WORLD WATER CRISIS

 

 

Water is the main source of life and without it we cannot survive. Nowadays water seems to us an inexhaustible good and we are used to wasting a lot of it, but in 2040 most of the world won’t have enough water to meet demand year-round. We’re at a real inflection point where if we’re not careful, we may get out ahead of our ability to manage it.

This century, water consumption has increased sevenfold and the rain and snow that we count on to water crops and refill lakes and rivers is getting less reliable. But the problem isn’t just that there’s more people in earth using water, it’s how we’re using water. Most of the water goes to agriculture and industry. Water doesn’t abide by some of the basic rules of capitalism because intensive agriculture involves a great waste of water. On earth fresh water is only 2.5% and of this small percentage 29% is in the subsurface (and therefore difficult to recover) and another 70% is in the ice in Antarctica and Greenland, so we only have one 1% left for human use, however 89% of this is used by agriculture and industries.

The bank Coldman Sach’s predicted that water would be the petroleum of the 21th century and private interests have started buying up water prompting fears that they’ll take advantage of scarcity to turn a profit. But putting a higher price on water might have benefits. If water has a higher price governments might decide it’s worth the money to repair our water infrastructure.

Desalination of ocean water has more than doubled over the last decade but the amount we make a year still adds up to less than 1% of the water we use. In 2010, the UN recognized access to water and sanitation as a human right, for this we should not waste it and give it the value it deserves.

SILVIA, 5sc