This month the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) published a report which clearly shows extreme water shortages are likely to occur by mid-century in the United States. The report finds that every state in the lower 48 is at risk for water scarcity and the Great Plains and Southwest are likely to face extremely high water shortages.

Researchers at Tetra Tech, a consulting firm used by the federal government and many major corporations, took a look at projected water demands along with renewable water supplies. They calculated what would happen to water supplies under 16 different leading climate models. What they found is that water supplies will dwindle and demand for fresh water will increase.

On the supply side, climate models forecast that many parts of the country will not only have less rainfall, but more of what does make it to the ground from snow or rain will be lost to evapotranspiration (water lost to evaporation and vegetation transpiration). As temperatures rise due to climate change, east Texas, the California Central Valley and the Southeastern states could see five fewer inches of available precipitation each year–what’s left after evapotranspiration. Leaving them even drier than they have been in recent years.

While we’re seeing less water enter the system, we’ll be taking more water withdrawals from aquifers, dams, rivers, and lakes. According to the study, water use in the U.S. is expected to increase by 12.3 percent between 2000 and 2050. The primary uses of fresh water are for agriculture, power plant cooling, and domestic use.

The regions expecting the worst water shortages are already using more water than they receive in rainfall each year. For example, California, the Southwest, and Texas already have water withdrawals over 100 percent of annual rainfall. This means those states use more water than they have.

Another point that needs to be made is that the hardest hit states are also where we grow much of the nation’s fruit, vegetables, and cotton. On the map below, you can see by the dark red colors the counties most at risk for extreme water shortages. The white dots show where the majority of the cotton is grown in the U.S.

While American cotton farmers are methods that put cotton’s water consumption in line with other crops, we may have to choose one day that it’s more important to have food than cotton (as there are other choices for textile fibers). But we won’t be able to rely on other countries to take up the slack and grow our cotton for us.

The top five cotton-producing nations are: China, U.S., India, Pakistan, and Brazil. Together these countries produce almost 84 percent of the global cotton crops. And, with the exception of Brazil, these same nations are also looking at severe water shortages in the short and long term.

Clearly much needs to be done to ensure we’re using water wisely. Conservation methods need to improve, legislation to slow down and reverse climate change is required, and we may have to decide if we want to grow cotton for t-shirts, or food for our tables.

What do you make of the new study and do you think we’ll have to face the day when cotton jeans, linens, and t-shirts are only for the wealthy? Post your thoughts below; we’re interested in what you have to say on this subject.

image credit: Google Earth / NRDC

Is it possible to reverse the damage done by decades of abuse or climate change? Take a look at  this video that begins with the once-barren Loess Plateau in China. John D. Lui of the Environmental Education Media Project shows how this community and others learned how to change their ways and bring prosperity to the plateau and environmental benefits to the land.

Not only does the documentary show the success in China, where the central government can force the population to alter their habits, but they show how villages in Ethiopia and elsewhere have also made remarkable improvements.

It’s not often we hear “hope” and “climate change” in the same sentence. Lui’s video shows us there is hope. Stories such as these need to be held up as examples for the rest of the world. Help spread the word by sharing this video.

A new poll just released by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that Americans are less and less inclined to place global warming and environmental issues at the top of the priority list.

Just over 1,500 people were asked what the country’s priorities should be for 2010. The economy and jobs topped the list, which is no surprise. And since the survey was conducted in early January (shortly after the failed Christmas day airline bombing), terrorism rounded out the top three priorities.

What surprised us, is that global warming was dead last and losing ground against results from previous years. In fact, only 28 percent of the respondents to the Pew survey said global warming was a top priority.  In 2007, while only 38 percent said global warming was a priority. That’s 10 points higher than this year’s sentiment.

With the Pew survey, they also break down results by political party. The vast majority of Republicans do not consider this to be an issue, with only 11 percent of them making it a top concern. On the other hand, 43 percent of Democrats want action this year. Independent voters, who are now a third of the electorate, came in at only 25 percent believing global warming should be addressed by the President and Congress.

Pew wasn’t the only ones asking American’s about global warming last month. Last week  Yale and George Mason universities released a report Climate Change in the American Mind. In that survey, 57 percent of the people said, “Yes, I think global warming is happening.” That’s down from 71 percent when the same question was asked in 2008.

