Drop of water by overthehedge from deviantart

Water - life on Earth could not exist without it. All living things need water, and the human body is made up of about 60% water, and it is also one of the most abundant substances on our planet, giving rise to the term “the Blue Planet”. Therefore water is a very important part of our environment, and should be a major focus as we try to tackle climate change.

This week is Water week in South Africa and the UN World Water day is on Monday.

An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), and so the World Water day was born - every year it is celebrated on March 22nd.

waterfall by !pharaohsgirl from deviantartIt's National Water Week

It's national water week this week so why don't you consider your water usage, and see how you can help to conserve water. Water and Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said that "It is therefore important for us to pull out all the stops to ensure that our visitors enjoy safe and clean portable water, whose quality rates among the best in the world." More

Koeberg shutdown to lessen World Cup risk

ESKOM will later this week and next month conduct two shutdowns at the Koeberg nuclear power plant for pre-emptive maintenance work on one of its cooling systems in a move to avoid power supply problems during the Soccer World Cup.

For more water consumption articles see here

Sea level to rise, say scientists. Climate change is turning Antarctica's ice into one of the biggest risks for coming centuries. Even a tiny melt could drive up sea levels. “If you're going to have even a few metres it will change the geography of the planet," Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said of the more extreme scenarios of fast ocean rise. [IOL]

How will the earth look in the the future? Google Earth is launching a series of layers, ahead of the Climate Change Convention in Copenhagen, that allows one to look at possible furture climate scenarios, depending on our actions now. [ecogeek.org] Watch Google Earth's climate introductory tour, called Confronting Climate Change, with Al Gore narrating. YouTube (takes a while to download)

How is this for innovative? Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed is to host an underwater cabinet meeting on October 24 to draw attention to the impact of

SA to run out of surface water Scientists who have recently done an update on a study on water resource availability in SA now warn that estimates given previously are not the true picture and that there is even less water available than estimated - 4% less, to be precise. If you consider that 98% of our water is already accounted for, that SA has become 2% hotter and 6% drier since the 1970s, a struggle for water could ensue. via [treehugger] Also read 25 things you might not know about Water and Green your water

Cape no 1 in recycling The Western Cape is leading the country in terms of recycling waste material. This is due to tight space constraints and very limited access to dumping sites close to Cape Town... [cbn.co.za]

SA's first wildlife-friendly eco label – Fair Game. Later this year we will be able to choose eco labelled meat and fibre products...

Thea Holm, environmental educator, lives in a low-impact, environmentally friendly way on the banks of Hartbeespoort dam, just outside Johannesburg.

“We must get the word out that we are now on limited time to prepare the damage caused by our everyday life styles, and it is not the responsibility of governments and industries, it is you and me, our actions placed the industries and chose the government of the day in the first place; each one of us must make this now our responsibility.”

My story started 34 years ago, although I became part of this family only 13 years ago and actively started living an alternative life style six years ago.

My father in law, Dieter Holm, built a house on a mountain overlooking the Hartbeespoort Dam and consciously made the decision not to get an electricity connection from Eskom, but to look at alternative ways to generate electricity for his home...

Water was also a crisis because the only place where an underground watercourse could be found, was a few hundred meters from the house, very deep with a very weak flow. The next step was then to build reservoirs on the corners of the house to harvest the rain water, which is still the only water supply to date.

Human powered water pumps can solve the water crisis in developing and underdeveloped countries. Statistics point out that about one billion people lack access to safe drinking water, which leads to several diseases. A system has now been developed that can use the endless energy of children to pump underground water to the surface, which can then prevent waterborne diseases from spreading. [ecofriend]

A New Zealand based family has given up all luxuries and technology in an effort to educate the world the ways to go green and sustainable. The house has been constructed with recycled materials. Furniture too is made from recycled and post-use materials, and ...

Flood Trevor Manuel with green tips. Use the national budget as a way to reduce carbon emissions and climate change.

urban sprout has teamed up with Project 90 by 2030 , Activist! , forgood and 350.org in a campaign called ‘Cut Carbon Tips for Trevor’.

The aim of the campaign is to urge the government to show vision and leadership by presenting a budget on 11th February 2009 that reflects an urgent response to the evidence presented by climate change.

The ‘Cut Carbon Tips for Trevor’ campaign invites you to get involved by sending your green tips to Trevor, using the Tips for Trevor page on the treasury website Trevor is said to read every one of these personally. He takes them seriously, and has been known to get individuals to present their tip to Cabinet personally, when he thinks it appropriate!

SA's water quality had some bad press earlier this year and now it appears that a leading water researcher is about to be axed for lifting the lid on what is really going on.

Reading on environment.co.za the CSIR has suspended Dr Anthony Turton over a presentation he was to deliver about South Africa's water crisis at a high level conference last week.

The council executive of the CSIR on Friday suspended Dr Anthony Turton, an acclaimed political scientist, with immediate effect, charging him with insubordination and bringing the CSIR into disrepute. His keynote address, A Clean South Africa, was to be presented at the CSIR's "Science Real and Relevant" conference in Pretoria this week, but he was forbidden from delivering it because it contained "unsubstantiated" facts, according to the executive, as well as photographs of this year's xenophobic attacks, which, the executive added, "may disturb people" however Dr Turton's report had already undergone a peer review process and was extensively circulated before the conference. Dr Turton has been prevented from even entering the CSIR campus grounds since Friday.

Read on for more about the state of SA's water and also to sign a petition in support of Dr Turton.

Green news is humming with a number of pressing issues: increasing methane levels due to the Arctic melt; increasing drought throughout the world leading to land abandonment; and the issue of water – Europe’s bid to privatise; and is water the ‘new oil’. But, what is SA doing about climate change?

Arctic melt responsible for rise in methane. A global study in Geophysical Research Letters found the first increase in methane levels this century — by about 28 million tonnes since mid-2006 — was in part due to release of gas in and near the Arctic. Data from the study was in line with predictions that rapid melting of Arctic ice would create natural wetlands, one of the most common methane emitters. [theage]

Climate change could lead to ‘economic deserts’ even in wealthy countries. Parts of the world may have to be abandoned because severe water shortages will leave them uninhabitable, the United Nations environment chief has warned. Water shortages caused by over-use of rivers and aquifers were already leading to serious problems, even in rich nations. [guardian]

European Commission intent on privatisation of water, despite pressure for public control. The first-ever pan-European civil society coalition against water privatisation was launched last week during the European Social Forum in the Swedish city Malmö. Including citizens groups from Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Turkey and a dozen other countries across Europe…[alternet] (read more about what's happening in SA...)