Fernando Alcoforado*
Today, World Water Day is celebrated without any reason to celebrate due to the irrationality of policies related to the protection of the natural environment, including springs and watercourses and the poor management of basic sanitation in many countries around the world. Worldwide, there is a widespread view that water is an inexhaustible resource. This is, however, a huge mistake because water resources, although renewable, are limited. It is important to highlight that, of all available fresh water, only 0.4% is in lakes and rivers and that 70% of fresh water is used in irrigation, 22% in industry and only 8% in domestic use (VOCÊSABIA?, Escassez de água na Terra vai gerar conflitos. Disponível no website <https://www.vocesabia.net/saude/escassez-de-agua-na-terra-vai-gerar-conflitos/>, 2012).
About 800 million people do not have access to safe drinking water worldwide, 2.5 billion people do not have basic sanitation, and between 3 billion and 4 billion people, which corresponds to half of the world’s population, do not have access to water permanently using water of dubious quality every day and 11% of the world’s population still shares water with animals in riverbeds. According to the WHO (World Health Organization), seven people die every minute in the world from drinking rotten water and more than 1 billion people still defecate in the open air. The OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) reports that the world’s demand for water will increase by 55% by 2050. The forecast is that by that year, an additional 2.3 billion people – more than 40% of the world’s population – will not have access to water if adequate measures are not taken.
Humanity currently uses 50% of the planet’s fresh water. In 40 years it will use 80%. The geographic distribution of fresh water is uneven. Currently 1/3 of the world’s population lives in regions where it is scarce. The use of water that is unfit for consumption is responsible for 60% of the sick people on the planet. Half of the world’s rivers are contaminated by sewage, pesticides and industrial waste. UN report on the use of water confirms that, without measures against waste and in favor of sustainable consumption, access to drinking water and sanitation will be even more reduced (SOS RIOS DO BRASIL. Bilhões sofrerão com falta de água e saneamento, diz relatório da ONU. Disponível no website <http://sosriosdobrasil.blogspot.com.br/2009/03/bilhoes-sofrerao-com-falta-de-aguae.html>, 2009. This UN Report estimates that 5 billion people will suffer from a lack of basic sanitation in 2030.
UNICEF reports that every 15 seconds, a child dies from diseases related to the lack of clean water, sanitation and hygiene conditions in the world. Every year, 3.5 million people die in the world due to problems related to inadequate water supply, lack of sanitation and lack of hygiene policies, according to representatives of 28 United Nations bodies, which are part of UN-Water. In the Report on the Development of Water Resources, a document that UN-Water publishes every three years, the researchers point out that almost 10% of the diseases registered around the world could be prevented if governments invested more in access to water, measures of hygiene and basic sanitation.
Diarrheal diseases could be practically eliminated if this effort were made, especially in developing countries. This type of disease, usually related to drinking contaminated water, kills 1.5 million people annually. Several factors influence the occurrence of diarrhea, such as the availability of drinking water, food poisoning, inadequate hygiene and cleaning of water tanks (GONÇALVES, CAROLINA. Falta de água de qualidade mata uma criança a cada 15 segundos no mundo, revela Unicef. Available on the website <http://www.ebc.com.br/noticias/brasil/2013/03/falta-de-agua-de-qualidade-mata-uma-crianca-a-cada-15-segundos-no-mundo>, 2013).
Although the amount of water available in the world is constant, the demand, however, is growing, due to the increase in population and agricultural production, generating a climate of uncertainty and the possibility of internal conflicts in several countries and, also, conflicts international. The OECD states that conflicts normally occur within the same country, since the population has different needs in relation to the use of water (for agriculture or consumption, for example) and this generates disputes (VOCÊSABIA?, Escassez de água na Terra vai gerar conflitos. Disponível no website <https://www.vocesabia.net/saude/escassez-de-agua-na-terra-vai-gerar-conflitos/>, 2012).
