Unprecedented water stress

As if the problems arising from wars and pandemics are not worrisome enough, we now have to live with the growing fear that the world is also running out of water. Even though about 71 percent of the Earth's surface is water-covered, and the oceans hold about 96.5 percent of all Earth's water, the water we need to grow our food and sustain life is in short supply in more and more places.

- BOO CHANCO

A new study by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water reports that "for the first time in human history, human activities are fueling a growing water disaster that will wreak havoc on economies, food production and lives. A global water crisis could 'spiral out of control' due to overconsumption and climate change." Data analyzed by this study concludes that half the world's food production is in areas where water availability is projected to decline.

Quoting the study, CNN reports that "decades of destructive land use and water mismanagement have collided with the human-caused climate crisis to put 'unprecedented stress' on the global water cycle... Disruptions to the water cycle are already causing suffering. Nearly 3 billion people face water scarcity. Crops are shriveling, and cities are sinking as the groundwater beneath them dries out." CNN explains that "the consequences of this water crisis will be even more catastrophic without urgent action. The water crisis threatens more than 50 percent of global food production and risks shaving an average of eight percent off countries' GDPs by 2050, with much higher losses of up to 15 percent projected in low-income countries," the report found.

"For the first time in human history, we are pushing the global water cycle out of balance," said Johan Rockström, co-chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water and a report author. "Precipitation, the source of all freshwater, can no longer be relied upon."