1 of 50

Yes

Write now Article Tools

Fresh drinking water is rapidly becoming a scarce commodity. We humans need water to live, and while we can survive for even weeks with little to no food, we die in a matter of days without water. Fresh drinking water is vital to a people-group's survival, and as this precious commodity dwindles on our earth's surface, people groups and nations will fight over water rights and ownership.

On January 24th, 2008, the United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, expressed concern at the World Economic Forum that unless global water shortages were addressed soon, the number of armed conflicts could rise. Water shortages are so critical that the UN created the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) to promote international scientific cooperation in water research, water resource management, and education. Within the UN-IHP is a program called From Potential Conflict to Cooperation Potential (PCCP) to foster peace, cooperation, and development in relation to shared water resources. Clearly the UN realizes the grave problem facing the globe and is taking serious steps to remedy the situation before nations come to blows.

According to the American Institute of Biological Sciences, out of the 1386 million cubic kilometers of water available on the planet, only 2.5% (54.65 million cubic kilometers) is drinkable. Of that miniscule 54.65 million cubic kilometers, 68.7% is locked up in glaciers, 29.9% is buried deeply underground, and a tiny 0.26% percent of potable water is found in accessible areas such as lakes and rivers. That 0.26% of 2.5% makes for a grand total of 64,000 cubic kilometers of available fresh water. Those few thousand cubic kilometers will need to sustain an entire world full of people, including their industry and agriculture. As human populations trend ever more towards cities, those locations of high population density will strain the water resources to the point of breaking.

UNESCO stated in 2000 that at 70% of the human water consumption was for irrigation, drinking and sanitation was 10%, and industry, recreation and other sources comprised 20%. These numbers clearly indicate how reliant our world's food supply is on fresh water. A shortage of water would clearly not only affect how much water is available to drink, but also how much food is grown, and would precipitate a massive global crisis of thirsty and starving people fighting for survival.

According to the World Water Council, over 260 river basins are shared by two or more countries.

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Will there be wars over the ownership of water??
We want to hear your view. Write now!