“Water is At the Center of the Climate Crisis”
Water is a bigger driver of climate change than greenhouse gases. But water lives and moves within ecosystems, mainly through plants and soil, with a very important role for animals to play.
The United Nations at this link says: “Water – at the center of the climate crisis.” .
In this video, I discuss many of the issues raised in this article.
When I saw this headline, I was hopeful at first, because I believe water is truly at the center of the climate crisis. But as it turns out, my understanding is different from theirs (at the UN).
I believe that if we understand water and act accordingly, then we will make a lot of changes that will not only address our climate issues, but will also solve problems such as water scarcity, food insecurity and poverty, flooding, droughts and wildfires.
But what does the United Nations mean when they say water is at the “center” of the climate crisis?
Apparently, they don’t mean that water is life for the natural world, of which we humans are a part. They don’t mean that broken water cycles are the cause of climate change. They don’t mean that water is a great coolant.
They don’t mean that water resides within ecosystems, such as forests, grasslands and wetlands and that therefore we should preserve and protect these ecosystems because, if we do, we will facilitate cooling processes that will keep our planet cool and curb global warming.
They don’t mean that water comes from rain, that rain comes from clouds, that clouds come from forests and that therefore, we should preserve our forests so that we might have clouds and rainfall which would in turn give us water for drinking, crops and livestock.
When they say “water is at the center of the climate crisis,” they don’t mean that water comes from streams, that forests cause streams to flow and that therefore we should preserve our forests.
They don’t mean that streams often emerge from groundwater, which often owes its existence to healthy soil, which often owes its existence to forests, beavers, prairie dogs, earthworms, dung beetles and cattle, and no thanks to the heavily subsidized mainstream industrial agriculture, which destroys the soil and falsely claims to feed the world.
They do say this: “Climate change is exacerbating both water scarcity and water-related hazards (such as floods and droughts), as rising temperatures disrupt precipitation patterns and the entire water cycle.”
In this analysis, water is the victim, not the solution. Water cycles are the victim of “climate change,” which we interpret to mean “global warming caused by CO2.”
To me, this understanding of climate change is grossly oversimplified and therefore inaccurate and misleading. It’s not just a little bit oversimplified or slightly inaccurate. It is not a slightly different angle or a forgivable neglect of a few minor details. It is grossly oversimplified to the point of being inaccurate and misleading, such that in many ways, we are going in precisely the wrong direction.
Hold that thought. And consider this quote from a famous American historian.
“The press is the hired agent of a monied system and set up for no other purpose than to tell lies where their interests are involved. One should trust nobody and nothing.” —Henry Adams, 1838-1918
To tell a good lie, one must be subtle. You have to sound credible. The lie cannot be obvious. And the biggest lies are lies by omission. You have to omit important details that—if included—would change the story entirely.
The United Nations, the New York Times and similar reputable sources are saying true things, i.e., that CO2 causes global warming and that fossil fuels emit CO2. But they are neglecting to tell you about how water governs our climate.
I cannot prove that water cycles are greatly more significant than CO2 in climate change. I cannot prove that what we do to the land is greatly more significant than what we do to the sky.
But someone who lies to you about one thing will lie to you about other things. And somebody who willingly spews profound ignorance and routinely ignores observable fact on one topic will do the same on other topics.
When reputable sources say that droughts and floods are caused by “climate change,” i.e., global warming brought about by excess atmospheric CO2, I’m like, “Okay, but is that the only cause or the primary cause”?
We know that both droughts and floods are caused by bad soil and deforestation. Both deforestation and bad soil increase the amount of runoff. More runoff means more flooding. Runoff equals flooding. But the popular press and the scientific literature blame CO2 for all the flooding … almost all the time .. with rare exceptions.
But when you cut down a forest, the trees no longer act as a sponge. And when you cut down a forest, the soil begins to degrade, so the soil becomes compacted and lifeless and no longer acts as a sponge when it does rain.
The same scenario causes drought. Trees and especially mature forests bring rainfall. But more importantly, trees and especially mature forests act as a sponge and soak up the water when it does rain. Those same trees and mature forests keep the soil healthy, because there’s nothing better for soil than the roots of plants and trees.
When you have good soil and abundant plant matter, then the plants and the soil become a reservoir of water that prevents the worst impacts of drought.
We hear none of this from the most reputable outlets whom people trust to deliver reliable climate information.
