A latest report by the United Nations has warned against an imminent water crisis due to ‘vampiric overconsumption’. In a foreword to the report, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the ‘lifeblood’ of humanity will be drained out because the world is ‘blindly’ traveling a ‘dangerous path’. The report comes ahead of a mega summit, which is scheduled to take place in New York from Wednesday. The Netherlands and Tajikistan are co-hosting the mega water summit of the United Nations. Nearly 7,000 delegates are set to attend the summit. It would be the first time since 1977 that the UN is holding a water summit at this scale.
What the UN report says?
There are some alarming findings that paint a bleak picture. Nearly 10 per cent of the world population is currently suffering acute water stress. UN report’s editor-in-chief Richard Connor said that there are roughly 3.5 billion people around the globe that are forced to live under water stress for about 30 days in a year.
The UN report says that if nothing is done and the situation remains unaddressed, there will soon be a time when nearly half of the world will lose access to safe drinking water.
The UN report also says that global warming and resulting climate change will increase the ‘seasonal water scarcity’. Worst-affected regions will be East Asia, parts of South America and central Africa. At present, these areas have an abundance of water. Additionally, the situation will worsen in areas like the Sahara in Africa and West Asia.
Water wars soon?
While there is a lot of discussion over nuclear attacks and alien invasion, the stark reality is that the world may witness water war soon. The UN also says that ‘water starts wars’.
Pollution adds to woes
On Monday, an IPCC report said that growing pollution will worsen the water crisis. The report says that there are two billion people worldwide that don’t have access to safe drinking water. People are forced to consume feces-laden water that leads to severe infections such as typhoid, polio, dysentery among others. The IPCC data says that in case the world wants to ensure clean drinking water to the masses, the investment needs to be tripled.