Harsh Realities - Are We Ready For The Future?

Of the world’s population of 6 billion people, at least 1.1 billion do not have available sources of clean drinking-water, such as protected springs and wells.

By 2025, it is predicted that 3.5 billion people world-wide will experience water shortages.

In developing nations, 80% of illnesses are related to the lack of access to plentiful supplies of clean water.

More than 1 billion people in the world do not have access to safe water.

Over 3 million people in the world die each year as a result of preventable water-related disease.

Almost 2 billion people in the world do not have access to adequate sanitation.

A child dies every 15 seconds from diarrhoea, caused largely by poor sanitation and water supply.

Some 6,000 children die every day from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.

In the past 10 years, diarrhoea has killed more children than all those lost to armed conflict in almost 60 years since the Second World War.

In 1998, 308 000 people died from war in Africa, but more than 2 million (six times as many) died of diarrhoeal disease.

The death toll from diarrhoea among children far exceeds that for HIV/AIDS among children.

The average distance that women in Africa and Asia walk to collect water is 6 km. The weight of water that women in Africa and Asia carry on their heads is the equivalent of your airport luggage allowance (20kg).

Since 1950, the global use of water has more than tripled.

Nineteen countries in the world are labeled as "water stressed." More of these countries are in Africa than in any other region.

On every continent, groundwater levels are lower than they have ever been before.

Huge groundwater extractions have caused our water levels to drop.

Industrial forestry affects groundwater supplies and decreases forests' ability to regulate floods and droughts.

Paving and development prevent groundwater from recharging when it rains. As soil becomes dry, rain cannot penetrate the ground surface and thus cannot recharge groundwater supplies.

Human and industrial waste, urban runoff, agricultural fertilizers, sewage, heavy metals and pesticides poison our oceans and contaminate our rivers and groundwater.

Arsenic contamination of underground water is a serious problem in India and Bangladesh. Low concentrations of arsenic can slowly build up in the body, eventually causing cancers, skin diseases, and other illnesses. Prolonged exposure to arsenic can cause kidney, liver, intestinal, neurological, cardiovascular, and respiratory disorders.

Rainwater runoff from city streets may contain metals, oil, and other pollutants. Once these substances either contaminate groundwater, it is very difficult and expensive to clean it up.

Worldwide, dam construction has displaced between 40 and 80 million people.

Biodiversity in freshwater ecosystems has decreased by 50% over the last 30 years.

Global warming is causing a rise in sea level. It is also causing imbalances in evaporation and precipitation, resulting in abnormal floods and droughts.

According to recent estimates, scientists expect a yearly rise in sea-level that will be 2-4 times greater than the yearly rate that has been experienced over the last 100 years.

In some areas of the world, evaporation will increase and water levels will decrease. In such circumstances, pollutants will become more concentrated because there will be less water to dilute them.

Currently, 34% of all fish species are threatened by extinction

Over-fishing and the introduction of non-native fish into our surface waters have severely depleted fish species worldwide.

Burning fossil fuels to produce energy causes acid rain that contaminates our waterways.

Although 70% of the Earth is water, fresh water is a scarce resource. Freshwater ecosystems only cover roughly 1% of the surface of the Earth.

Conversion of salt water to fresh water is difficult and costly.

Only 3 percent of Earth's water supply is fresh water. Total usable supply of fresh water is over 4 million cubic kilometers. Ground water makes up over 95 percent of Earth's usable fresh water supplies.

About 90 percent of the world's population gets its water supplies from river basins. Two or more countries share more than 200 rivers, and more than 40 percent of the worlds' population relies on water originating in a country other than their own.

It is predicted that future wars will be fought on water issues, stemming out of the social conflicts over sharing of scarce water sources. It is said that 21st century will decide the powerful nations on the basis of availability of water to a particular nation.

A Colombo-based water management expert has predicted that India and China will have to import water by 2025.

India depends on the annual June-September monsoon for most of its water needs, and although it receives around 4,000 billion cubic metres of rain during these months, the country is bone-dry for the rest of the year.

According to the Ministry of Water Resources, Government of India, the per capita availability of water has fallen to 1,869 cubic metres a day from 4,000 about two decades ago and with the rate at which the population is growing, it could dip to below 1,000 in 20 years.

A world water development report of the United Nations has categorised India among the worst countries for poor quality of water, as well as their ability and commitment to improve the situation.

The Asian rivers are the most polluted in the world, with three times as many bacteria from human waste as the global average. These rivers also have 20 times more lead than those of the industrialised countries.

The list of the countries with best quality of water is headed by Finland, followed by Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Japan, Norway, Russian Federation, Republic of Korea, Sweden and France.

The top 10 water rich countries are French Guyana, Iceland, Guyana, Suriname, Congo, Papua New Guinea, Gabon, Solomon Islands, Canada and New Zealand.

The poorest countries in terms of water availability are Kuwait followed by Gaza Strip, United Arab Emirates, Bahamas, Qatar, Maldives, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Saudi Arabia, Malta and Singapore.

Belgium is considered the worst country because of the low quantity and quality of its groundwater combined with heavy industrial pollution and poor treatment of waste water. It is followed by Morocco, India, Jordan, Sudan, Niger, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic and Rwanda.

Copyright @ 2003-2006 Consumer online Foundation