Climate-related drought plagues multiple countries - 29 Oct 2009  
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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