Water, Land and Climate – The Critical Connection: How We Can Rehydrate Landscapes Locally to Renew Climates Globally
Note to Reader:
Jan Lambert, editor of The Valley Green Journal (New Hampshire), in October 2015 published her first book, with the help of contributors from around the world. Find out the latest thinking and action showing how important it is to welcome rain back into our landscapes, and restore local water cycles for humanity and for all life on Earth.
A Global Action Plan for the Restoration of Natural Water Cycles and Climate
“In considering the factors involved in global climate change, there is a need for increased attention to the role of regional, or small water cycles, and resulting regional freshwater reserves, in influencing global energy and thermoregulatory processes,” wrote Michal Kravčík and Jan Lambert in a co-authored article published in The Valley Green Journal.
Michal Kravčík is a Slovak hydrologist and environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1999, for his contributions to the water management of the Torysa River.
“Humanity’s management of water has erred in assuming rainwater to be a waste product to be drained quickly from urban areas, while at the same time massive amounts of precipitation needed for small water cycles, are instead lost by poor agricultural and forest land management.”
Jan Lambert
“Deforestation, accompanied by increased storm water runoff and soil erosion, leads to a lessened ability of the land to hold moisture; so does the man-made proliferation of impervious surfaces that move rainwater rapidly and directly into streams, preventing it from soaking into the landscape and entering the local small water cycle. In addition agricultural practices such as poor grazing management and tillage bring about soil erosion and excess drainage. These local events add up on a continental scale to a significant reduction of groundwater, moisture for soil and vegetation, and water vapor for the air above the continents.”
Michal Kravcik
“The resulting drying up of ecosystems can be linked to undesirable climate change including extremes of flooding, drought, heat, cold, and chaotic air currents. Inappropriate human interference with the natural processes of small water cycles must cease. The action needed is widespread restoration of vegetation and soil fertility, accompanied by massive rainwater retention. New, expanded water management policies will enable the United Nations to carry out its focus on resilience to natural disasters through efficient use of natural resources. Planning is required for all countries to permeate landscapes with rainfall and snowmelt to bring about the return of stable regional, small water cycles to aid in local, and ultimately global, climate recovery.”
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