World potable water drying up
Sustained economic growth, human security and political stability over the next two decades depend on how water is managed, warned the World Economic Forum in a report urging governments and businesses to address consistent under-charging, waste and overuse of water. Referring to a UN-sponsored 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the report underlines that 70 of the world's major rivers, including the Colorado, Ganges, Jordan, Nile and Tigris-Euphrates, are "near [their] maximum extraction levels to supply water for irrigation systems and for reservoirs".Many of the "regional water bubbles" are already bursting in parts of China, the Middle East, the southwestern US and India, and "more will follow", with serious consequences for regional economic and political stability, the report continues. Climate change further adds to the urgent need to manage water efficiently, the report notes. In many parts of the world, glaciers act as "water banks". For example, melting glaciers in the Himalayas and Tibet alone will cause serious water supply problems for more than two billion people, it predicts.
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