adminWater scarcity is a real issue. Our demand for water is much higher than what is available. Already more than 750 million people lack access to safe water. We (developed nations) are currently consuming so much water that by 2025 it’s predicted 2/3 of our world’s population may face water shortages, with 1.8 billion people predicted to experience absolute water scarcity (http://bit.ly/1Cenf9q).
For some, who may not know, it might seem ridiculous to think that this is even an issue, when we are able to turn on our faucets at our leisure and have unlimited water at our disposal. But water is a finite resource. Even though over 70% of Earth is covered by water, less than 3% of Earth’s water is drinkable. And the majority of that fresh water is frozen away in glaciers.
When water is scarce other issues come into play. A lack of safe water leads to food scarcity, which leads to crop failure. Poverty and disease become rampant. And eventually entire ecosystems will collapse. We don’t need to look halfway across the world to see water scarcity in action. It’s happening right now in California.
Yet despite safe drinking water being scarce, we take it for granted. We use safe water to fill our toilet bowls, water our lawns and wash our cars. It takes around 53 gallons of water to produce that latte you had this morning (from bean, to sugar to cup), 1800 gallons of water to grow enough cotton to create one pair of jeans and almost 2 gallons of water to manufacture the plastic needed for the average water bottle (oh, the irony).
-A.
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