Water , the cause of the Third World War !

There is no more fresh fresh water on Earth today than there was 2000 years ago when population was 3% of its current size.
About 12 million people ( 20% of the global population ) spread across 40 countries do not have access to safe water.
Women in Asia and Africa walk an average distance of 6km a day to collect water.

Over the next 20 years , the world's population will increase from the present 6.4 billion to an estimated 7.2 billion whereas the average supply of water per person is expected to fall by one-third. The hardest hit will be poorest.
According to UN, by 2025 as many as 50 million people will be facing water shortage, as many as 27 million will face severe water shortages, if the world continues consuming water at the present rate. water scarcity is estimated to cause annual global losses of 350 million tonnes of food production by 2025.

Save every drop of water today , because water shortage could well lead to the next world war. unless appropriate measures are taken immediately, the world would soon face threats to global good supply, further environmantal damage and ongoing health risks for the hundreds of millions of people lacking access to clean water.
'' Fierce national competition over water resources has prompted fears that water issues  contain the seeds of violent conflict ''
There are 215 trans-boundary rivers whose basins cover 50 percent pf all land areas ; 32% of the national boundaries are formed by water. Consequently , UN has identified 300 potential water conflict  zones.

Why the crisis ?

Water covers 70% of the planet but more than 97.5% of the surface water is ocean which, obviously , is not useable in industry , agriculture or as drinking water. ( Desalination is far too expensive to be for widespread adoption ).
The fresh water on which the world depends represents a mere 2.5% of available water. but then, three-quarters of this fresh water is trapped in the form of snow and ice.  That is, all that is available for human use ( and, ofcourse , for animals as well ) is 0.65 of the surface water.

Population growth, climate change, over-use/ misuse of water and pollution of available water are the main causes of crisis.
Irrigation accounts for two-third of global use of fresh water. Farmers use water less efficiently and withdraw more water to compensate for water losses. In Developing countries 60% is wasted or used inefficiently.
We have been pumping groundwater faster than aquifers can recharge. most of the water reservoirs are suffering reductions in storage capacity as a result of sedimantation caused by deforestation, on an average 1% of the water storing capacity of the storage reservoirs is being lost annually.
As far as fresh water is concerned, the world has been living way beyond
its means.

Not Too Late Yet

Of all the planet's renewable resources , fresh water may well be the most unforgiving, difficult to purify, expensive to transport and impossible to substitute. ' water is not like oil '
there is no subsitute of water in the world.
Most of the world can consume less water and reap greater benefits. Conserving water or using water more efficiently, polluting less , managing supply and demand wisely, slowing population growth collectively represent the answer to the problem.
Improving irrigation efficiency by using innovative low-cost, recycling waste water ( Israel reuses nearly 65% of its domestic waste water for crop production )

Toilets use one-third of total household water usage. Installing a water saving device can save 528 gallons per person every year.
Showers use less water than baths
Most of all , the world has to wake up to the fact that water is a finite and vulnerable resource and that we can continue to break the natural hydrological cycle-water being drawn form reservoirs and other sources faster than it is replenished only at our own peril.