it’s world water day(opens in new tab) We live in an age and a planet where access to safe drinking water is fundamental. human rights.(opens in new tab) is not it cool? We also live on Earth. 3.6 billion people experience water stress for at least one month each year.
(opens in new tab)up to First UN Water Summit since 1977(opens in new tab)newly released United Nations World Water Development Report(opens in new tab) Humanity is on a dangerous path to losing its most precious resource due to “vampiric over-consumption and under-development”, it warns. According to the report, the biggest contributors to the water crisis are climate change and increasing industrial and urban demands, as well as unsustainable management of the ever-expanding agricultural sector, which uses staggering water resources. 70% of the world’s freshwater supply.
(opens in new tab)The alarming report was published just days after the latest report Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)(opens in new tab) As United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said, he warned that humanity is nearing its last chance to break the increasingly serious climate change “time bomb”.
Yes, climate change is having a big impact on hurricanes. Method is as follows.
But it’s not all dark. Despite severe warnings, water development report(opens in new tab) We really focus on solutions. A global water crisis is imminent if not addressed in time. Fortunately, we already have many projects and initiatives needed to tackle this problem.
It is important to look to world leaders because they are the most responsible decision makers in the fight to protect our water. But not all solutions come from government. Here are some of the key water saving and flood management solutions that Mashable has researched in the past.
Just one week before the United Nations report on water was released, Albania designates Vjosa river as national park, for the first time in Europe. The decision means that the continent’s “last wild rivers” will be protected from future construction of artificial barriers that are detrimental to their precious ecosystems. This had previously been threatened by plans by the Balkans to build hydroelectric power plants in the region.Without years of campaigning by NGOs and environmental groups, the Vyosa river would be preserved as a wild river. was not possible, so the news also brought hope to climate change organizers.
Over the past few years, historic droughts and mega-droughts have been among the climate disasters that have wreaked havoc on countries from Kenya to the United States to China. 2023 is just getting started, but Europe’s dry and warm winters are already causing water levels in Venice’s historic canals to drop considerably in February.
In 2022, the Horn of Africa will experience a drought so severe that a staggering 16 million people will be displaced in the region. Mashable looked at how the sand dam is providing sustainable local relief to communities in Kenya’s Turkana County.
Local communities face permanent displacement as droughts become more frequent in Morocco’s mountainous regions. To provide a solution, the Water Foundation worked with Aqualonis to install a fog collection net called CloudFisher. CloudFisher He captures raindrops on the Boutmezguida mountain hills and turns the fog into drinking water for the community.
Some communities have little access to drinking water but are surrounded by abundant amounts of sea water. The concept of water desalination is not new. Middle Eastern countries have been using it for years. But industry sustainability is a relatively new concept.
In 2021, Mashable explored how Dutch-British company Desolenator uses solar power to reduce energy consumption and eliminate chemical by-products.
Small, discrete solutions are also important. We recently told the story of Diana Kellogg’s Oval Girls’ School in the Thar Desert. The school, among other amazing features, uses ancient rain-collecting techniques to ensure a water supply throughout the building.
It may sound counterintuitive, but severe droughts often lead to severe flooding because the soil dries out and can no longer absorb water. Regardless of drought, surface permeability is a major factor in whether a location will be flooded. Healthy soil is a natural sponge that can easily absorb large amounts of water. However, in modern cities, soil is rare. Healthy soil – even more so. As the amount and intensity of urban flooding increases, architect And city planners around the world are working to replace concrete with green, showing that nature already has all the solutions needed for a more environmentally sustainable and equitable future. I’m here.
