Coming this February …
OUTGROWING THE EARTH: THE FOOD SECURITY CHALLENGE IN AN AGE OF FALLING
WATER TABLES AND RISING TEMPERATURES by Lester R. Brown (W.W. Norton &
Co.)
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Out/Contents.htm
From Chapter 6: Stabilizing Water Tables:
Although public attention has recently focused on the depletion of oil
resources, the depletion of underground water resources poses a far
greater threat to our future. While there are substitutes for oil, there
are none for water. Indeed, we lived for millions of years without oil,
but we would live for only a matter of days without water.
Not only are there no substitutes for water, but we need vast amounts of
it to produce food. At the personal level, we drink roughly four liters of
water a day (nearly four quarts), either directly or indirectly in various
beverages. But it takes 2,000 liters of water—500 times as much—to produce
the food we consume each day.
Since food is such an extraordinarily water-intensive product, it comes as
no surprise that 70 percent of world water use is for irrigation. Although
it is now widely accepted that the world is facing water shortages, most
people have not yet connected the dots to see that a future of water
shortages will also be a future of food shortages.
Take a look at the Table of Contents and read Chapters 1 and 6 (online now
in Adobe format).
http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Out/Contents.htm
Order your copy today and get free shipping (U.S. and Canada only) or call
202.496.9290 x 13.
Earth Policy Institute
1350 Connecticut Ave., NW, Ste 403
Washington, DC 20036
T: (202) 496.9290
F: (202) 496.9325
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