More than 1 billion people are currently living without clean drinking water, and an estimated 3 billion people could be facing similar water shortages in less than 45 years. The water shortage has yet to significantly impact the United States, at least not on par with how other parts of the world are already struggling. According to the World Water Council, 1.1 billion people are currently living without clean drinking water, while another 2.6 billion lack adequate sanitation. Most of the people facing water shortages are in developing countries — where it’s not uncommon for women to walk for miles to find water — but not all of them. In China, where water supplies equal those of Canada (but the country has 100 times more people), per-capita water reserves are just one-fourth the global average. Over half of its cities regularly face moderate to critical water shortages, and each year the country uses 30 cubic kilometers more water than rain is replacing.
The Water Shortage Crisis in America & the World
Published on April 1, 2010
comments