Extreme Weather Events: Droughts Around the World, Part 3 of 3

Today we’ll explore more about drought-induced conditions, this time in Asia and Australia. More than 66 million Southeast Asians have had their lives disrupted by drought in the past three decades. Severe drought and the construction of dams have driven the Mekong River to its lowest level in 100 years, endangering food supplies for tens of millions of people. In East Asia, a severe drought is plaguing east China's Anhui Province, leaving crops damaged and drinking water supplies disrupted in some of the hardest-hit regions, according to local authorities. A total of 45 cities and counties have been ravaged, with regions in three cities along the Yangtze River suffering from the worst drought in up to 50 years. In the past three decades, Mongolia has also been experiencing extreme droughts and water shortages due to the increased numbers of livestock animals being raised, and approximately 72% of the land has become severely degraded and overgrazed. In South Asia, a report by India’s government found that 600 million Indians -- nearly half the country’s population - are facing acute water shortages. Worst hit is the semi-arid region of Marathwada, infamous for the exceedingly high number of farmer suicides in Maharashtra. Large parts of Australia are currently experiencing the most severe drought on record. Farmers in Australia are already struggling with the drought, which has left entire towns without water, and the effects are now spreading to major population centers such as Sydney, where its five million residents were recently subjected to level-two water restrictions, which regulate garden watering, hosing of hard surfaces, and car washing. Supreme Master Ching Hai kindly shared the best way to stop global warming, the cause of extreme drought conditions around the globe, and thus save our planet, our Loving Home. “We still can rescue our home, planet home. Number one solution is vegan, organic vegan. Veganism will save our world. One of the most effective and fastest ways to reduce the heat in the atmosphere is to eliminate methane production. Methane not only traps up to 72 times more heat than carbon, it also goes away from the atmosphere much faster than CO2. So, if we stop producing methane, the atmosphere will cool more quickly than if we stop producing carbon dioxide. See what I mean? Organic vegan will produce beneficial cooling effect as it will cut down methane and other greenhouse gases which are fatal to our survival.”