[EMAIL PROTECTED] spaketh thusly: > Like with many issues most people don't become too > concerned about an issue until it becomes a crisis.
"It's not fun and games until someone loses an eye." > There are environmental concerns reaching near disaster > status or arguably at disaster status. One big one AJ > Hicks brings up in his response to Viateur, "None of which > is to say we have nothing to be concerned about with > regards to bulldozers, of course, but the continuing > drought in the SW shows no signs of abatement." This is > really a worldwide problem. The shortage of fresh water > should be of concerned to all orchid growers, as water is > a major component of growing orchids in situ or ex situ, > and of keeping their caretakers alive. Disclaimer: I'm dumb enough to try to grow orchids in the desert, and quite a few of them (well into the hundreds of thousands). However, I get by on less than a gallon per day (yes, about 4 liters a DAY) with this many plants, since the vast majority are in plant tissue culture. But- graduate school in geology at New Mexico Tech (which harbors what was then the fourth best school in graduate-level hydrology) taught me one thing: there is an impending water shortage that will make the oil crunch look like tiddlywinks. This never hits the news, since we're more concerned about the daily operation of motor vehicles here in the US, rather than, say, water (and food) in Sudan. People are largely blissfully ignorant as to these issues; I was talking to an educated relative of mine not even a week ago, discussing the ongoing drought here in the US, and it became painfully clear that there is this misperception that once the water runs out, there will somehow be some "magical" solution. The number of ghost towns spotted throughout the southwest would seem to argue otherwise, entire regions that have been shut down because (among other things) the water ran out. Drilling another well, surprisingly enough, is NOT a solution. > Currently private companies are trying to take control of > municipal water facilities. They make many promises that > are hollow. Ah, yes. What's the saying? "The pump don't work 'cause the vandals took the handle." Bob Dylan, I believe. If memory serves, Vivendi now owns US Filter, which is (ironically) a French company. Just the tip of the iceberg, as public works have been handed over to private companies for "management" in cost-saving efforts. The results are predictable. Cheers, -AJHicks Chandler, AZ _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids
