- TOKYO (Reuters) - Many of
the world's freshwater lakes face death by pollution, resulting in catastrophe
for the human populations that depend on them, an environmental expert
warned on Monday.
-
- ``There is not a lake left on the planet that is not
already being affected by human activities,'' said William Cosgrove, vice
president of the World Water Council, an international organization that
deals with ecological problems involving water.
-
- ``We're killing the lakes, and that could be disaster
to the human communities that depend on them.''
-
- Cosgrove, in Japan to attend a week-long conference on
saving lakes held in Otsu, a city in central Japan, told Reuters that the
situation faced by many of the world's lakes -- estimated to number some
five million -- is dire.
-
- A majority of the hazards result from a rising demand
for water throughout the world sparked by population growth, according
to a statement issued by the World Water Council.
-
- This leads to increased use and diversion of water, often
for irrigating crops, along with contamination by toxic substances and
nutrients from industry, farms and sewage.
-
- Cosgrove, a Canadian, said that one insidious aspect
of the threat faced by lakes is that, even though a lake may appear pristine,
it could already have suffered serious damage.
-
- ``Then something happens -- like a change in water temperature
-- and all of a sudden a lake can be completely transformed,'' he said.
``Once the process starts, it's hard to stop.''
-
- An extreme example is that of Lake Victoria, Africa's
largest lake, which has over the last two decades suffered the death of
several species of fish and a dramatic increase in plant growth due to
pollution from several sources, including raw sewage from surrounding towns.
-
- ``Fishermen now can't even get their boats out away from
the shore to go fishing,'' Cosgrove said.
-
- Another seriously threatened lake is Taihu Lake in China,
the World Water Council statement said, ``where experts say you can practically
walk on its surface because of severe pollution.''
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- Deterioration on this scale can lead to a lack of livelihood,
resulting in poor nutrition and starvation in the populations surrounding
the lake. Other problems include illnesses due to drinking tainted water
and crop failure.
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- The potential impact is huge, Cosgrove added.
-
- ``Humans are already using more than 50 percent of the
usable freshwater resources, and 90 percent of this is in freshwater lakes,''
he said.
-
- And despite the magnitude of the threat, dealing with
the pollution of freshwater lakes remains low on the list of government
priorities in many areas, he said.
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- As a result, one of the biggest goals of the World Water
Council is simply to get the message across to ordinary people, hoping
that the pressures of public opinion will finally prompt government action.
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- ``The most important thing is to get their voices organized,
to say (to governments) that this is not something we want to happen and
to get your priorities straight,'' he said.
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