Water resources

A man can live without food for almost a month but survive no longer than a week without water. Yet, although almost half of the world’s population live in water-scarce countries, there actually is enough of this precious liquid for everyone. 

The UN recommends that a person needs minimum of 50 liters of water a day for drinking, washing, cooking and sanitation, which over a billion people do not have access to. According to UNESCO, the world’s population are appropriating 54% of all the accessible freshwater contained in rivers, lakes and underground aquifers. If consumption of water resources continues to rise at its current rate, humankind could be using over 90% of all available freshwater within 25 years, leaving just 10% for all other living beings. 

Freshwater lakes and swamps account for a mere 0.29% of the Earth’s freshwater. 20% of all freshwater is in one lake, Lake Baikal in Asia. Another 20% is stored in the Great Lakes, Huron, Michigan, and Superior. Rivers hold only about 0.006% of total freshwater reserves. Mankind essentially uses only a drop in the bucket of the total available water supply. 

Source:interestingtopics.net