The world’s water is now a political issue
You could view the history of the world through the prism of water. As I explained in an earlier posting,the first civilisations arose in the alluvial basins of four major rivers. Today, almost wherever you look (think California, Ireland, Pakistan, China, Australia …), water is becoming a more and more serious environmental and political issue.
In the last three years, my interest in water has intensified as I have been chairing the Customer Challenge Group (CCG) of South East Water here in Britain where, in this water-stressed corner of England, householders consume an average of 160 litres of water a day for just 55p a day. I have agreed to chair the Customer Panel – a successor body to the CCG – for the next two years.
So I was pleased to see the “Observer” newspaper devote it lead editorial today to the growing crisis around the world in the supply and cost of water. The piece points out:
“Whichever part of the world you care to look at, water is becoming a source of hardship, violence and, perhaps most worryingly, political tension.
Last month, Unesco’s world water development report warned that the planet could suffer a 40% shortfall in 15 years unless countries dramatically change their use of resources. It will be a cause of war and major migration on an even greater scale than witnessed so far.
The report says that global water demand will increase by 55% by 2050, while reserves dwindle as climate change takes its toll.”
You can read the full editorial here.
April 7th, 2015 at 6:29 pm
Here’s an interesting chart showing how many gallons of water it takes on average to produce certain foods.
I’m with the blogger on switching to a strict diet of carrots and beer!
April 8th, 2015 at 10:23 am
Fascinating, Nick. By the time I’ve worked out what I should and shouldn’t eat to spare the planet, I’ll be starving or dead.