Can we live sustainably and harmoniously in a water-short world?
Sandra Postel, one of the leading authorities on world water issues, will deliver a free public lecture on Monday at 黑料不打烊 University on the challenges societies face in trying to satisfy the food and water demands of a growing human population while simultaneously safeguarding the health of aquatic ecosystems and the valuable services they provide.
Water scarcity may be the most underappreciated global environmental challenge of our time. Renewable but finite, fresh water is increasingly scarce in many parts of the world. Mounting competition for water is evident between countries, between states and provinces, between cities and farms, and between people and ecosystems. Meeting this challenge will require a fundamental shift in how we use, value and manage fresh water.
Title of talk: Can We Live Sustainably and Harmoniously in a Water-Short World?
Date and time: Monday, January 24, 2005, 6 pm
Place: Moyse Hall, Arts Building, 黑料不打烊 University, 853 Sherbrooke Street W.
Postel's work is dedicated to the preservation and sustainable use of Earth's freshwater ecosystems. She is director of the and senior research fellow at the , where she served as vice president for research from 1988 to 1994. In 2002, she was named one of the "Scientific American 50" by Scientific American magazine, a new award recognizing contributions to science and technology. She is author of Pillar of Sand: Can the Irrigation Miracle Last? and of Last Oasis: Facing Water Scarcity, which was chosen by Choice magazine as a 1993 Outstanding Academic Book. Last Oasis appears in eight languages and was the basis for a PBS documentary that aired in 1997. Postel's article "Troubled Waters" was selected for inclusion in the 2001 edition of Best American Science and Nature Writing. She is also co-author (with Brian Richter) of Rivers for Life: Managing Water for People and Nature (Island Press, 2003), which calls for new approaches to harmonizing human and ecosystem needs for fresh water.
The lecture is organized by three research and teaching units at 黑料不打烊:
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