Water is becoming a source of war due to international competition for water resources. Many countries build large dams by diverting water from natural river drainage systems to the detriment of others. The main water conflicts in the world today involve Israel, Jordan and Palestine over the Jordan River, Turkey and Syria over the Euphrates River, China and India over the Brahmaputra River, Botswana, Angola and Namibia over the Okavango River, Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan and Egypt over the River Nile and Bangladesh and India over the River Ganges. On the American continent, the conflict between the United States and Mexico over water from the Colorado River has intensified in recent years (TAGUCHI, Clarissa. Ver para crer: uma guerra pela água pode estar prestes a ser travada. Disponível no website <http://panoramaecologia.blogspot.com.br/2006/03/ver-para-crer-uma-guerra-pela-gua-pode.html>, 2006).
Report released by the United Nations (UN) on 03/20/2015 informs that, if nothing is done, the world’s water reserves could reduce by 40% by 2030, also pointing out that 748 million people on the planet will not have access to sources of potable water. Another conclusion is that Brazil is among the countries that most experienced environmental stress after altering the natural course of rivers. According to the document, 20% of the world’s aquifers are already overexploited, which can have serious consequences such as soil erosion and the invasion of salt water into these reservoirs. Scientists also predict that by 2050, agriculture and the food industry will need to increase their demand for water by 400% to increase production.
A UN report released today (3/22/2023) shows that planet Earth is at imminent risk of water shortages. The warning was released on World Water Day and one day before the United Nations conference on water, which starts today (22/3). In the report, the UN warns that water scarcity is becoming an endemic problem, because of three factors – pollution, exaggerated demand and, of course, climate change. Scientists claim that 3.5 billion people – that is, almost half of the global population – already face water-stressed conditions during part of the year. At least 2 billion people do not have access to drinking water and up to 3.6 billion people do not have basic sanitation conditions. The report also makes a projection: in cities, the number of people who will face water shortages could reach 2.5 billion by 2050 – almost double the 2016 data. Those responsible for the study claim that only effective management and care of water can guarantee resources in the future (G1.GLOBO. Planeta está sob risco iminente de escassez de água, diz ONU. Disponível no website <https://g1.globo.com/bom-dia-brasil/noticia/2023/03/22/planeta-esta-sob-risco-iminente-de-escassez-de-agua-diz-onu.ghtml>).
The situation described above tends to get worse in view of the deficiency and irrationality in policies related to the protection of the natural environment, among which are springs and watercourses and the poor management of basic sanitation in many countries around the world. Furthermore, international conflicts over the use of water will not be properly resolved due to the absence of an international body with sufficient authority to enable their solution. Conflicts over water tend to get even worse with desertification intensified by climate changes resulting from global warming. In addition, rivers, streams, groundwater and aquifers are contaminated daily by poorly treated sewage systems, the use of pesticides from crops and the disposal of toxic waste from industries.
* Fernando Alcoforado, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, of the SBPC- Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science and of IPB- Polytechnic Institute of Bahia, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, university professor (Engineering, Economy and Administration) and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business planning, regional planning, urban planning and energy systems, was Advisor to the Vice President of Engineering and Technology at LIGHT S.A. Electric power distribution company from Rio de Janeiro, Strategic Planning Coordinator of CEPED- Bahia Research and Development Center, Undersecretary of Energy of the State of Bahia, Secretary of Planning of Salvador, is the author of the books Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de Barcelona,http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015), As Grandes Revoluções Científicas, Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016), A Invenção de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017), Esquerda x Direita e a sua convergência (Associação Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018), Como inventar o futuro para mudar o mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019), A humanidade ameaçada e as estratégias para sua sobrevivência (Editora Dialética, São Paulo, 2021), A escalada da ciência e da tecnologia e sua contribuição ao progresso e à sobrevivência da humanidade(Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2022), a chapter in the book Flood Handbook (CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, United States, 2022) and How to protect human beings from threats to their existence and avoid the extinction of humanity (Europe, Republic of Moldova, Chișinău, 2023).
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