A Letter Written in the Year 2070

This is the year 2070.  I have just turned 50, but I my appearance is of somebody of 85. I suffer from serious kidney problems, because I do not drink enough water. I'm afraid I do not have much time left to live. I am one of the oldest people   in this society. I remember when I was a child of 5. Everything was very different then. There were lots of trees in the parks, houses with beautiful gardens, and I could enjoy having a shower for half an hour. Nowadays we use towels with mineral oil to clean our skin. Before,  women had beautiful hair.

Now, we have to shave our heads to keep them clean without the use of water. Then, my father washed his car with water coming out of a hosepipe.  Now,  my son does not believe that  water could be wasted that way. I remember there were SAVE WATER warnings on outside posters, radio and TV, but nobody paid attention.  We thought that water was to last forever.

Now, all the rivers, lakes, dams and underground water beds are either dry or contaminated. Industry came virtually to a standstill and unemployment  reached dramatic proportions. Desalination plants are the main source of employment and workers receive part of their salary in drinkable water. Assaults at gun point on the streets for a jerrycan of water are very common. Food is 80% synthetic. Before, the recommended quantity of water to drink for an adult was 8 glasses a day.

Nowadays, I am only allowed half a glass. We now have to wear disposable clothing, and this increases the amount of litter. We are using now septic tanks, because the sewerage system does not work for lack of water. The outside appearance of the population is horrible: wrinkled, emaciated bodies, due to dehydration, full of sores caused by ultra violet radiation, now stronger without the protective shield of the ozone layer. Skin cancer, gastrointestinal infections and of the urinary tracts are the main causes of death.

Due to the excessive drying of the skin young people of 20 look like 40. Scientists investigate, but there's no solution to the problem. Water cannot be produced, oxygen is also degraded due to the lack of trees and vegetation, and the intellectual capacity of the new generations is severely impaired. The morphology of spermatozoa in many men has changed. As a consequence, babies are born with deficiencies, mutations and physical deformities. Government makes us pay for the air we breathe, 137 m3 per day per adult person. People who cannot pay are expelled from the "ventilated zones", with huge mechanical lungs driven by solar power. The air is not of good quality, but at least people can breathe.

The average life expectancy is 35 years. In some countries, where there are still some green zones crossed by rivers, these are guarded by heavy armed soldiers. Water became a very coveted treasure, more precious than gold and diamonds. Where I live, there are no trees, because it seldom rains. When it happens to register some precipitation, it is of acid rain. The seasons have been severely affected by the atomic tests and by contamination from the 20th century polluting industries.

We were warned to look after the environment, but nobody cared. When my son asks me to talk about my youth, I tell him about the green fields, the beauty of the flowers, the rain, how pleasant was to swim and fish in the rivers and dams, to drink all the water we could, and how healthy people was. He asks: Daddy! Why there is no water? Then, I feel a lump in my throat! I cannot help feeling guilty, because I belong to the generation who contributed to the destruction of the environment or simply did not take into account all the warning signs. Now our children pay a very high price! I sincerely believe that within a short time life on earth will not be possible, as the destruction of nature reached now an irreversible stage.  How I would like to go back and make mankind understand… ...that we still had time to save our Planet Earth.

This show was made by a very talented person, named A P J Abdul Kalam.