Wow…if you haven’t visited my sister’s website it is high time. I have been traveling for the last few weeks and had limited internet access. When I got home last night I logged on to see some pretty fantastic videos and great blogs. From Botswana to India and beyond (currently she is in Jerusalem) my sister’s expeditions are pretty fantastic. I think my favorite video is Kanpur: Ganges Under Threat http://www.alexandracousteau.com/videos, I have never been to India before but am familiar with the Ganges River and how important it is to the culture of the Hindu people. When you think in Kanpur that 20 million litres or just over 5 million gallons of tannery waste as well as human waste get dumped into the river each day!!
When one thinks of the pollution and devastation that a river many people call the ‘Mother Ganges’ is suffering from; it is a poignant reminder of the link between human culture and the environment.
These are important stories and I urge you all to watch them.
The Expedition: Blue Planet will chronicle the interconnectivity of water. A key aspect of the project will be its ability to show how individual stories are part of the larger, universal story of an interdependent, global water ecosystem. In this way, we will create a new vision for what it means to live in a world where water is our most precious resource, and a plan for what we must do to protect it.
We live on a Water Planet. It is a unique place in that it is the only planet we know of that supports life. And that life is nurtured and sustained by water.
Vital to all life on Earth, water moves through our world in a constant state of flux. Cycling endlessly through ecosystems, flowing under the poles and through the atmosphere, changing states, laying waste to entire regions or achieving perfection in the shape of a single snowflake — water is a mystery and a miracle, a source of conflict and a cause for celebration, a blessing and, in its absence, a curse.
The story of our Water Planet has never been more crucial and relevant than it is today. In an era of climate change, desertification, sea level rise, acid rain, drought, falling water tables, dead zones, and widespread pollution, water quality and quantity is becoming more critical by the minute. The global forces of extraction and expansion are jeopardizing the very substance that supports life on our planet.
To follow Alexandra’s Expedition go to: www.bluelegacy.net
