The earth is on the brink of a global WATER CRISIS: 2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water
Earth is on the brink of a global WATER CRISIS: 2 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water – and urgent action is needed, experts say
- Earth is on the brink of a global water crisis, a new UNESCO report warns
- Two billion people worldwide do not have access to clean drinking water
- Almost half the population does not have access to safely managed sanitation facilities
Earth is on the brink of a global water crisis, a new UNESCO report warns.
According to the report, two billion people worldwide — a quarter of the population — lack access to safe drinking water, while nearly half of the population (46 percent) lack access to safely managed sanitation.
Worryingly, without urgent action, experts say things will only get a lot worse.
“There is an urgent need to establish strong international mechanisms to prevent the global water crisis from spiraling out of control,” said Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General.
“Water is our common future and it is important to act together to share it equitably and manage it sustainably.”
Earth is on the brink of a global water crisis, a new UNESCO report warns (stock image)
According to the report, two billion people worldwide — a quarter of the population — lack access to safe drinking water, while nearly half of the population (46 percent) lack access to safely managed sanitation.
The report was published by UNESCO on behalf of UN-Water on World Water Day.
It shows that between two and three billion people suffer from water scarcity for at least one month a year.
This poses a serious threat to their livelihoods, both through food security and access to electricity.
The authors say the water scarcity is the result of a combination of two key factors – the local effects of physical water stress, associated with the acceleration and spread of freshwater pollution.
And worryingly, it could get even worse thanks to climate change.
“As a result of climate change, seasonal water scarcity will increase in regions where it is currently abundant – such as Central Africa, East Asia and parts of South America – and worsen in regions where water is already scarce – such as the Middle East and the Sahel in Africa,” says the report.
According to the report, both low- and high-income countries are showing signs of water quality-related risks.
“Poor water quality in low-income countries is often related to inadequate wastewater treatment,” she explained.
“While in higher-income countries, runoff from agriculture is a more serious problem.”
Looking ahead, the report predicts that up to 2.4 billion people in urban areas could be affected by water scarcity in 2050 – more than double the number in 2016.
Based on the findings, the authors call on governments to take immediate action to improve access to clean water.
“There is a lot to do and time is not on our side,” said Gilbert F. Houngbo, chair of UN-Water and director-general of the International Labor Organization.
“This report shows our ambition and we must come together now and accelerate action.
“This is our moment to make a difference.”
HOW ARE RESOURCES BALANCED WITH A “GOOD LIFE” IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES?
No country on earth is currently meeting the needs of its citizens at a sustainable level of resource use, according to a new study led by researchers from the University of Leeds.
To conduct the study, researchers analyzed how the 150 countries performed on 11 social indicators and seven environmental indicators used to measure the fulfillment of basic needs within planetary boundaries.
The study compared each country’s resource use to planetary boundaries that, if permanently exceeded, could lead to catastrophic change.
The mapping showed that no country performs well on both planetary and social thresholds, as a country is generally more likely to exceed planetary boundaries when it achieves more social goals.
From around 150 countries examined, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands make all 11 items on the list available to their citizens.
Denmark, Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Japan and Sweden provide 10 out of 11 and the United States and Canada provide nine.
But none can do this sustainably, and all only meet some of seven environmental requirements.
The USA does not meet any.
The country with the best record is Vietnam, the researchers claim.
Vietnam meets six of its 11 social goals, but it meets all but one sustainability goal
35 of the 150 countries meet only one or none of the 11 requirements for a good life.
Each country’s resource use and well-being results are available as a website created by the academics involved in the study, allowing users to compare and contrast each country’s resource use.
The mapping showed that no country performs well on both planetary and social thresholds, as a country is generally more likely to exceed planetary boundaries when it achieves more social goals. Sweden’s social and environmental indicators are shown on the left compared to Tanzania on the right
The seven environmental indicators were:
- CO2 emissions: How much carbon dioxide is emitted by burning fossil fuels.
- phosphorus: Used as an industrial and commercial raw material.
- Nitrogen: Resource and by-product of fuel combustion.
- blue water use: Fresh surface and ground water, i.e. the water in freshwater lakes, rivers and aquifers.
- eHANPP: eHANPP (Embodied Human Appropriation of Net Primary Production) measures the amount of biomass harvested through agriculture and forestry, as well as biomass killed during harvest but not used, and biomass lost due to land use change.
- Ecological Footprint: Measure of how much nature we have and how much nature we use. It measures nature’s demand and supply.
- Material FootprintT: Material Footprint (MF) is the mapping of global material extraction to a country’s final domestic demand.
The 11 social performance indicators and their thresholds were:
- employment: 94% employed (6% unemployment).
- equivalence: 70 on a scale of 0-100 (GINI index of 0.30).
- democratic quality: 0.80 (approx US/UK value)
- social care: 90% of people have friends or family they can rely on.
- Training: 95% enrollment in secondary school.
- access to energy: 95% of people have access to electricity.
- income: 95% of people make over $1.90 a day.
- hygiene: 95% of people have access to improved sanitation.
- Nourishment: 2,700 calories per person per day.
- healthy life expectancy: 65 years.
- life satisfaction: 6.5 on the 0-10 Cantril ladder scale.
The researchers distributed seven planetary boundaries among nations according to their share of the world’s population, and then compared those boundaries to national resource consumption. The study also rated countries on 11 social goals. On the left are the values of social and environmental indicators in the UK compared to India on the right
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11886103/Earth-brink-global-WATER-CRISIS-2-billion-people-lack-access-safe-drinking-water.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490 The earth is on the brink of a global WATER CRISIS: 2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water