Of course, just because people think that climate change is happening, doesn’t mean they think we have anything to do with it. Thirty-six percent of the people said that it’s mostly caused by natural changes. Interesting, because 47 percent said that humans were the cause, but scan back up and you’ll see that only a total of 57 percent would even agree that the planet is experiencing climate change.

Clearly, people are confused, as responses to this question demonstrates:

Which comes closer to your own view?

1. Most scientists think global warming is happening
2. Most scientists think global warming is not happening
3. There is a lot of disagreement among scientists about whether or not global warming is happening
4. Don’t know enough to say

The choice that received the most responses was number three! Forty percent of the people said they believe there is a lot of disagreement among scientist over global warming. The fact is that the vast majority of reputable scientists DO agree that global warming is occurring.

Where do you fall in the spectrum? Is climate change happening? If so, should the government make addressing climate change a top priority? How high on the list would you put it? Above creating jobs? Health care? Let us know.

Winter rains may have started in the U.S. but many areas on the planet are still suffering from severe drought.

no rain in the americas

Here at home, California, southern Texas, and the Southwest continue to suffer from severe to extreme drought. Fortunately, we haven’t had to endure the hardships imposed on the citizens of other countries. Just this week residents of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, are having to do without water service for up to 48 hours. The dry weather started back in 2007 and the water rationing is expected to be in effect until 2010 when the rainy season begins again.

africa’s suffering worsens

Over in Africa, more severe and frequent droughts are drastically changing the way of life for millions of nomads in Kenya. While drought is no stranger to Africa, a Christian Aid study released in 2006 shows that periods of drought have quadrupled in the last 25 years. Compounding the problem is a growth in population. What does this mean for the nomads? Many of them have lost their herds and are no longer  to continue with their nomadic traditions. Worse still, others have lost family members to malnutrition.

the chinese take control of the weather

And perhaps you heard about China’s efforts to wring some water from the skies by seeding the clouds over Beijing last week. According to the Xinhua news agency, the head of the Beijing Weather Modification Office (who even knew they had one), said, “We won’t miss any opportunity of artificial precipitation since Beijing is suffering from the lingering drought.”

Where does all this leave us? The message seems pretty clear, climate change is effecting more and more people every day around the world. We’re trying to do our part in reducing the demand for water for textiles. Let’s hope the upcoming Copenhagen climate conference yields real results.

photo credits- caracas: LAHT.com / goats: Siena Anstis / snow: LikeYesterday

Water covers more than 70 percent of the earth, unfortunately 97 percent of it is salt water. Of the remaining three percent, most of that is frozen and inaccessible, leaving a mere .5 percent available for human use.

more water facts

• Fewer than 10 countries control more than 60 percent of the planet’s fresh water.
• Every year, more than 1.5 million children die from water-related disease.
• Water.org says that one in eight people do not have access to clean water.
• An American uses more water in a single five-minute shower than most poor people in the third world use in a day.
• Water shortages have been reported near water bottling plants, including those in Wisconsin, Texas, Florida and New Hampshire.

who’s using the water?

Of course, water is a renewable resource, but mother nature is not able to keep up with the pace of human activity.

Population growth means more agriculture, manufacturing, and sanitation. Agriculture accounts for the vast majority of our fresh water demands. Often regions devote 70 percent or more of their water towards growing crops for food or commodities such as cotton.

As part of Blog Action Day, we want to bring your attention to the water waste in the textile industry. Textiles are the third biggest user of water and cause of water pollution.

You may be surprised to learn that the fiber to make one simple cotton tee uses 713 gallons of water. Then, dying that shirt can take almost eight gallons. That’s a lot of water. Did you know that more than 2 billion t-shirts are sold each year? That’s a lot of water!

climate change and everyday choices

When you think about climate change causing sea levels to rise, more drought, longer droughts, world population increases and the precious little fresh water we have for all the creatures on this planet, we believe that water is better used for food than for clothing. Especially because there are excellent alternatives. We now have recycled PET fabric that’s as soft as cashmere and stronger than cotton. And we have ways to dye the fabric that use no water at the point of coloration.

We encourage everyone to make smart choices about water use every day. Everything from taking shorter showers, to using non-toxic cleaning supplies to choosing clothing that’s not needlessly consuming and polluting our fresh water. Together we can fight climate change and water scarcity.