25 Facts You Should Know About the Global Water Crisis

By 2025, an estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas plagued by water scarcity, with two-thirds of the world’s population living in water-stressed regions.

More than one-third of Africa’s population lacks access to safe drinking water.

Compared to today, five times as much land is likely to be under “extreme drought” by 2050.

Unless measures are taken, California will demand three times more groundwater than can be supplied over the next 100 years.

More than two billion people worldwide rely on wells for their water.

25-33% of Chinese do not have access to safe drinking water.

There will be about 1 billion more mouths to feed worldwide by 2025 and global agriculture alone will require another 1 trillion cubic meters of water per year (equal to the annual flow of 20 Niles or 100 Colorado Rivers).

By 2035, the world’s energy consumption will increase by 35 percent, which in turn will increase water use by 15 percent according to the International Energy Agency.

In 2050 increased population will result in a 19% increase in agricultural water consumption.

Water demand is projected to grow by 55 percent by 2050 (including a 400-percent rise in manufacturing water demand).

46% of the globe’s (terrestrial) surface is covered by transboundary river basins which can lead to future conflicts over water.

Agriculture accounts for ~70% of global freshwater withdrawals and up to 90% in some fast-growing economies.

According to satellite images, the Colorado River Basin has lost about 65 cubic kilometers (15.6 cubic miles) of water from 2004 to 2013. This is twice the amount stored in Lake Mead.

In the US, thermoelectric power plants account for nearly 50% of all freshwater withdrawals.

For decades the Ogallala Aquifer in the United States, one of the world’s largest aquifers, has tapped at rates thousands of times greater than it is being restored.

About 4.5 billion people globally – already live within 50km of an “impaired” water resource – one that is running dry, or polluted.

Over the past 40 years the world’s population has doubled and use of water has quadrupled.
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Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest number of water-stressed countries of any region.

While it takes about 12 gallons per day to sustain a human the average American uses about 158 gallons.

According to the U.S. Intelligence Community Assessment of Global Water Security, by 2030 humanity’s “annual global water requirements” will exceed “current sustainable water supplies” by 40%.

The global middle class will surge from 1.8 to 4.9 billion by 2030, which will result in a significant increase in freshwater consumption.

By 2050, 1 in 5 developing countries will face water shortages (UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization).

Half of the global population lives in countries where water tables are rapidly falling.

By the year 2040 there will not be enough water in the world to quench the thirst of the world population and keep the current energy and power solutions going if we continue doing what we are doing today.

Source: seametrics.com