New Delhi: The United Nations agency warned the world over the future water crisis. The UN in a statement said that “More than five billion people globally are expected to face a shortage of water by 2050.”
The World Meteorological Organization on Tuesday said that “climate change increases the global risk of water-related hazards like floods and droughts, and the number of people affected by water scarcity is also expected to soar,”
According to the report “The State of Climate Services 2021: Water”, Around 3.6 billion people had inadequate access to water at least one month per year in 2018 and it is expected to rise to more than five billion by 2050.
The scarcity of water in certain areas of the world sends a direct message to the world leaders to work together on this serious issue.
Petteri Taalas – Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization said that “Increasing temperatures are resulting in global and regional precipitation changes, leading to shifts in rainfall patterns and agricultural seasons, with a major impact on food security and human health and well-being,”
Scarcity of water highlights the need for urgent action to improve cooperative water management, embrace integrated water and climate policies and scale up investment in this precious commodity. The scarcity of water underpins all the international goals on sustainable development, climate change adaptation, and disaster risk reduction.
The situation is worsening by the fact that only 0.5 percent of the water on Earth is useable and available freshwater. Water-related hazards have increased in frequency over the past 20 years. Since 2000, flood-related disasters have risen by 134 percent compared with the two previous decades. Most of the flood-related deaths and economic losses were recorded in Asia, where end-to-end warning systems for riverine floods require strengthening.
(_Vinayak.Barot)