Three Billion Severely Short Of Water in 50 Years
July 17th, 2011
Clean, accessible water is becoming a luxury. Due to the combined factors of climate change, pollution and poor management, three billion people may face critical shortages of water in 50 years.
Vast swaths of America face water shortages due to the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer. Additionally, climate change has made melting snow less predictable, threatening agricultural land and urban centers dependent on mountain-fed rivers in Colorado, Nevada, Arizona and California.
However, the largest threat to water accessibility exists in Asia. The Himalayan Plateau provides glacial water to nations that contain 40 of the world’s population. These glaciers are shrinking rapidly and could disappear in the next half century. If the Himalayan Plateau no longer provided a regular flow of water, nations such as India, China, Vietnam and Pakistan might not have regular water flow during the dry season.
Thankfully, conservation of water is something that everyone can help with. By doing simple steps such as running a washing machine only when it is full or making sure your sprinkler is watering the lawn and not the street, water use can be curbed sharply.
The lack of clean water is a direct threat to humanity, and when coupled with population booms in the developing world, could represent a grave challenge in the coming decades.
For ideas on how to do your part, visit http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/nps/chap3.cfm or find easy steps to reduce your water use at http://www.wateruseitwisely.com/100-ways-to-conserve/index.php