There is no turning back. The stranglehold of tyrannical rulers in the Middle East is imploding. Barriers of fear, erected by decades of oppression, have been shattered in the stroke of a keyboard by empowered youth intoxicated with new-found freedom and personal dignity.

A crepuscular sense of democracy liberates the hearts and minds of people who have previously only known deceit, hostility, and corruption. Social institutions that have been frozen in time thaw before our very eyes. But while the invigorating euphoria of change fills the air, a sleeping giant lurks nearby.

Toppling dictators is hard business. Picking up the pieces to create a tolerant society from the remnants of a culture swindled by fanatics that have systematically rejected democratic fundamentals like civil rights, free speech, and innovation is no small task either.

But, the gravity of the situation in the Middle East extends far beyond the colossal undertaking of revitalizing an impoverished and illiterate culture, instilling battered nations with vision and peace, and building cohesive democratic governments.

In a recent presentation for Green Builder Media's webinar program, Impact Series: Game Changers in Sustainability, internationally renowned author and sustainability expert Lester Brown reveals the distressing fact that the Middle East is the first geographic region in the world to experience peak water. Rapidly diminishing water supplies and depleted aquifers have drastic consequences for the region's ability to produce grain and other essential food supplies.

Brown offers Saudi Arabia as an example of a country that will be forced to phase out grain production within the next year due to water shortages. From Syria to Yemen to Iraq, water tables are falling, wells are going dry, and food production is declining.

Brown also asserts that degraded land and hotter temperatures are creating shortfalls in food production across the globe, making the middle-eastern countries that are (or will be) dependent on food imports even more vulnerable, and possibly volatile, than they are today as grain exporting countries place restrictions on exports in order to protect domestic supply. While oil rich countries will still have the ability to barter for grain, poorer countries will be left scrambling, resulting in amplified global instability.

It seems to me that today's power struggles in the Middle East are just the initial skirmishes in what will be a prolonged battle for political stability, environmental security, and resource productivity. As clean technology and renewable energy solutions are developed to wean the United States, China, and India off foreign oil, the Middle East might find that its biggest bargaining chip, oil, has become a chump.

Unless newly created governments in the Middle East develop concrete contingency plans for dealing with the real environmental threats to our future, there will be no fiscal policy, military solution, democratic leader, or empowered youth movement that will be able to protect the region from the dire environmental quandary that lies ahead.

Want learn more about peak water and diminishing water supplies? Watch Lester Brown's webinar at www.greenbuildermag.com/impactseries or write to me at sara@greenbuildermag.com.

The power of social media has rocked the world. Rage goes viral. Ruling regimes overthrown by Twitter. Coup d'états choreographed through handheld devices.

Masterfully employed in our own country not so long ago to elect our current President, community aggregation sites like Facebook are redefining "of the people, by the people, and for the people."

This new common language slices through deception and pits truth against charade. The dramatic journey of our modern society unfolds online before our eyes in 140 characters or less. Social media—a tie that binds—connects the layers of human history.

Overflow crowds of demonstrators in the streets of Cairo leverage social media as they savor their first taste of the sweet fruits of freedom they've only previously dreamed of. With a stunned world watching in awe, their inexorable migration to democracy suggests that the very pyramids themselves can't stand forever in the path of an idea whose time has come.

This unprecedented phenomenon of human communication, simultaneously inspirational and alarming, begs the question: How can we positively harness the power of social media to create a shared message that advances sustainability? If environmentalism, as some suggest, is the new religion of our times, how can we optimize today's communication technology to spread the gospel? And how can we channel the values of sustainable living throughout the virtual world to harness the natural tenacity of the human spirit?

If such a vast and disparate chorus of voices, previously silenced by lifetimes of political oppression, can rise in unison through these vehicles of communication and sing in praise of liberation, then can't we, as simple messengers of equitable sustainability, employ those same tools and technologies to affect our own change in the world?

Perhaps sustainability has not yet gone viral because it's still viewed by many as a "nice to have" rather than a "need to have." Only when we replace the myopic discussion of short-term price with long-term value will we have a real chance to capture the hearts and minds of the undecided.

The Egyptian protesters are risking life, limb, and personal liberty, as well as their nation's political and economic stability, in a high stakes gamble for a better future. Are we brave enough to sacrifice a few creature comforts to assure a quality life for future generations of our species and all others?

Have ideas about how to leverage social media to propagate sustainability? Write to me at sara@greenbuildermag.com. For more information about important topics related to green building and sustainability, follow me on Twitter at SaraGBM.