The Natural Resources Defense Council released a report today on the impact of climate change on water resources in the western United States: In Hot Water - Water Management Strategies to Weather the Effects of Global Warming. The report guides water resource managers through analyzing water vulnerabilities, and putting into place policies and practices that will mitigate the impact of climate change to the extent possible.

The report is an excellent resource and required reading for communities as well. Learn about your water! We now need the social scientists and social justice advocates to look at this issue and report on how to ensure that each person have access to sufficient water to meet daily human needs. The right to water, in times of scarcity, should be a starting point for planning -- not a tag-on when the problems become acute in the midst of a crisis.

ENS today mentioned a new report on climate change impacts to the U.S. Northeast, done by a collaboration of scientists in the region. The report is called Confronting Climate Change in the U.S. Northeast: Science, Impacts, and Solutions.

According to the report, "The first scenario assumes an increase in global warming emissions from continued heavy reliance on fossil fuels, and the second assumes substantially lower emissions due to an increased reliance on clean energy sources. Global sea level is 'conservatively' projected to rise 10 to 23 inches under the higher-emissions scenario and 7 to 14 inches under the lower-emissions scenario. Using these estimates, cities such as Boston and Atlantic City can expect a coastal flood equivalent to today's 100-year flood every two to four years on average by mid-century and almost annually by the end of the century under either scenario."

The website has state summaries that project changes under two scenarios -- high emissions (business as usual) and lower emissions. For Massachusetts alone, the difference between the high and low emissions projections indicate we can avoid endemic droughts. The report says we can have an impact with reduction in emissions from the Northeast -- significant. Most of the northeastern states have legislation in place, and are debating more, that will require reductions. We each have responsibility for, and an impact on, the ability of each of us to enjoy our right to water by reducing our environmental impact, if we act now.

New Jersey enacted into legislation the Global Warming Response Act, becoming the third state to enact law that will require a reduction in green house gas emissions, after California and Hawaii. All three laws require the state to reduce its emissions to below 1990 levels by 2020. ENS reports that eight other states are debating similar legislation: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin.

It took the tremendous efforts of community, faith-based, and union activists winning passage of minimum wage laws in six states for Congress to debate the federal minimum wage. How many states must pass this type of legislation for Congress to enact strict green house gas reductions targets? These emission reduction targets are critical in addressing the climate change crisis. The impacts wrought by climate change have begun and will severely impact water resources.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will publish a technical paper in November on water and climate change. Mitigating climate change with efforts like New Jersey's is essential -- 2 billion people know it. According to former Vice President Al Gore, more than 2 billion people participated in the LIVE EARTH concerts this past weekend. How many will it take? And how many more to enact legislation to enforce the right to water to ensure that even with climate change, everyone has access to safe, sufficient, affordable water for their daily needs? How many?

The United Nations Enviornment Program (UNEP) released a new report to honor World Environment Day on June 5, about the impact of climate change on ice and snow and what that means for our everyday life.

What does melting ice have to do with water? How about in China, where "highland glaciers are shrinking each year by an amount equivalent to all the water in the Yellow River. The Chinese Academy of Sciences says that 7 percent of the country’s glaciers are vanishing annually. By 2050, as many as 64 percent of China’s glaciers will have disappeared. An estimated 300 million people live in China’s arid west and depend on water from glaciers for their survival."

The reports released early in the spring on climate change from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC), especially the 2nd Report Policy Summary (the full report will be published later this year) on impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability confirms what we know -- that the poor are the least able to "adapt" and the most likely to be affected.

In Africa, "by 2020, between 75 and 250 million people are projected to be exposed to an increase of water stress due to climate change. If coupled with increased demand, this will adversely affect livelihoods and exacerbate water-related problems."

The IPPC has released a draft of its technical study on water and climate change to governments for comment. It is due out to the public in December. In North America, "warming in western mountains is projected to cause decreased snowpack, more winter flooding, and reduced summer flows, exacerbating competition for over-allocated water resources."

Water for fisheries and agriculture -- which poor people depend upon for survival -- will also be highly compromised. In the face of what we know will be increased competition for this vital and scarce resource, making sure the human right to water is fully implemented is even more important.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights will report to the U.N. Human Rights Council this September on its study into the right to water. If the "debate" about whether there is a right to water or not -- and what it is -- comes out in favor of a strong right, the implementation will be the next hurdle.

This year, UUSC program partner Mass Global Action is gearing up a campaign for a human right to water in the greater Metro Boston area. In the face of what can be overwhelming statistics and incomprehensible impending disaster, groups are taking up the challenge to make something real happen.