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OUR GLOBAL WATER CRISIS |
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WATER FOR LIFE—THE INTERNATIONAL DECADE FOR ACTION“We shall not defeat tuberculosis, malaria, AIDS, or any other infectious diseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water.” Did you know that our planet is in a Global Water Crisis? On World Water Day in March 2005, a decade long initiative called “Water for Life” was started by the United Nations. The World Health Organization, Unicef, and the UN, together identified access to clean water as the single most important global crisis of the 21st century! The decade of 2005 to 2015 began a worldwide commitment to critical years to bring global attention to a silent humanitarian crisis—water for life. In many parts of the world, like in America and Europe, people take it for granted to turn on a tap for safe and clean water to drink, cook with, and wash with. But each year, more than 1 billion people worldwide have no choice but to use potentially harmful sources of water for bathing, cooking, and even drinking. This results in the death of more than 6,000 children each day. The UN “International Decade for Action Water for Life” is a global call to intensify advocacy and action on the ground. “Water for Life” is a theme that attempts to convey the sense of urgency and immediacy to our local communities. This call for action is specifically directed at increasing social commitment and participation at the community level by all citizens. Over 2.5 Billion People Live in Stressed Water Areas
Source: Adapted from http://www.waterlink.net/assets/images/waterscarity2025.jpg
Water Scarcity is Projected to Worsen
Countries Differ Widely in Water Usage
Source: http://www.cia.com
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GLOBAL WATER FACTS
70% of the earth is covered by water. 97% of this water is saltwater and unsuitable for drinking.
Agriculture use 93% of our available water! Industry uses 4% Domestic use is 3%
World population tripled in the 20th century. Use of renewable water resources grew six fold. Within the next 50 years, world population will grow 50% or more!
Each year more than five million people die from water-related disease. 30 percent of water-related deaths are due to intestinal disease. 90 percent of water-related deaths are in children. 98 percent of water-related deaths occur in the developing world.
For the first time, the number of people without improved drinking water is over one billion. Less than 1% of the world's fresh water is readily accessible for direct human use.
A person can live weeks without food, but only days without water. A person needs 4 to 5 gallons of water per day to survive.
The average American individual uses 100 to 176 gallons of water at home each day. The average African family uses about 5 gallons of water each day.
Two-thirds of people the 1.1 billion people with no access to clean water live in Asia. The water and sanitation crisis claims more lives through disease than any war claims through guns.
In the developing nations, one child out of 5 does not reach the age of 5 mainly because of the infectious diseases provoked by poor water quality. Poor people living in slums tend to pay 5-10 times more per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city. 80 countries worldwide face severe water crisis in 2008
Source: www.worldwatercouncil.org
EVERY DROP OF WATER COUNTS
Additional Sources www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/
www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/undwfl/ www.watercan.com/special/wwd2005.shtml www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/
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The United Nations Call to Action Advocacy Campaign
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!
Special Thanks to FLL and the United Nations for your call to action! We had so much fun putting this website together. We have all made life altering changes based on the education that we ourselves received in the long process of creating this website! |
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