The dry facts — future drought indicators

“THOUSANDS have lived without love; not one without water,” observed W.H. Auden. He omitted to add that, as with love, many people have a strong moral aversion to paying for the life-sustaining liquid. Some feel that water is a right, and should therefore be free. Others lobby governments to subsidise its distribution to favoured groups. All this results in vast and preventable waste.

Water covers two-thirds of the Earth’s surface. It is not used up when consumed: it just keeps circulating. So why do researchers from MIT predict that by the middle of the century, more than half of humanity will live in water-stressed areas, where people are extracting unsustainable amounts from available freshwater sources? One reason is that as the world’s population grows larger and richer, it uses more water. Another is climate change, which accelerates hydrologic cycles, making wet places wetter and dry places drier. The World Resources Institute, a think-tank, ranked 167 countries, and found that 33 face extremely high water stress by 2040 (see map). But a lot of the problem stems from lousy water management, and that is something the officials who meet in dusty Marrakesh this week for the next round of annual […]

Full article: The dry facts