New research data is pointing towards population peak around 2055, about 8.7 billions, followed by decline to 8 billions by 2100 (http://www.cnbc.com/id/101018722).  However, according to data given below peak population could occur by the year 2070 when the population might be 9.5 or 10 billion. Previous data by the United Nations “UN” foresee further rise until 2100 to reach 10.9 billions with no peak population.

The carrying capacity of planet earth is a very much-discussed topic with many different scenarios and predictions. However, increasing amount of data have shifted towards more clear trends a converging world population towards a peak around 2050 due to the declining of global fertility. All developed, less developed and least developed regions show declining fertilities that already started around 1960. The period of continuous increase in global population because of increasing average human life span and decline in human mortality will soon be over.

http://www.camelclimatechange.org/view/article/51cbee0b7896bb431f695b54/?topic=51cbfc8ef702fc2ba812d477

Decisions of what type of energy resources we should invest in have long-term and large-scale impacts on the ecological quality of water and soil fertility. One issue, which is not very well searched, is the impacts of hydropower on the ecological quality of water that gives rise soil fertility. Both the ecological quality of water and soil fertility are very important for biodiversity and food production.

Hydropower is by definition a major interference in the natural hydrological cycle of surface water where erosion at up-stream high-land regions is essential process for promoting soil fertility in river catchments and river deltas in down-stream and low-land regions. In previous cases, e.g. the Aswan high-dam, the natural fertility at down-stream and delta areas was mitigated by heavy use of artificial fertilization. Artificial fertilization will not last for long-term as it is a non-renewable resource in addition to the long-term and large-scale environmental risks associated with it in terms of use and production.

In most of the energy debates the focus, so far, has been on reduction of carbon dioxide “green-house gas” so as to minimize the effect of global warming and its associated impacts. That is of course necessary but at the same time we have to consider other major impacts on the water cycle because of “Water-Energy Nexus” and in this context we have to take such aspects while we are about to implement policies for the use of “oil sand” or tar sand”. “Oil sand” or tar sand” is another case where in addition to risks for increased carbon dioxide emissions, there are clear negative impacts on water and ecological qualities.

Though the negative impacts of hydropower on ecological water quality and soil fertility may not be of the same dimensions as the benefits from hydropower, such impacts have to be taken in consideration for optimization of overall long-term and large-scale uses of “Water-Energy” resources. What we need to do is to have appropriate “Environment Assessment Analyses” and “Sustainable Actions” in place, so as to be prepared to deal with the growing degradation of water and ecological qualities.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/business/21-Jun-2014/world-bank-prefers-financing-hydel-projects

World Resources Institute “WRI” has recently evaluated, mapped, and scored water risks in 100 river basins of 180 nations around the world. Assessment is carried out for the first time on country-level with consideration to area and population. In this research 36 countries face “extremely high” levels of baseline water stress. This means that more than 80 percent of the water available to agricultural, domestic, and industrial users is withdrawn annually — leaving businesses, farms, and communities vulnerable to scarcity. Baseline water stress, used as an indicator, measures how much water is withdrawn every year from rivers, streams, and shallow aquifers for domestic, agricultural, and industrial uses.

Analyzing water risk at the country level is important as such information is highly relevant for country’s economy, environment, and communities. Though water data is usually collected and reported at local geographic scales, water-related decisions and investments are often made at much larger scales, thus requiring country-level information.

Extremely high water stress can be successfully managed such as in the case of Singapore. The country is densely populated with no freshwater lakes or aquifers, and its demand for water far exceeds its naturally occurring supply. Singapore invests heavily in technology, international agreements, and responsible management, allowing it to meet its freshwater needs. Advanced rainwater capture systems contribute 20 percent of Singapore’s water supply, 40 percent is imported from Malaysia, grey water reuse adds 30 percent, and desalination produces the remaining 10 percent of the supply to meet the country’s total demand.