The UN writes: “Climate change is exacerbating both water scarcity and water-related hazards (such as floods and droughts), as rising temperatures disrupt precipitation patterns and the entire water cycle.”
What do they mean by “climate change”? If you think about it, deforestation causes climate change, because when you take away the forest, the climate changes, as described above. Remove the forest and you get less rainfall. Remove the forest and the forest no longer acts as a sponge to soak up the rain that does come. This starts a cycle of flooding and drought. When flooding and drought become more prevalent, this IS climate change. The climate has changed due to deforestation. But this is almost never what they mean when they use the term “climate change.”
In the popular press and the scientific literature, the term “climate change” always and without exception means global warming due to CO2. And CO2 is thought to come overwhelmingly from the burning of fossil fuels, with other sources of CO2–and other sources of warming—hardly worthy of mention.
This creates a false narrative, based on lies by omission. This narrative is good for industry, but bad for the climate. It is good for industry because we have been led to believe that climate action means building lots of solar panels, wind farms and electric vehicles.
These are profitable corporate products, especially when they come with lavish government subsidies. And we are willing to subsidize these industries because we have been led to believe that this is the real solution to the climate crisis. We are not routinely taught that the supply chains that deliver these products (solar, wind and EVs) require prodigious amounts of fossil fuels, water pollution and deforestation. For more on this, I recommend the book “Bright Green Lies.”
Let’s look at some of the issues mentioned in the paragraph above:
water scarcity
flooding
drought
disruption of precipitation patterns
disruption of entire water cycles
Starting with water scarcity, why is water scarce? Not usually because we lack rain. It’s usually because we are not capturing the rain that does fall. We could capture the rain that does fall if we protected our forests and respected our soils.
The soil is poor because we are not practicing the principles of soil health. We are practicing heavy tillage and/or using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Meanwhile, we are leaving lots of ground bare, neglecting to cover the ground with mulch or living plants.
We deforest mountains so they can no longer hold rainwater.
We have removed numerous animal species that would otherwise operate to capture rainfall. This includes prairie dogs and beavers, who are functionally extinct from over 95% of their original range in North America.
We have used insecticides such as cow dewormers that kill dung beetles. If dung beetles were allowed to thrive, they would burrow holes in the ground. These holes would capture rainfall, greatly reducing both flooding and drought. Dung beetles also carry a ball of dung down into that same hole, providing a great service by fertilizing the soil.
If we captured our rainfall by protecting our forests, respecting our soil and appreciating the role of insects and wild mammals, then more streams would flow and more people in the world would have access to clean drinking water.
Let’s talk about farming.
How does agriculture impact water cycles and thereby impact people’s access to clean drinking water?
Mainstream industrial agriculture—in North America, Africa and elsewhere—does not respect the principles of soil health, as taught by Gabe Brown, Ray Archuleta and others.
If we respected the principles of soil health, the soil would hold more water. If the soil held more water, this water would be released gently and gradually into the streams, so that more streams and more rivers would flow more steadily. This would give more people access to clean, fresh water.
When the soil holds more water, then it supports more plants, which have their own positive effects on water cycles and cooling.
But this is rarely discussed in the popular press or the scientific literature. And you have to wonder why. I think it’s because if we understood this and talked about it, we would change what we allow businesses and governments to do to our land. This would pose a threat to many who profit from abuse of the land. But if we focus on carbon emissions, we don’t have to change what we do to the land.
The United Nations is not talking about any of this because that would pose a threat to the people who ultimately sign their paychecks, the monied interests who own the agribusiness corporations, the timber companies, the real estate developers and the banks, who own the governments who own the United Nations, especially the Security Council, where the United States uses its veto power to prevent the UN from operating according to its mission and purpose.
In this video, I explain how the Charter of the United Nations is a great document and a great treaty which is routinely ignored by my country, and has been ignored strenuously for the entire 78 year history of the UN.
https://www.youtube.com/live/rjov63SyGJU?si=Zb7Y42tio6GKpglH
Conclusion: Water IS at the center of the climate crisis, but not in the way that is commonly understood.
Great article to bring clear awareness of the real problem.
We should be awakening sooner that later to this truth.
Water is the main issue to solve! an the solution are clear (just not profitable as EV)
Slow water, infiltrate, recover healthy soils, more vegetation, reduce solar albedo, more small scale farming, more low clouds, more convective storms.