LETTER WRITTEN IN 2070 Text published in the

LETTER WRITTEN IN 2070 Text published in the magazine "Crónicas de los Tiempos“, April of 2002 Ria Slides www www w Wwwwww w w wwwwwwww w w w wwwww ww w www w. Wwwwww w w wwwwwwww w w w wwwww www w Wwwwww w w wwwwwwww

We are in the year 2070 I've just become 50, but I look like someone who is 85. I have serious kidney problems because I drink very little water. I feel I have little time left. Today I am one of the oldest people in my society. Ria Slides

I remember when I was 5. Everything was very different. There were many trees in the parks, houses had pretty gardens and I could enjoy a bath remaining under the shower for an hour. Now we use towels dampened with mineral oil to clean ourselves. Ria Slides

Before, all the women showed their pretty hair. Now, we shave our heads to keep it clean without using water. Before, my father used to wash his car with the water that came out of a hose. Today, children do not believe that water was used that way. Ria Slides

I remember that there were many adverts that said " TAKE CARE OF THE WATER". But nobody paid any attention; they thought that water could never run out. Now, all the rivers, dams and lakes are irreversibly contaminated or exhausted. Ria Slides

Immense deserts now cover the earth. The gastrointestinal infections, illnesses of the skin and of the urinary tract, are the main causes of death. Ria Slides

Industry is paralyzed and unemployment is drastic. Water distilling factories are the main source of employment and they pay you with drinking water instead of a salary. Ria Slides

Assaults for a barrel of water are common in the deserted streets. Food is 80% synthetic. Ria Slides

Before, the ideal quantity of water to be drank daily was eight glasses per adult. Today, I can only drink half a glass. Ria Slides

Clothes are disposable, which only increases the quantity of rubbish; we had to return to using septic tanks like in the previous century because the sewer network cannot be used due to the lack of water. Ria Slides

The appearance of the population is terrible, bodies decimated, wrinkled by dehydration, full of sores on the skin caused by the ultraviolet rays which no longer have the ozone layer that filtered them out in the atmosphere. Ria Slides

A 20 year old looks 40 due to the dryness of their skin. Scientists investigate, but there is no possible solution. Water can not be manufactured. Oxygen is also degraded because of the lack of trees which, in turn, diminished the IQ of newer generations. Ria Slides

The genetics of semen in many individuals has been altered. As a direct consequence, there are many children who suffer from insufficiencies, mutations and deformities. Ria Slides

The government charges us for the air we breathe, 137 m 3 per day per adult. Those who cannot pay are exiled from the "aired areas", which have gigantic mechanical lungs that function with solar energy. They are not of good quality, but you can breathe. The average is 35. Ria Slides

In some countries spots of vegetation with their own river remained and they are vigorously watched by the army. Water has become a very coveted treasure, more than gold or diamonds. Ria Slides

Here, on the other hand, there are no trees because it hardly ever rains, and when it does it is acid rain. Seasons have severely transformed due to atomic testing and polluting 20 th century industries. We were warned that we had to take care of the environment and nobody paid any attention. Ria Slides

When my daughter asks me to tell her about when I was young, I describe how beautiful forests were. I talk about the rain, the flowers, and how pleasant it was to have a bath, to be able to fish in the rivers and the dams, to drink as much water as you wanted. And how healthy people were. Ria Slides

She asks me: Dad! Where did the water go? Then, I feel a knot in my throat! Ria Slides

I cannot stop feeling guilty, because I belong to the generation that finished destroying the environment or simply did not take into account so many warnings. Ria Slides

Now our children pay a high price. . . Ria Slides

I sincerely believe that life on earth will very soon no longer be possible for humanity because the destruction of the environment has reached an irreversible point. Ria Slides

I wish I could go back in time and make humanity understand all this. . . when we could still do something to save our planet. PPS Author: Ria Message: text published in the magazine "Crónicas de los Tiempos“, April of 2002 Translator: Monica Dermondy Song: Chopin - Tristesse Photos: Getty Images Ria Slides