An important issue in this respect which is still lacking in many parts of the world is spatio-temporal water quality maps where pollution sources, both point and diffuse, are being identified. This is of importance for better conservation and protection of water resources as well as for building up solid monitoring programs for assessing the status of surface-/ground-water and associated eco-systems. Such programs give access to base-line data of natural levels of pollutants, provide bases for early-warning systems and facilitate rehabilitation actions

http://www.wri.org/blog/2013/12/world’s-36-most-water-stressed-countries

Nomads, 30-40 millions in 1995 around the world, roaming around and moving from one place to another for pasture or hunter-gatherer is a fast disappearing life-style. Reindeer have been herded for centuries in polar and sub-polar regions, horses remain national symbols in Mongolia and camels are still the perfect choice in the Sahara. After the industrial revolution “mechanization” and with increasing dependence on fossil-fuel, urbanization became “magnets” causing considerable drainage of people to technology and modern life, even without basic knowledge about the requirements and threats of the new life.

“There’s no place like home”, but with the advance of science and technology the definition of home becomes much different in particular in the era of globalization and the Internet. The choice between staying home and being drained to new life-styles may create conflicts between generations and communities or at least cause separation and fragmentation in families.

The weather in the polar mountains can turn in just a few minutes and at the artic circle conditions can be extreme. The ways of life, learning and even childbirth are often intense. People living in the tundra are accustomed to a nomadic life. Tents are their homes, food is basic, and the deer is king. They don’t watch TV or don’t use internet. Children do go to boarding schools, but not all parents are in favor of them. A well-known writer and teacher created her own alternative education for the children of the tundra as she believes that a good education should be based on the essential skills needed to survive in the artic far north. She explains that our constitution clearly says our indigenous children must have free education but it doesn’t say free life care. In schools everything is done for the children and later on they face life without to know how to do ordinary things, as they don’t have that knowledge when they leave schools. Children become gradually separated from their roots, loose ties with other generations and when graduated from school they have to decide between going to higher education or back to the tundra. What to choose when they already separated from home and are not able to establish roots at home?

Find out more about life and education in the tundra.

The fact that there are more “mobile phones” in Africa, and elsewhere in the developing countries around the world, than “toilets” provokes many thoughts. It is worth reasoning why such situation has developed very rapidly and still influencing and forcing many people to do so. What is interesting in this respect is neither the “mobile phones”, they are rather symbols of “technology and science”, nor the “toilets”, they are also symbols of “sanitation and hygiene”.

We have now to examine the connection between mobile phones and toilets. For many people in the developing countries it is more important and essential to have a mobile phone that having a toilet and this choice is not random. It is in fact a human paradox and we need to analyse its origin, i.e. the contradictory behaviour of humans as understood by some of us on the one side and at the same time the irrational but rather natural behaviour also of humans as understood by others on the other side. In this context, we have to take up very complex everyday dilemmas for humans, i.e. the so-called “Nexuses”. “Nexus technology-science” – technology is a consequence of science and both are very much related and dependent on each other like no fish can survive without water and water with poor quality cannot promote life for fish and produce healthy fish. “Nexus science-education” – science in itself a human product based on education, without education there would be no science and the quality of education is essential for survival of good science. One of the essential features of science is that it is neutral which is not the case what regards education and technology. Here comes the modern role of politicians, policy-makers, investors and the market at large on human behaviour, traditions and cultures and thereby the perception of education and technology on the one side and science the other. In the past few decades many of us realised the importance of political “transparency and accountability” for achieving sustainable socio-economic developments. However, no successful political system in the world operates well unless “transparency and accountability” exists in all society sectors and on all levels. This includes “transparency and accountability” within and between all society sectors including all stakeholders, communities and the very building blocks of the society, i.e. families and individuals. “Transparency and accountability” is the core essence of any healthy, functionable and sustainable democracy.

