Flooding in Pakistan has killed 1,600 and is affecting an estimated 20 million people. Six million lack access to food, shelter, and water. The report of a single confirmed cholera case (in the Swat valley) is generating some headlines, but the important point is that a lack of clean water makes the spread of any […]
The Economist recently published a special report on water, which summarizes the difficulty of ensuring adequate clean water supplies for a growing global population. (It also touches on the related challenge of sanitation, which affects water quality.) Agriculture accounts for nearly 70% of the world’s water use, although that number varies by region. In the […]
by Madison Hardee Studying public health over the last two years, drinking water in the US and in the developing world is a regular topic of conversation. In my studies, I was surprised to learn that only 1% of the worldâs fresh water is available for human use (drinking, sanitation crops, etc.) The rest of the […]
Today is World Water Day, and this yearâs theme is âCoping with Water Scarcity.â In its WWD report (PDF), UN-Water (the official United Nations mechanism for follow-up of the Millennium Development Goals), warns that water scarcity will increase in the coming decades, driven by four main factors:
by Liz Borkowski Nearly half of Mumbaiâs 18 million residents live in unofficial settlements called zopadpatti. In one of these areas, Dharavi, estimates suggest there is one toilet for every 1,4440 people, tap water flows for only two hours each day, and approximately 15 families share each water tap. Around the globe, rural residents are […]