Increased global water stress
Many countries on course to suffer major freshwater deficits in the next two decades.
Nowadays more than one-third of the world’s population (2.4 billion) live in water-stressed countries, and by 2025 that proportion is expected to rise by two-thirds.
Red color – more than 40%
Orange color – from 40% to 20%
Light blue color – from 20% to 10%
Dark blue color – less than 10%
By 2025, the number of people living in water-short countries will nudge the 3 billion mark. Since snow and rainfall are relatively constant, renewable water is essentially finite. Many countries are drawing down groundwater supplies – and new water sources, such as from icebergs or destination, are too costly to offer a solution.
Quick facts:
- Less then 3 percent of the water covering the earth is freshwater
- 500 million people live in regions where humans consume water at twice the rate it’s replenished by rain
- 842,000 people die every year from diarrhea caused by consuming unsafe drinking water or insufficient sanitation particles
- 89 percent of the illnesses in developing countries result from unhealthy water and/or sanitation systems
- 1 of 4 deaths of children under the age of five are the result of water-related illnesses
- water scarcity can result in GDP losses of as much as 14 percents
- About 26 percent more of the projected global population will face reduced renewable groundwater resources by the 2080s compared to 1980s.