If humans make collective unsustainable decisions then the mentioned nexuses are neither properly understood nor taken in consideration to run the society. At some stage the whole chain in the society contributed in shaping the society in the wrong direction, it is a slow gradual process rather easy to develop but unfortunately very difficult to revert. It is an organised manifestation of the whole society against “transparency and accountability” rules, i.e. organized “misjudgement” which indeed don’t emanate out of thin air. Collective unsustainable decisions and organized misjudgement emerges from ignoring the role of education to foster the citizens and populations to create their own knowledge capital for achieving welfare which indeed a precondition for useful science and technology. Mobile phones and toilets are both products of science and technology but the problems in the developing countries are essentially related to the blind import of knowledge “science” and random imitation of “technology” rather than understanding through education the meaning of science and technology for human welfare.

“sustain-earth.com” main colour of “earth” is green a product of “blue” for clean water and “yellow” for clean energy. Visit, join and contribute in http://sustain-earth.com

Julian Huxley (1887-1975) a zoologist, educator and writer who played a leading role in the creation of UNESCO “United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization”. For twenty years Julian Huxley was the Vice-President of the International Commission for the History of the Scientific and Cultural Development of Mankind.

Rivers, lakes and deltas, and their catchments are major freshwater resources for the world populations. However, the increasing impacts of waste, pollution and sanitation during the past century, in particular after WW-II, caused major damage and degradation in many river and lake eco-systems around the world. We give here few examples of the most polluted rivers around the world.

http://www.wunderground.com/news/worlds-most-polluted-rivers-20130627?pageno=9

Lake Victoria, the second largest fresh-water body in the world and a water resource shared by three East African countries, is an enormous water resource facing collective mis-management on several levels. Lake Victoria is under considerable pollution pressures causing softly and steadily killing of its bio-diversity in addition to a real risk for drying-up from “global warming”.

An example is Jinja town, population of 300 000 people, that is rising after so many years of decline to claim the glory it lost so many years ago. However, the time is running out not only for the town and its population but for the whole water body of Lake Victoria. There is an accelerating pollution, abuse of environment and water resources due to limited access to waste and solid-waste treatment from industry, agriculture, household, rubbish damp and sanitation. Many industrial (more than 70 factories in Jinja only with high pollution incidents) , agricultural, household activities are releasing huge amounts of waste and pollutants to Lake Victoria.

The fishing, transport of people and goods to the main land and other public services suffer from random management, fragmented policies, and lack of collective protection and management actions. Fish population is declining as consequence of the damage the food-web dynamics of the lake and the natural functioning and metabolism in the lake because of heavy loads of nutrients, pollutants and siltation. Over-fishing of  the so-called “fish-of-choice” a small fish lower down in the food-web that is destroying the natural balance of the food-web and causing the collapse of the overall fish-population dynamics.

Poor infra-structures and water drainage systems from forest, agriculture, household and sanitation along with erosion and re-suspension of sediments due to man-made and animal activities are causing excess delivery of nutrients, accelerating “eutrophication” and decreasing levels of oxygen and thereby death and increasing prices of fish. The degradation of water quality will, also, force gradual and rapid increase in the proces of clean water.

Waters around the world are facing a new era of threats with accelerating disasters, pressures and constrains due to global warming, waste and pollution. Water scarcity and degradation in water and ecological qualities are creating crises for wild habitats and human civilizations. Many seas, rivers, lakes, and underground water reserves around the world are either lost or losing their aquatic resources with serious impacts on the livelihoods of hundreds of millions people, animals, farming, lives, electricity, and threatening further environment and climate changes.

Chinas Salween River, Europe’s Danube, South America’s la Plata, North American Rio Grande, India’s Ganges, Pakistan’s Indus, Africa’s Nile and Lake Victoria, Australia’s Murray Darling, Southeast Asia’s Mekong-Lancang, China’s Yangtze due to dams, over-extraction, overfishing and climate change. In addition to the threats of global warming and human activities; waste and pollution from industry, agriculture and household further worsen the quality of waters.

Follow the stories of water resources around the globe.

