It's scarce, unevenly distributed and causes mass migration - here are some facts about our drinking water.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/D. Chowdhury
Advertisement
Accessible fresh water is scarce, incredibly scarce when you look at the total amount of water on earth. The vast majority of that, about 97 percent, is sea water. Between 1.7 and two of the remaining three percent is permanently trapped in glaciers, ice and snow.
Most of the little that remains is ground water or soil moist. The surface water, which we can easily access - lakes, rivers and swamps - only accounts for 0.01 percent of the world's water.
Image: Reuters/R. De Chowdhuri
While that covers the needs in places like Germany, Sweden, Argentina or Canada, the Global Water Institute estimates that 700 million people in 43 countries currently suffer from water scarcity. And conditions are set to get worse.
By 2050, UNESCO says more than 40 percent of the world's population will be living in areas of severe water stress. The UNCCD meanwhile predicts that by 2030, as many as 700 million people will be forced to leave their homes due to water shortages, aggravated by climate change.
The distribution of drinking water is even more uneven. While in Europe and North America, it is used to shower and flush toilets, WHO statistics suggest almost 800 million people in the world have no access to it at all.
Drought in Africa: fear, hunger and thirst
With no rain and no harvest, Africa is struggling with the worst drought in decades. It threatens 14 million people. In Ethiopia, the situation is particularly bad.
Image: Reuters/T. Negeri
Waiting for the rain
The canisters are empty and there is not a drop of fresh water anywhere. Ethiopia is facing its worst drought in 30 years and it hasn't rained for months. The UN says 10 million people urgently need food relief and that figure could soon double. This situation is equally precarious in other parts of Africa.
Image: Reuters/T. Negeri
Heavy losses
The majority of Ethiopians live off the land. The livestock they own supports whole families. 'The last time it rained was during Ramadan,' said one herdsman from Afar Region. But Ramadan ended in July. 'Since then it hasn't rained. No water, no pasture. The animals are dying off.'
Image: Reuters/T. Negeri
Children at risk
The drought is reviving memories of the 1984 famine in Ethiopia in which a million people died. Now the country is trapped yet again in another food crisis. It is the children who suffer the most. The Ethiopian government says 400,000 boys and girls are so badly undernourished that they need medical attention.
Image: Reuters/T. Negeri
El Nino turns up the heat
In Zimbabwe, the maize harvests are poor, yielding just a few dried kernels instead of well-formed ears. One reason is the return of El Nino. This plays havoc with the weather, leading to drought here in Zimbabwe; in other parts of the world El Nino is causing flooding.
Image: Reuters/P. Bulawayo
On its last legs?
This exhausted cow can barely stand. Farm workers in Masvingo, Zimbabwe, are trying to persuade it to get up on all fours and move on. Rainfall in Zimbabwe was down by a half in 2015 compared to the previous year. The soil is parched and dry.
Image: Reuters/P. Bulawayo
A river run dry
Normally, this is a spot where you can neither sit nor stand. It is the bed of the Black Umfolozi river. But this waterway northeast of Durban, South Africa, has dried up. Local residents can only survive because they have dug a small well in the river bed.
Image: Reuters/R. Ward
Drought drives up prices
Malawi is also suffering from the drought. At a market in the capital Lilongwe, the cost of staples such as maize has risen steeply. The harvest was poor and supplies had to be imported to make up for the shortfall. Local people can barely afford the prices that are being asked.
