New York industries starts spewing excessive amounts of carbon in the atmosphere, it can impact the climate in Miami, which in turn could alter rainfall patterns for Miami. Freshwater inter-dependency, if any, for New York and Miami is the result of them being interconnected by the Earth's atmosphere. What one does to its atmosphere can and is felt by the other. Thus, freshwater security is typically a local issue if the atmosphere cooperates. When it does not, freshwater can become a regional and even a global issue.
No comments:
Post a Comment