{"id":16135,"date":"2021-06-08T09:09:12","date_gmt":"2021-06-08T07:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madeblue.org\/water-scarcity-a-major-future-problem\/"},"modified":"2024-10-24T16:35:57","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T14:35:57","slug":"water-scarcity-a-major-future-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madeblue.org\/en\/water-scarcity-a-major-future-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Consequences of water scarcity globally"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Consequences of lack of clean water world wide – Made Blue<\/h2>\n\n

The existence of water is so obvious to us that we can’t even imagine that we would ever run out. Yet a global water crisis looms in the future. The World Health Organization (WHO) even states that by 2025 half (!) of the world’s population will live in areas with permanent water scarcity. What are the cause and effect of this water scarcity? And can we still turn the tide? <\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Water scarcity in the world<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Unicef’s report \u201cThirsting for a Future<\/a>\u201d shows that 36 countries currently have an extreme shortage of water. Recently, major cities such as S\u00e3o Paulo (Brazil), Chennai (India) and Cape Town (South Africa) suffered from acute water shortages. Cape Town narrowly escaped Day Zero last year: no more water, not one drop, from any tap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the future there will probably be more Days Zero<\/a>,\u201d Betsy Otto from American World Resource Institute (WRI) states. The WRI notes that water scarcity is highest in the Middle East and North Africa \u2013 with Qatar as absolute number one.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Causes of water scarcity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Water scarcity is caused by a complex set of fluctuating, interacting human and ecological factors. First of all, water scarcity is caused by climate change. The increasing periods of persistent heat are caused by global warming, leading to water sources drying out. In addition, the availability and quality of water are also threatened by floods, which are caused by rising sea levels due to climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there is, of course, the water wastage and pollution on a large scale, which reduces the availability of clean water even more. Contrast all these problems with a growing world population and water scarcity emerges.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Clean drinking water for all<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

More than 700 million people still don’t have access to safe water. We are the Made Blue Foundation and our mission is clean drinking water for all. Will you help us achieve our mission? There are more ways to do this than you might think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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See how you can contribute<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Effects of water scarcity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Without water we can’t live. We therefore see that in areas where there is water scarcity, the population starts using polluted water. This leads to diseases such as diarrhea, worms or cholera, sometimes even resulting in death. Although diarrhea sounds quite harmless to us, it is still the number 1 cause of death<\/a> among children under the age of 5 in developing countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But water scarcity also indirectly leads to poverty. After all, you cannot go to school or work when you (serioulsy) ill. This is affecting mainly women and young girls, who are mostly in charge of fetching water. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Conflicts caused by water scarcity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another problem that arises in areas: where there is water scarcity, there is also the threat of conflicts. In recent decades, Iran and Turkey have built hundreds of dams in the Middle East to meet their water needs. Other countries in the region, especially Iraq and Syria, paid a high price for this: drought, social turmoil and conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here you can see a video from Trouw<\/a> that explains how relations between countries in the Middle East are becoming tense due to water scarcity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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