World Water Day: Often overlooked, water resources are essential part of solution to climate change https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/03/1059952
Fela Anikulapo Kuti, the Afrobeat Maestro, once sang, “water no get enemy! To ba fe we omi loma lo! If you want to bathe na water you go use!”. I guess that was before the Tsunami that occurred in 2004, after an earthquake in the middle of the Indian Ocean, which killed over 200,000 people and caused about $15 billion in property damage and losses. What about the seasonal floods in Benue, Kogi, Rivers, Ogun and Lagos states, Nigeria in 1992, 2012 and 2017 and 2019 ? Stories of thousands of travellers trapped on the lokoja bridge enroute to Abuja and people kayaking on the flooded streets of Lekki and Victoria Island are still fresh in our memories.
Globally many Nations have had their share of floods – China, India, Bangladesh, Japan, United States, North Korea, Pakistan, Norway, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Chile … It is never a pretty sight or palatable report.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deadliest_floods
Today is World Water Day. I know the world is preoccupied with dealing with the Covid -19 pandemic but with the “hand washing” directive from WHO and CDC it is essential to take note of the need to preserve our water resources, conserve the use of water and the need to take climate change and environmental protection seriously.
The flash floods in recent times are not unconnected to climate change. The warmer the planet gets and the more forests we destroy to accommodate new factories and housing projects; and the more unnatural contacts between man and animals we have the more floods and zoonotic viruses that would emerge.
My charge to everyone is to stay safe during this pandemic and that we use the time out the “social distancing and self isolation” affords to reflect on our collecive future and survival as a species.
Modern man has been around for close to 10,000 years. However if one was to play Nostradamus for a second, based on our present trajectory, mankind might not survive another century or millennium because our luck is running out and the chickens are definitely coming home to roost.
DrAlexanderGrey 