Every Day Should Be World Water Day!! (But officially it was yesterday :( )

Water, it's that's stuff you're living in!

Yep, if you're reading this, odds are you already know that a huge amount of your body is made up of water. The overwhelming majority of our planet is covered in water. Every beverage we drink has at least some amount of water in it.

But what happens if that water isn't clean?

People get sick, that's what.

Now, in way-cool "hip" countries like the US, UK, and other "in" places we've got stuff like cholera and typhoid taken care of but this is not the case in countries that couldn't care less about Brangelina or reality TV. Last fall, over in America's 51st state (Iraq), they suffered an outbreak of cholera that killed quite a few Iraqis, sadly. Via a post on WWD at LeslieBradshaw.com, here's a nice illustration demonstrating where cholera is hitting Earth the most.

So, clean drinking water is clearly a problem and it's something we can all help raise awareness about. How can you help more folks know about issues regarding clean drinking water? For starters, you can blog about it yourself. You can tell your friends and family about it. Or you could do something as simple as joining the World Water Day Facebook group. You can follow WorldH2O and Chlorine on Twitter. For each person who joins the Facebook group, follows WorldH2O and Chlorine, the American Chemistry Council will contribute five chlorine tablets designed to disinfect 100 liters of water to areas of the world that are struggling to find clean drinking water.

Easy!!

So, just do it and help! As of two days ago, people who have joined the FB group, and followed both WorldH2O and Chlorine on Twitter have helped donate enough chlorine tablets to clean over 180,000 liters of water--that's over 47,000 gallons of water.

YEAH.

In case you're curious, cholera causes diarrhea. Diarrhea can cause massive dehydration pretty quickly (sometimes within hours). Dehydration means your body is losing water. Remember your body is mostly made of water. Lose that and most of what keeps you alive is gone--and so are you.

Don't believe me? Watch this awesome vid from good.is:



Special thanks to TheLeslie at LeslieBradshaw.com for informing me about Word Water Day. I wish I knew how she hears about these things!! :) Sorry this is a day late, but hey, shouldn't every day be a day we think about clean water?

My Earth Hour Commercial on 12seconds.tv

At 8:30pm on March 28, 2009, Earth Hour will be held. What's Earth Hour? Well, it's when people around the world, for one hour, turn off all of their lights to help draw attention to just how much we rely on light and the energy that creates it. Though, let me let EarthHour.org explain it:

For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.

This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

So, over at http://12seconds.tv they're helping with the cause by encouraging folks to do 12 second clips promoting the whole Earth Hour thing. Check out what folks have been shooting here: http://12seconds.tv/tag/EarthHour09

Though first, watch the one I shot with Siskita:


12seconds Earth Hour Commercial on 12seconds.tv

And here's Jay ThePal's:


12seconds Earth Hour Commercial on 12seconds.tv

I think both are pretty good. :)

So, there ya have it! At 8:30pm, your local time, THIS SATURDAY please turn out every light in your home for one hour!! Make sure to tell people you're doing it, too! Post a Tweet, a 12second video, blog about it, send an email, or just post a comment right here!

The Earth will thank you for it!

All right, not really, but future humans should be thankful!

Climate Change Cartoon Explains the Really Really Bad Stuff

Yeah, yeah, I know--it's ANOTHER explanation of global warming/climate change and you've heard it all before, right? Well, no, I don't think you've heard everything this 'toon has to tell you. Basically, up to this point, the message is that CC and GW are just going to effect the weather patterns. Maybe a few people have talked about how it'll make finding water harder, but this goes far beyond--it talks about the tipping point--the point at which everything will get exponentially worse regardless of what we do. The changes that occur may very well be a much faster change than most folks have been predicting. This cartoon also goes into the socio-economic issues that would result from CC and GW. As in: what people will do in order to survive (like kill each other for drinkable water). Finally, this film also goes into the role corporations and government have in causing all of this. The drive for money is what is holding us back, according to the filmmaker and I agree with him.

But enough of my blabbing, check out the cartoon and make up your own mind. Just don't stop watching because you know everything in the beginning--give it a few minutes to get to the new stuff. Trust me!


Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo.

Please share this video. You never know, it just might make a difference!

OH forgot to link back to where I found it: http://reflectionof.me/catastrophic-climate-change