The Nile Basin Countries are facing two major long-term and large-scale threats that can lead to the total collapse of the water resources in the whole Nile system, i.e. from the very sources at its origin “up-stream” to its final fate at the deltas “down-stream”.  These major threats are related to climate change “global warming” and environmental degradation because of waste and pollution (from energy, industry, agriculture and household). To deal with these major threats, i.e. mitigation and solutions, the Nile Basin countries need to develop and implement sustainable management strategies/policies. In this context, achieving sustainable socio-economic developments in the Nile Basin region, which indeed applies also to the other parts of the MENA region, requires coupling public awareness, education, science and technology programs to society, population and markets needs.

The so-called renewable energy sources/resources differ considerably and in many aspects from non-renewable ones. In “susutain-earth.com” we examined one type of electricity generation TPP “Thermal Power Plants” through using fossil-fuel “coal”. The “life-cycle”, in this case the transformation of fossil energy to electricity, was given including the production of waste and pollution as unwanted bi-products with environmentally damaging effects. We demonstrated, also, the so-called WE-nexus, i.e. how the production of (energy) electricity is dependent on water. Here we illustrate the “life-cycle” for production of electricity from wind.

The construction, installation and operation of wind turbines are simple in relations to the more complicated “TPP units”. With appropriate storage solutions, i.e. to compensate for variable power production “weather conditions”, they provide cost-effective and environment friendly solutions, as is the case for solar planels, i.e. with “zero” pollution and no need for water in operation.

Many of us have seen many power stations and industries are built near water bodies, this is because they need the water in their production or need to get rid of their waste, or both. Here we can see how Water and Energy are connected to each other, both with positive or negative impacts. Here is an example of positive and negative impacts given only in a qualitative and descriptive way.

Understanding “Water-Energy Nexus” is a key issue in Applied Sustainability in terms of how transformation of energy, i.e. from fossil form to electricity, not only needs and consumes water but also creates environmental pollution. The emitted atmospheric pollutants and rest products, in this case, e.g. carbon dioxide (100%), sulphur oxide 8%, nitrogen oxide (data on extraction yield is not given), heavy metals such as Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, ….. (information and data on removal are not given) and water vapor. These pollutants and rest products have negative impacts on the environment in terms of degradation in air, water and ecological qualities, e.g. acid rain that cause acidification of aquatic systems with negative impacts on lakes, rivers and marine coasts.

The life cycle of thermal power plants starts with coal mining, coal transport, coal pulverizing and coal burning (combustion of coal to produce heat and produce water vapor to run the turbines and generate electricity). As mineral coal has different levels of impurities and pollutants, such S, N, heavy metals and probably small amounts of radio-active elements, all these substances will turn to bi-production. The bi-products are not likely to be completely removed and some amounts will be released to the environment as is evident in many areas in China by the naked eye. The negative impacts of such pollution on air and water quality are very well documents in literature, however some countries have improved their production technologies and have strict protection rules what regards air, water and ecological qualities. Nevertheless, emissions of “green house” gases, causing “global warming”, is still a major global problem. The scape of water vapor from fossil-fuel based-power and industrial plants around the world introduces disturbances in natural water cycles and adds new uncertainties in modeling the water cycles. Water vapor is also a “green house”. At the same time, the emerging negative threats from “WE-nexus” on achieving socio-economic developments need further improvements and actions what regards WE-management policies.

The accelerating consumption of WE-resources “Water and Energy Resources” in the MENA region has huge negative long-term and large-scale impacts on achieving sustainable socio-economic developments in the whole region. The same threats are emerging in the Nile Basin region. Effective large-scale and long-term solutions are urgently required for developing and implementing WE-saving technologies in all society sectors and on all levels.

http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentid=20130418161903

An important question for achieving sustainable socio-economic developments in any nation is: what is the limiting factor, is it water or energy? Currently, lack of access to clean water and sanitation kills children at a rate equivalent to jumbo jet crashing every four hours, this is equivalent to 3.4 million people die each year from water, sanitation and hygiene-related problems. Almost 1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water, mainly in the developing countries; the problem will still worsen as 70 percent of industrial waste is dumped untreated into waterways. The so-called emerging economies are, also, facing an accelerating threat from mismanagement of water resources that on the long run will be the most limiting factor for achieving sustainable socio-economic development.

