Climate imbalance : what are the effects on access to water ?

IN 2020, ALMOST 2.2 BILLION PEOPLE DID NOT HAVE ACCESS TO SAFE DRINKING WATER, ACCORDING TO THE UN. THAT IS 1 IN 3 PEOPLE. GLOBAL WARMING IS MAKING NATURAL DISASTERS MUCH MORE COMMON. THESE CATASTROPHES ARE AFFECTING ACCESS TO WATER IN SEVERAL REGIONS WORLDWIDE.

To mark World Water Day 2021, the UN has decided to encourage people all over the world to share their stories and thoughts about what water means to them. These accounts show how water is appreciated by different people in different contexts, to highlight the importance of protecting this precious resource that benefits everyone.

As fresh water supplies are limited and unevenly distributed, the effects of global warming are a particular threat to populations that already struggle to access clean drinking water day to day.

Humanitarian crises, conflicts, poverty and climate events are all obstacles that hinder development in high-risk areas.

TACKLING GLOBAL WARMING

A growing population and the consequent increase in consumption needs have caused our greenhouse gas emissions to soar, along with temperatures. Extreme climate events like droughts, floods and storms, which harm drinking water quality and availability, are therefore becoming increasingly frequent. They can make water rarer, less predictable, more polluted or all of the above.

These climate phenomena are recurrent, creating serious problems for the populations affected. Droughts, for example, are getting longer and becoming more common in many regions of the world. The Mediterranean, Southern Africa, South Asia and the Sahel region have all seen increasingly serious droughts in recent decades, with devastating effects on crops and livestock. Floods, meanwhile, damage crops and water treatment facilities and contaminate water with faecal matter from the land.