Interesting Facts

The UK is undergoing its worst drought since 1976. (Ridiculously, every day, 3.4bn litres of water leaks from the system. This is almost a quarter of the entire supply. And to add insult to injury, the water companies (who make huge profits every year) have been told they don't need to reduce this until 2015. Since the privatisation of the water industry in 1989, leakage reduction targets were set for the 21 water companies, but leaks have only been reduced across England and Wales by 5% over the past 13 years. Why? Well probably because, of the £2bn in pre-tax profits from 2010 - 2011, they paid out £1.5bn in dividends to shareholders. Money that could have been spent on preserving one of our most precious resources. So, never mind Wiki leaks, what about Water leaks?)

According to the federal National Climatic Data Center in America, the world is enduring the hottest year on record. (For the first six months of the year, 2010 has been warmer than the first half of 1998, the previous record holder, by 0.03° F. Northern Thailand has its worst drought in 20 years, while Israel is in the middle of the longest and most severe drought since the 1920s. In Britain, this year has been the driest since 1929. However, it remains to be seen whether 2010 will overtake 2005 as the hottest year overall.)