Water shortage: predictions and risks
Water shortage is an ever more pressing problem for a planet whose population continues to grow: today, demand on our precious water reserves is increasing, but we must also face difficulties caused by the poor organisation and distribution of water. This challenging situation is made worse by climate change and the intensification of extreme phenomena such as floods.
These problems were debated last October 25th at the international conference ‘Water and Climate. A comparison of the world’s greatest Rivers’ held at Sala della Protomoteca in Rome. This important meeting went some way towards filling the embarrassing vacuum of events focused on this issue.
Organised by the Italian Ministry for the Environment in conjunction with UNECE, RIOB/IMBO and GAWaC, was aimed to promote a dialogue regarding the issue of water and in particular its scarcity. An exchange of information took place, relating to ways of protecting and improving the current situation of our water reserves, resulting from a request for targeted funding.
According to the experts, if we continue as we are, by 2030 we will witness a 40% reduction in available water. This estimate is based on the calculation (as forecast by researchers) that for every one degree rise in temperature, there will be a corresponding 20% reduction in available water reserves for 7% of the population.
The World Health Organisation agrees with this forecast and furthermore, cites that 90% of natural disasters are either directly or partly attributable to water. They estimate that the number of floods will triple by the year 2030, affecting an ever-increasing number of individuals.
One of the most worrying aspects of this problem is the delay which was allowed to elapse before this extremely important issue was addressed:Â up until COP 21 in Paris, held in 2015, the issue had almost never been seriously considered. If we had thought about it sooner, the situation outlined last 25th October would most probably have been less serious and more manageable.
Despite this, it should also be mentioned that by taking drastic steps and beginning a sort of cultural re-training, considerable progress can be made. What matters most at the moment is that governments take the issue into account more and try to find efficient solutions to be put into practice in the immediate future. Of course, the journey will not be a smooth one, but our future requires us to make an effort which nobody can turn their back on.
Translated by Joanne Beckwith
