Here are some facts from the Self Help Africa booklet on Water.
The Bigger Picture:
The amount of water in the world has not changed but due to pollution the quantity available has reduced by 30% since 1970.
In the meantime the numbers using the worlds water has increased dramatically. In the year 2000 the figure passed 6 billion – by the year 2050 the projected figure is 9 billion.
Today, more than 10 conflicts in the world are linked to water in Turkey, India, Egypt, Israel and other countries.
In the Antarctic an ice shelf (the size of Luxembourg) called the Larsen B came adrift from the mainland. It had been there for the last 12,000 years and it disintergrated over a period of 35 days.
If ice caps continue to melt at their present rate then within 10 years 17% of the land of Bangladesh will be under water, displacing 27 million people and the area of land available to produce food to feed a growing population will be further under threat.
In the developed industrialised countries of the world 60-80% of the water is used in industry.
In developing countries only 10% is used in industry.
1,000 litres of water are used in the making of 1 car.
9 litres of water are used in the making of 1 bar of chocolate.
Within 10 years 1 billion people could be given access to clean, safe water for less than the world now spends on weapons in 90 hours.
So these facts may have given you something to think about.....
How important is water to us?
How well do we use it?
How can we protect it?
The Bigger Picture:
The amount of water in the world has not changed but due to pollution the quantity available has reduced by 30% since 1970.
In the meantime the numbers using the worlds water has increased dramatically. In the year 2000 the figure passed 6 billion – by the year 2050 the projected figure is 9 billion.
Today, more than 10 conflicts in the world are linked to water in Turkey, India, Egypt, Israel and other countries.
In the Antarctic an ice shelf (the size of Luxembourg) called the Larsen B came adrift from the mainland. It had been there for the last 12,000 years and it disintergrated over a period of 35 days.
If ice caps continue to melt at their present rate then within 10 years 17% of the land of Bangladesh will be under water, displacing 27 million people and the area of land available to produce food to feed a growing population will be further under threat.
In the developed industrialised countries of the world 60-80% of the water is used in industry.
In developing countries only 10% is used in industry.
1,000 litres of water are used in the making of 1 car.
9 litres of water are used in the making of 1 bar of chocolate.
Within 10 years 1 billion people could be given access to clean, safe water for less than the world now spends on weapons in 90 hours.
So these facts may have given you something to think about.....
How important is water to us?
How well do we use it?
How can we protect it?
