Apparently it was the best Earth Hour ever. With so many countries in lockdown, there was little traffic, little air travel and less industry so that emissions went down, even Los Angeles had clear skies for the first time since the 1950s and the canals of a tourist -free Venice were clean. Unfortunately, World Water Day on March 22nd became another casualty of Coronavirus with many events being cancelled or deferred, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t give it some thought. It’s hard to tell people to wash their hands when three billion people around the world don’t have the facilities at home to do that, let alone bathe, cook, feed livestock or grow vegetables, and not counting water needed for industry, mining or power generation. This year’s theme is water and climate change. Eighteen out 22 countries already fall below the water poverty line and experience water stress for at least one month of the year. While we might immediately think of the Midd...
Practising Geographer - nature culture places people