The parched planet: Water on tap
by The Daily Eye Team June 20 2014, 8:01 am Estimated Reading Time: 0 mins, 56 secsResearchers are exploring unconventional sources of fresh water to quench the globe’s growing thirst. In an effort to combat his country’s long-standing water crisis, Iran’s president took to Twitter last year. “We need plan to save water in agriculture, prevent excessive tap water use, protect underground sources of water and prevent illegal drilling,” Hassan Rouhani tweeted in November. Iran is far from alone. From the southwest United States to southern Spain and northern China, water shortages threaten many parts of the world. Nearly 800 million people lack access to safe drinking water and 2.5 billion have no proper sanitation. The situation will probably get worse in coming decades. The world’s population is expected to swell from 7 billion today to more than 9 billion by 2050, even as climate change robs precipitation from many parched parts of the planet. If the world warms by just 2 °C above the present level by the end of the century, which scientists believe is exceedingly likely, up to one-fifth of the global population could suffer severe shortages of fresh water.