1. Water in the 21st Century: Defining the Elements of Global Crises and Potential Solutions
- Author:
- Umpanu Lall, Tanya Heikkila, Casey Brown, and Tobias Siegfried
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of International Affairs
- Institution:
- School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Will we run out of fresh water in the 21st century? The media highlights the parched lands, dry riverbeds and springs and falling groundwater tables across the world daily. Over a billion people living in developing countries without access to safe drinking water are facing economic and water poverty. Another real and troubling indicator is the rapid rate of aquatic habitat degradation and biodiversity loss in the last century. Projected changes in climate due to greenhouse gases invariably portray a future world that is much drier in the tropics—where over half the world's population lives—and suggest a global increase in floods and droughts.
- Topic:
- World Bank
- Political Geography:
- America and United Nations