In this post I provide a fact sheet from Food & Water Watch website. This is an organization that is giving enlightenment to people about how serious the water problem is on our planet. Now these facts and statistics may seem scary or even hopeless but it is just a slap in the face so that we can start moving toward water conservation and learning to treat our planet correctly so that we do not lose anymore of our water sources. Some examples that the organization gives on how to help this situation is: to do daily tasks using less water, don't buy plastic water bottles, and do not support fracking or privatized water sources. If we don't take action now these numbers below are going to start getting a lot worse.
Water Facts
Global
Restricted Access to Water
1.4 billion people live without clean drinking water
Two-fifths of the world’s population lack access to proper sanitation
More than one-third of Africa‚ population lacks access to safe drinking water
More than 130 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean lack access to safe drinking water
Between 15 and 20 percent of the water used worldwide is not for domestic consumption, but rather for export
Water and Disease
Every eight seconds a child dies from drinking dirty water
Half of the world‚ hospital beds are occupied by people with an easily preventable waterborne disease
80 percent of all sickness and disease worldwide is related to contaminated water, according to the World Health Organization
Diarrhea killed more children in the last decade, nearly 2 million a year in developing countries , than all armed conflicts since the Second World War.
Dirty water kills more children than war, malaria, HIV/AIDS and traffic accidents combined
75 percent of the people in Latin America and the Caribbean suffer from chronic dehydration because of poor water quality
Water Quality
90 percent of wastewater produced in underdeveloped countries is discharged untreated into local waters
80 of China‚ major rivers are so degraded that they no longer support aquatic life
90 percent of all groundwater systems under major cities in China are contaminated
75 percent of India‚ rivers and lakes are so polluted that they should not be used for drinking or bathing
60 percent of rural Russians drink water from contaminated wells
20 percent of all surface water in Europe is seriously threatened
Water Scarcity
One-third of the world‚ population lives in water stressed countries now
Unless we change our ways, two-thirds of the world‚ population will face water scarcity by 2025
Compared today, five times as much land is likely to be under ‚extreme” drought by 2025
The percentage of the Earth‚ land area stricken by serious drought more than doubled between the 1970s and 2005
Rapid melting will reduce the Tibetan glaciers by 50 percent every decade, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences
More than two-thirds of Chinese cities face water shortages
90 percent of the Europe‚ alpine glaciers are in retreat
United States
Water Scarcity
Water managers in 36 states expect water shortages by 2013, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office
One-third of all U.S. water withdrawals are for export
California has a 20-year supply of freshwater left
New Mexico has only a ten-year supply of freshwater left
Florida‚ rapid use of groundwater has created thousands of sinkholes that devour anything , houses, cars and shopping malls , unfortunate enough to be built on top of them
The U.S. interior west is probably the driest it has been in 500 years, according to the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Geological Survey
In 2007, Lake Superior, the world‚ largest freshwater lake, dropped to its lowest levels in 80 years and the water has receded more than 15 meters from the shoreline
Lake Mead, the vast reservoir of the Colorado River, has a 50 percent chance of running dry by 2021
Water Quality
40 percent of U.S. rivers and streams are too dangerous for fishing, swimming or drinking
46 percent of U.S. lakes are too dangerous for fishing, swimming or drinking because of massive toxic runoff from industrial farms, intensive livestock operations and the more than 1 billion pounds of industrial weed killer used through the country each year
Two-thirds of U.S. estuaries and bays are moderately or severely degraded
One quarter of U.S. beaches are under advisories or closed due to water pollution
1.5 million metric tons of nitrogen pollution are carried by the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico every year
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/interesting-water-facts/
Water Facts
Global
Restricted Access to Water
1.4 billion people live without clean drinking water
Two-fifths of the world’s population lack access to proper sanitation
More than one-third of Africa‚ population lacks access to safe drinking water
More than 130 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean lack access to safe drinking water
Between 15 and 20 percent of the water used worldwide is not for domestic consumption, but rather for export
Water and Disease
Every eight seconds a child dies from drinking dirty water
Half of the world‚ hospital beds are occupied by people with an easily preventable waterborne disease
80 percent of all sickness and disease worldwide is related to contaminated water, according to the World Health Organization
Diarrhea killed more children in the last decade, nearly 2 million a year in developing countries , than all armed conflicts since the Second World War.
Dirty water kills more children than war, malaria, HIV/AIDS and traffic accidents combined
75 percent of the people in Latin America and the Caribbean suffer from chronic dehydration because of poor water quality
Water Quality
90 percent of wastewater produced in underdeveloped countries is discharged untreated into local waters
80 of China‚ major rivers are so degraded that they no longer support aquatic life
90 percent of all groundwater systems under major cities in China are contaminated
75 percent of India‚ rivers and lakes are so polluted that they should not be used for drinking or bathing
60 percent of rural Russians drink water from contaminated wells
20 percent of all surface water in Europe is seriously threatened
Water Scarcity
One-third of the world‚ population lives in water stressed countries now
Unless we change our ways, two-thirds of the world‚ population will face water scarcity by 2025
Compared today, five times as much land is likely to be under ‚extreme” drought by 2025
The percentage of the Earth‚ land area stricken by serious drought more than doubled between the 1970s and 2005
Rapid melting will reduce the Tibetan glaciers by 50 percent every decade, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences
More than two-thirds of Chinese cities face water shortages
90 percent of the Europe‚ alpine glaciers are in retreat
United States
Water Scarcity
Water managers in 36 states expect water shortages by 2013, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office
One-third of all U.S. water withdrawals are for export
California has a 20-year supply of freshwater left
New Mexico has only a ten-year supply of freshwater left
Florida‚ rapid use of groundwater has created thousands of sinkholes that devour anything , houses, cars and shopping malls , unfortunate enough to be built on top of them
The U.S. interior west is probably the driest it has been in 500 years, according to the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Geological Survey
In 2007, Lake Superior, the world‚ largest freshwater lake, dropped to its lowest levels in 80 years and the water has receded more than 15 meters from the shoreline
Lake Mead, the vast reservoir of the Colorado River, has a 50 percent chance of running dry by 2021
Water Quality
40 percent of U.S. rivers and streams are too dangerous for fishing, swimming or drinking
46 percent of U.S. lakes are too dangerous for fishing, swimming or drinking because of massive toxic runoff from industrial farms, intensive livestock operations and the more than 1 billion pounds of industrial weed killer used through the country each year
Two-thirds of U.S. estuaries and bays are moderately or severely degraded
One quarter of U.S. beaches are under advisories or closed due to water pollution
1.5 million metric tons of nitrogen pollution are carried by the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico every year
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/interesting-water-facts/
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