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Climate-related drought plagues multiple countries.
In Sudan, severe rain shortages in May and June left over a million south Sudanese people with little food. Many villagers have resorted to collecting grass for sustenance. In southern China’s Guangdong province, more than 50,000 people are also suffering from lack of water, with farm fields so depleted that the soil is cracked in dryness.

Meanwhile, India’s state of Andhra Pradesh is suffering from a lack of monsoon arrival, with some farmers even taking their own lives due to their desperate situations over the past few months.

Water scarcity has also forced 150,000 Yemenis from their village homes in search of water and jobs in the nation’s capital of Sana. In Kenya, drought is quickly turning once fertile land to deserts, with residents traveling more than 70 kilometers in search of water, and boreholes strewn with carcasses of animals.

We are deeply saddened to hear of these tragic situations that have befallen so many people and animal co-inhabitants. Our prayers that we all quickly take action toward sustainable practices that restore the life-giving resources of our shared Earthly home. Ever-concerned for humanity’s welfare, Supreme Master Ching Hai addressed the Earth’s dwindling water supplies via a video message for a June 2009 conference in Mexico, offering a simple and effective solution.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: We can stop water shortage. While droughts are plaguing more populations, we cannot afford to waste water. Meat production uses massive amounts of water, as you know.
It takes up to 1,200 gallons of fresh and good clean water to produce just one serving of beef.
In contrast, a full vegan meal costs only 98 gallons of water. That is 90 plus percent less. So, if we want to stop water shortage and to preserve precious water, we have to stop animal products.

Adopting a plant-based diet can halt as much as 80% of global warming, eradicate world hunger, stop war, promote peace, and it will free up the Earth’s water as well as many other precious resources, offering a lifeline for the planet and for humanity. In short, it will very quickly halt many of the global problems facing us right now. Therefore, it is vital that we do our part to bring to the public’s attention the urgent climate change issues and its solutions; the foremost being the vegan diet, to safeguard our precious planet.

Reference
http://www.france24.com/en/20091011-dinner-grass-south-sudan-after-drought-kills-crops
http://www.france24.com/en/20091011-50000-short-water-south-china-drought
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/oct/11/food-climate-change-famine-india
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-yemen-water11-2009oct11,0,4526748.story
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/10/20091011941816643.html

Rehabilitated rainforests support biodiversity.
In a study published in the science journal Conservation Biology, Dr. David Edwards of the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom compared three areas of rainforest in northeast Borneo island, one being untouched original growth, the next, deforested regions that were actively replanted, and finally, deforested regions that were left unplanted.

He found that the actively rehabilitated forests recovered from logging and returned to untouched forest levels of biodiversity within 15 years. Dr. Edwards concluded that this study could provide good motivation to protect and restore previously logged forests, especially those that might be under additional threat of deforestation
for oil palm and other such crops.

Dr. Edwards and University of Leeds associates, we laud your findings that show how we can best assist our damaged rainforests as well as the ecosphere. May we all work together to help bring back the vitality and pristine beauty of our magnificent Earth.

Reference
http://news.mongabay.com/2009/1021-hance_forestbio.html
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/contact
http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-135372.html

Extra News
Australian’s Climate Change Minister and Senator Penny Wong speaks on the ineffectiveness of an emissions trading scheme (ETS), saying that this tactic alone will not stop the encroaching sea level rises that are set to engulf the nation’s coastal communities.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26265701-5013871,00.html

In Kenya, experts such as Professor Mary Abukutsa-Onyango of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology advocate a return to traditional nutritious crops such as bambara nuts, amaranth, spider plant and pigeon pea, all of which grow well in less fertile soil and without irrigation.
http://solveclimate.com/blog/20090902/solving-kenya-s-food-crisis-one-indigenous-crop-time
http://allafrica.com/stories/200909010943.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/09/02/kenya.food.crisis/index.html?iref=24hours


The US Institute for Local Self Reliance reports that a full 30 states across the nation could meet their local energy needs through sustainable energy sources.  
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2009/10/26/report-finds-30-states-could-meet-their-power-needs-with-homegrown-renewable-power/