China isn’t an exception, with its 22% of the world’s population, an access to only 5 percent of global water resources and an estimated 300 million people that lack access to safe drinking water. According to the Ministry of Water Resources in China, if China continues to consume and pollute at today’s rate, water demand will exceed supply in less than two decades. The past decades of rapid development, massive construction of infrastructure and huge industrial developments resulted in huge pollutant’s spill untreated into waterways. An estimated 50% of groundwater in cities, 77% of 26 key monitored lakes and reservoirs and 43% of 7 major river basins are considered unfit for human contact. Meanwhile, 19% of monitored rivers and basins, 35% of lakes are reservoirs are considered unfit even for agricultural or industrial use. These effects are related to China’s huge needs for energy and the associated “energy-water” nexus, e.g. 96% of China’s electric power requires water to generate, and 47% of electricity is consumed by water scarce provinces. Agriculture is by far the largest consumer of water at 62%, and the largest polluter, with pesticides and fertilizers responsible for about half the contamination of waterways. Soils are, also, facing great degradation, the average level of organic matter in soil is now 1-5% for northeastern China’s arable land, compared with 8-10% in the 1950s. A report published in 2007 by the World Bank and the Chinese government estimated the combined health and non-health cost of outdoor air and water pollution at approximately $100 billion a year, or about 5.8% of China’s GDP. Water pollution, meanwhile, worsens China’s severe water scarcity problems, with the overall cost of water shortages estimated at 1% of GDP.

Climate change has, also, negative effects in form of growing desertification and prolonged droughts in agricultural regions nationwide with impacts on drinking water and livestock as well as water levels in some of the countries major hydropower producing regions.

http://chinawaterrisk.org/resources/analysis-reviews/china-water-portrait-past-future/

The environmental importance is gaining greater and greater attention for policy makers around the world. Many countries are struggling to provide drinking water with good quality for their population. However, the quality of drinking water is very much related to the environmental conditions. The most important indicator for clean environment is availability of clean drinking water for everyone, this is also very much related to availability of clean natural waters and thereby clean environments.

Many countries in Europe can offer everyone the best drinking water quality in the world; in this context tap water in Europe can very well compete with the quality of bottled water.

http://www.therichest.com/expensive-lifestyle/location/top-10-countries-with-the-best-tap-water/

Global warming whether is a natural climate change process or artificial man-made climate impacts have enormous impacts on our choices to select secure and safe solutions of human energy needs. Also, pollution and waste products from energy production and use, including accidents and disasters, makes it difficult to keep land in tact for agricultural and for suitable household uses. Modern threats from climate, waste and pollution dedicate new realities for humans in terms of limiting the diversity for appropriate, safe and secure life on earth. The   road for achieving sustainable socio-economic developments becomes more difficult once we overload it with more “time-bombs”.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/05/fukushima-japan-rebuilding-communities-with-solar-commits-to-a-100-percent-renewable-energy-by-2040?cmpid=SolarNL-Tuesday-May20-2014

A major challenge for policy makers in less favored countries is to provide millions of people with minimum amount of energy to solve their basic and essential daily needs.

