Dams
Dams are created for hydroelectricity and to provide water in seasons of drought. They are also not only responsible for displacing millions of people but act as a clot in the veins of a water system. Streams and rivers travel through nature and pour into the ocean. On their journey, rivers and streams feed vegetation and carry nutrients. A dam captures a large body of water in one space; when that happens, the body of stagnant water kills all of the waters nutrients and becomes a hot soup. The decomposed nutrients and vegetation in the dams then produce mercury which makes its way into our water and food system. Stagnant water also releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide and methane - two greenhouse gases. Finally, hot stagnant dams of water create the perfect breeding ground for malaria infected mosquitos.
The Virtual Trade of Water
Global organiztions like the WTO, World Bank and IMF force poor countries to export their resources at unfair prices in
exchange for meager financial aid. Developing countries put all of their water resources into growing cash crops. If these countries were given fair prices for their exports they would be rich nations, but they do not. Western corporations profit from getting their products at cheap prices. Most of these countries face water scarcity, which leaves little water left for it’s
citizens.
Dams are created for hydroelectricity and to provide water in seasons of drought. They are also not only responsible for displacing millions of people but act as a clot in the veins of a water system. Streams and rivers travel through nature and pour into the ocean. On their journey, rivers and streams feed vegetation and carry nutrients. A dam captures a large body of water in one space; when that happens, the body of stagnant water kills all of the waters nutrients and becomes a hot soup. The decomposed nutrients and vegetation in the dams then produce mercury which makes its way into our water and food system. Stagnant water also releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide and methane - two greenhouse gases. Finally, hot stagnant dams of water create the perfect breeding ground for malaria infected mosquitos.
The Virtual Trade of Water
Global organiztions like the WTO, World Bank and IMF force poor countries to export their resources at unfair prices in
exchange for meager financial aid. Developing countries put all of their water resources into growing cash crops. If these countries were given fair prices for their exports they would be rich nations, but they do not. Western corporations profit from getting their products at cheap prices. Most of these countries face water scarcity, which leaves little water left for it’s
citizens.
More and more Agribusiness's are moving to China because labor is cheaper. China, a very dry country, ends up exporting all of its water through products like apple juice and meat.
In Kenya, foreign companies have set up flower plantations that grow and export many of the roses sold in Europe; the plantation is located around lake Naivasha. It takes 120 litres of water to grow one dozen roses. If this plantation proceeds, in five years lake Naivasha will be nothing but a mud pile. |
“So here is one of the driest continents on earth exporting water, being told
by the World Bank to export its water to get its way out of debt. I call this theft,
I also think it’s a form of murder” -Maude Barlow
by the World Bank to export its water to get its way out of debt. I call this theft,
I also think it’s a form of murder” -Maude Barlow
*All of the above information can be found in Maude Barlow's "Blue Gold: The
Battle Against Corporate theft of the World's Water" *
Battle Against Corporate theft of the World's Water" *