BEIJING, March 22 -- It is the 16th World Water Day since
it was initiated by the United Nations in 1992 to promote
awareness of increasingly serious water problems and press for
action by governments worldwide to save and protect water
resources.
Benjamin Franklin once said: "When the well is dry,
(then) we know the worth of water."
However, we must know its worth before it is too late and
the lack of water, or the want of drinkable water, threatens the
existence of human life.
We would not have reduced ourselves to such an awkward
situation had we used water properly and saved it in the past
century.
The unreasonable way we have consumed it has contaminated
our water sources such as rivers and lakes. We have guzzled
water in such a greedy manner that many of our rivers have dried
up and lakes shrunk, without considering how this would impact
our future.
United Nations statistics show that 1.2 billion people
lack access to safe drinking water worldwide, and the figure is
more than 200 million in China. Of more than 600 cities in
China, some 400 face the problem of water shortages.
A growing population will undoubtedly spur demand for
more industries and farmland, and therefore further drain water
resources. Global warming has accelerated the melting rate of
glaciers.
Experts indicate that glaciers in China's Tibet have been
shrinking at an annual rate of 7 percent in the past three
decades and they may disappear in a few decades. Most of our
rivers source their water from these glaciers and their
disappearance will affect the water supplies of millions of
people.
The water crisis is a worldwide issue and so is global
warming, which is one of the major causes for the shrinking of
glaciers. Efforts by a single country are not enough to ease the
impact human activities have on climate change. That explains
why the United Nations has, time and again, called for a
concerted effort from developed and developing countries to
reduce greenhouse emissions and the discharge of pollutants.
But that does not mean we should wait for the joint
action of all countries. China intends to reduce the consumption
of energy per unit by 20 percent, and the discharge of
pollutants by 10 percent by the end of 2010. Our government has
implemented a plan to provide 300 million rural residents with
access to clean and safe drinking water by the year 2010.
In addition, every government must bring home the worth
of water to every individual.
(Source: China Daily)