In India, for example there are about 400 million people that lack access to electricity, i.e. more than the combined population of the U.S. and Canada. The situation in many other parts of the world may look the same, in particular Africa. The problem is that elections in many countries are conducted on un-realistic promises without workable solutions that ends up with little, no solutions or even more negative impacts. Solutions that are not implemented in time would certainly make the situation worse. The outgoing government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh missed a 2012 target to provide electricity to all households. Now , India’s new government led by Narendra Modi plans to harness solar power to enable every home to run at least one light bulb by 2019. So, assuming that the outgoing government had some six years to solve India’s energy delimma, the situation now is such that solutions will further be delayed by another seven years. In total 13 years to deliver solutions if we assume that the current government will be successful. People have to wait for at least one decade not for getting solutions but to hope for change.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/05/indian-government-to-use-solar-to-bring-power-to-every-home-by-2019?cmpid=SolarNL-Tuesday-May20-2014

Toxic compounds, hazardous chemicals and aggressive gases are not only produced in laboratories with restrict protection laws and well planned ventilation systems. They are, unfortunately, allowed to be produced and emitted as well as to keep circulating in our living environments and in the atmosphere around us. Though most of our concern is focused on “green-house” gases and the “green-house” effect, air pollution and air quality are among important environmental issues because of their severe impacts on health.

Many capital cities around the world suffer from “smog”. “Smog” has different origin and composition. Heavy industries using oil, metals and natural gas in their production can be potential sources for smog formation. Domestic fireplaces with coal and wood can contribute to major parts of the smog formation in some cities; this can be also the case with high volume of road traffic, rubbish incineration and dust from the surrounding deserts. In some mega cities the number of cars has increased to tens of millions in the last 30 years. However, fossil fuels, in particular coal, powered plants can still be major sources causing the biggest problem. Apart from man-made pollution, natural processes, e.g. sandstorms in hot arid and semi-arid regions/deserts can contribute to smog forming. In combination with intense ultra-violet rays industrial and automobile emissions can be transformed into, as transported as, ozone.

But, according to the most recent figures from the World Health Organization (WHO), the megacity doesn’t even rank among the top 10 cities for smog. Most of the worst afflicted are smaller cities across the developing world.

Poor air quality causes a number of illnesses for city residents, like chronic respiratory problems and lung cancer. According to a study by the Max-Planck Institute in Mainz, some 15,000 people die every year in Dhaka due to air pollution. Researchers found the world’s highest concentration of sulfur dioxide there. Smog can contain high levels of toxic chemicals, e.g. hydrocarbons, heavy metals, fine particulates, S-/N-/C- compounds, ozone, …. and other hazardous compounds.

The Chinese capital, Beijing, isn’t the only big city suffering from smog. From Asia to the Middle East to the Americas, here’s a look at the 10 worst cities for bad air. Beijing, China; Ahwaz, Iran; Ulan Bator, Mongolia, Lahore, Pakistan, New Delhi, India; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Cairo, Egypt; Dhaka, Bangladesh; Moscow, Russia; Mexico City, Mexico

http://www.dw.de/top-10-worst-cities-for-smog/g-17469135

Worldwide water governance has been challenged on several levels from local up to international though the existing forces are beyond human control, e.g. growing human population, increasing diversity in economic activities, enhanced competition on water resources, threats of climate disruption on water balance and availability. Sustainable management of natural resources is facing challenges in particular policy-making, the  implementation of laws, interpretation of international treaties and conventions. Examples are the trans-boundary water issues and disputes between upstream-downstream countries due to divergence in utilization of water resources for power generation, industry, agriculture and household uses. Water scarcity and security are typical issues in the MENA region and have caused disputes in the Nile Basin and Israel-Palestine area. This is, also, the case in other parts of the world, e.g. between India and Pakistan.

Other challenges are: affordable access to safe drinking water as a human right, e.g. sanitation and health issues in Sub-Saharan Africa; the needs for ways to measure access to improved water and unimproved water; the push to privatize water resources to drive efficiency and water trade; drought management and impacts of climate change. In global perspective water as a human right is not totally agreed upon, e.g. by the US and others international donors and what concerns affordability there are still more efforts to be done.

A panel discussion on contemporary challenges is given here on the sustainable use of the world’s freshwater resources, and the effectiveness of international law, e.g. international human right law, international environmental law and others, to meet existing challenges.