Agriculture
accounts for two-thirds of water use worldwide and 80 percent
to 90 percent in many developing countries.
Of
the world’s rivers, 261 are shared by two or more countries.
These international watersheds account for about 60 percent of
the world’s freshwater supply and are home to about 40 percent
of the world’s people.
Half
of the world’s 6 billion people lack proper sanitation, and
1 billion cannot get safe drinking water. Three-quarters of these
people live in Asia.
An
estimated 5 million people, most of them children, die each year
from waterborne diseases.
Since
1950, the global renewable freshwater supply per person has fallen
58 percent as the world population has swelled from 2.5 billion
to 6 billion.
Asia
has about 60 percent of the world’s people, but only 36 percent
of the world’s renewable freshwater.
More
than 20 percent of the world’s known 10,000 freshwater fish
species have become extinct, threatened or endangered in recent
decades. In the United States, 37 percent of freshwater fish species,
67 percent of mussels, 51 percent of crawfish and 40 percent of
amphibians are threatened or have become extinct.
Dams,
diversions or canals fragment almost 60 percent of the world’s
largest 227 rivers. The only remaining large free-flowing rivers
in the world are found in the tundra regions of North America
and Russia, and in parts of Africa and South America.
The
Great Lakes are the single largest collection of liquid freshwater
on the planet; only the polar ice caps have more. Diminishing
ice packs in Lake Superior over recent winters have dropped water
levels in lakes Michigan and Huron to their lowest points in 40
years.
Wednesday,
Jan. 9, 2002 -- Haskell
site rated highest in chlorine byproducts An environmental
study released Tuesday suggested that millions of Americans, including
some Big Country residents, are in danger from drinking cancer-causing
agents.
Tuesday,
Jan. 8, 2002 -- The 'lightbulb'
of endangerment shines in our waters (Ryan Alessi, SHNS) To many Americans,
a fish is a fish - it's tough to tell the difference between a
bull trout and a pink salmon. To nature, it's a world of difference.
Tuesday,
Jan. 8, 2002 -- Innovations
in irrigation save water (Ryan Alessi, SHNS) It had all the
makings of a modern western showdown: angry farmers, two dwindling
fish populations and one heck of a drought.
Monday,
January 7, 2002 -- Private
industries compete for water rights worldwide (Joan Lowy,
SHNS)
Water will be to the 21st century what oil was to the last - vast
fortunes will be made by controlling it and nations will go to
war to preserve access to it.
Monday,
January 7, 2002 -- Great
Lakes water battle looms large on horizon (Joan Lowy, SHNS) Beginning 10,000
years ago, retreating North American glaciers carved out a marvel
of nature so vast that it is easily identifiable from outer space.
Together, the Great Lakes contain one-fifth of all the drinkable
water on the surface of the planet - an estimated 6 quadrillion
gallons.
Sunday,
Jan. 6, 2002 -- Drought
leads Sweetwater to seek new water sources (Samuel Segrist) As late as 1996,
the people of Sweetwater could say they were debt-free. But as
their water supply has shrunk, the debt has grown.
Sunday,
Jan. 6, 2002-- Cities across nation
face shortages (Joan Lowy, SHNS) In Chicago, those who sip
pay as much as those who slurp. The local utility, which sits
on the shores of the Great Lakes, the largest collection of drinkable
water on the surface of the planet, doesn’t bother to meter
water use. It simply charges a flat rate based on household size.
Sunday,
Jan. 6, 2002 -- Water shortages causing
conflicts? (Joan Lowy, SHNS)
It is a frightening scenario: Millions of refugees streaming across
borders in search of water, hostile nations pushed over the edge
into open warfare by conflicts over scarce water.
Sunday,
Jan. 6, 2002 -- World water conditions
at a glance (SHNS)
Agriculture accounts for two-thirds of water use worldwide and
80 percent to 90 percent in many developing countries.
It began with the dryest February
ever and 800 people praying together for rain. It ended with
prayers of thanksgiving for showers of blessing. The personal,
economic, social and long-term ramifications of the most recent
drought are investigated in interviews, stories and photographs.
(See also: texasdrought.com
and 2000 Special Report at waterwoes.com)
E.W. Scripps Publications