Water, Water Everywhere, Nor Yet a Drop to Drink

Only 3% of the Earth's water is fresh. Of that, a goodly percentage (circa 75%) is currently frozen, making it difficult to use. This means that potable (fresh) water is quite a scarce resource. Agriculture; industry and private households currently use respectively 69%; 19% and 12% of available freshwater. A report by the Global Commission on the Economics of Water notes that demand will outstrip supply by 40%, by the end of the current decade. As agriculture is the major user of freshwater, the report predicts that more than half the world's food production will be at risk in the next 25 years. Most governments appear to currently grossly under-estimate the amount of water required by their populations. Most operate basically assuming that, for health and hygiene, a single human needs 50-100 litres per day. For adequate nutrition and a dignified life, however, nearer 4000 litres per day is the requirement. Many countries simply can't supply these volumes, meaning that most food and materials (generated using freshwater) have to be imported (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/16/global-water-crisis-food-production-at-risk). The Global Commission on the Economics of Water report maintains that countries have a) to get better at conserving freshwater resources and b) end the destruction of the ecosystems on which freshwater depends. A half of rainfall over land, comes from healthy vegetation. Plant transpiration generates 'atmospheric rivers', carrying freshwater to new locations. China and Russia are the major recipients of these flows. India and Brazil are the major exporters. Destroying the planet's terrestrial ecosystems, will cause these 'atmospheric rivers' to effectively dry up. This could decimate food production in recipient countries. Even cutting food wastage isn't going to be sufficient, as the Earth's human population climbs towards its predicted 10 billion. We really have to value freshwater more!