Today we had a Distinguished Lecture Series by Fred Pearce, an environmentalist and the author of the book "When the Rivers Run Dry".
He was the recipient of the Peter Kent Conservation Book Award and the TES Junior Information Book Award, and his books have been translated into eight languages. He has written reports of the WWF, the UN Environmental Programme, Red Cross, UNESCO, The World Bank and the UK Environment Agency.
Fred said that the 21st Century will have a water crisis and would be a major political issue for many countries. The ice age was gone not because we don't have anymore ice, the stone age was gone not because we ran out of stones. Likewise, the oil age will be gone not because we ran out of oil. The world can live without oil but we certainly could not live without water.
Among the highlights of his talk that I noted down:
> It takes 1000litres of water to produce 1kg of wheat.
> 1000litres, 5kg of potatoes
> 4000-5000litres, 1 litre of milk
> 50 cups, 2 teaspoon of sugar
> 2000-5000litres, 1kg of rice
I'd say that these figures were ridiculous if it came from someone else. But since it came from someone with high credentials, I think we have a reason to pay attention.
Economists have predicted that by 2025, 350mil tonnes of food production per year would be cut across the globe if the global trend of water scarcity continues. This would mean an inflation of water and food production price, as the global population breaches the 9-billion mark by 2050.
While 2025 or 2050 is still considerably far into the future and I'd probably be on my rocking chair, I'm feeling a little gutted when those figures lingered in my mind. Should I still be running my full marathon or doing the Olympic distance triathlon, I'd be paying a lot more registration fees with all those items costing so much more in future. Wheat, potatoes and rice are all carbohydrates that feed the unsatiable appetite of sports people especially those who have just finished a marathon. At the back of my mind, I was really curious if PJ Half Marathon would still serve water from the black tanks? Would runners be rationed to only a few drops of water out of a sponge to cool themselves?
And what about triathlons? Would we still have clean water to swim in for our swimming event? How much would a packet of PowerGel or a packet of Endurance pack cost in future since these items are so carbo-intensive? What about 100plus or Gatorade, they are both liquids!
Oh well, since it's a problem of freshwater rather than sea water, I'd probably still be able to do my 6.5km swim from Kapas to Marang.
So, what if all these predictions really come true? What should we do now? I suggest you rethink about your investment portfolio from buying another lot of say, IOI to a more tangible "future asset". Maybe stock up 1000packets of expiry-free PowerGel, PowerBar and 50 containers of 100plus and Gatorades?!
Don't take me seriously....just another course satire.
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