LatinaLista — The United Nations declared 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation — and with good reason.
With climate change accelerating severe weather systems, it seems a week doesn’t go by without news of some community on the brink of a water shortage.
Southern Nevada Water Authority chief Pat Mulroy said she believes the time has come to talk about federal disaster aid. The SNWA is charged with providing water to Las Vegas, and Mulroy says increased demands for water and a shortage of the available resource poses a threat to the Southwest and West in the coming years as deadly as Hurricane Sandy was last year for the Eastern third of the nation.
Dramatic water changes coming for the Southwest
It’s not just the U.S. southwest facing this impending crisis but other parts of the world too:
Beijing Water Shortage “Worse Than Middle East”
Water shortage hits Kumkumampalayam residents
Yemen facing water shortage crisis
Pakistan’s water shortage drips towards disaster
In Chile’s dry north, big mining threatens a vital resource
A Battle for Water When the Rio Grande Runs Low
It’s a foregone conclusion that as climate change worsens drought conditions the headlines will be more numerous and more dire.
To help raise awareness of the importance of water and what is happening to our global supply of it, the United Nations designated March 22 as World Water Day, but such an observance doesn’t tackle the really hard question — how do we solve the inevitable shortage?
For that, there is World Water Week. From Sept. 2-6, in Stockholm, Sweden, the Stockholm International Water Institute hosts academics, scientists, community leaders, NGO leaders, and policy makers as they gather to share ideas and possible solutions on how to preserve the planet’s water resources.
This year, the conversation in Stockholm is being shared with everyone via Twitter, #WWWeek.
It’s a problem that needs global attention to solve.
In the meantime, individuals still need to wrap their minds around the severity of the problem. There’s no easier way to do this than to watch the featured video. It’s simple, it’s animated and it’s sounding an alarm the world needs to take more seriously — now!
