I am very excited to launch my
new blog “Water Gurus.” I teach hydrology, water resources and environmental
science at the University of Toronto, Canada. I am very passionate not only to
teach the next generations about water and its impact on our lives but also to
determine what needs to be done to ensure all of our descendents will always
have the same or better access to it.
Planet Earth's most precious
resource is also the most paradoxical one. We need water for our very existence
yet we take it for granted and assume it will always be there for all of human
kind's uses for it. It is so essential
for our life but also our lives - we need it to quench our thirst, to wash our
clothes, to flush away our waste, to grow food we eat, to help generate
electricity, and also for transportation, recreation and industry, yet we
pollute it, neglect it, abuse it. In this blog, I hope to connect with people
who are equally passionate about water issues not just because it is a basic
necessity for human life but also because it is the basic foundation for the
entire global ecosystem.
Do you know that our planet has a
finite amount of water which is recycled through the processes of the
hydrological cycle? Do you know how this cycle is being negatively impacted due
to climate change? How prepared are you to face the increasing variation and
unpredictability in floods and droughts in your community? How ethical is it to
let 2.5 million people die, mostly children, due to water-borne illnesses?
Continuing disregard to what
water means to our quality of life will create a crisis that will bring us to
our knees within this century. So here
is a clarion call to one and all to start thinking about our relationship with
water and to help become protectors of this precious resource through planning
and action.
So let’s celebrate Water Day
today so we can get to work tomorrow .....
Romila Prasad Verma
Founder, Water Gurus
