Water and Basic Human Right
It is our right to use, duty to conserve and crime to exploit.
In 1995, the vice-president of the World Bank, Ismail Serageldin predicted an acute water shortage for the new millennium: "If the wars of this century were fought for oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water."
Water is the essence of life. It is perhaps the most basic resource: it is essential for our survival, crucial for relieving poverty, hunger, disease and critical for economic use. Water is also essential for growing food, as well as for a variety of social and cultural reasons. Water is a basic human right, but unfortunately its use is confined to a few and these few are fast depleting this resource.
Where is all this water?
'All water flows into the oceans or the purse of the rich.'
71% of the Earth's surface is water. Of this, 97% is in the oceans and only the remaining 3% is available in rivers, lakes and reservoirs as fresh water. There are three sources of water: rain water, ground water and surface water. Today, all these three resources have been almost depleted. The earth is a closed system and neither gains nor loses much water. This means that the same amount of water that existed on earth a million years ago is still here. Water continuously changes from one state to another and moves from place to place forming the hydrological cycle. The water cycle is the process by which water circulates from the land or the oceans to the atmosphere and back again. What is affected is the availability of usable water where and when needed.
Since water plays a very vital role in sustaining life on Earth, water must be accessible and safe. Lack of safe water is a cause of serious illnesses. Tuberculosis, cholera, diarrhea, typhoid and malaria are the main water borne diseases, which kill over two million people every year, the vast majority being children mostly in developing countries. The world's total population is six billion. One in six people in the world do
In 1995, the vice-president of the World Bank, Ismail Serageldin predicted an acute water shortage for the new millennium: "If the wars of this century were fought for oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water."
Water is the essence of life. It is perhaps the most basic resource: it is essential for our survival, crucial for relieving poverty, hunger, disease and critical for economic use. Water is also essential for growing food, as well as for a variety of social and cultural reasons. Water is a basic human right, but unfortunately its use is confined to a few and these few are fast depleting this resource.
Where is all this water?
'All water flows into the oceans or the purse of the rich.'
71% of the Earth's surface is water. Of this, 97% is in the oceans and only the remaining 3% is available in rivers, lakes and reservoirs as fresh water. There are three sources of water: rain water, ground water and surface water. Today, all these three resources have been almost depleted. The earth is a closed system and neither gains nor loses much water. This means that the same amount of water that existed on earth a million years ago is still here. Water continuously changes from one state to another and moves from place to place forming the hydrological cycle. The water cycle is the process by which water circulates from the land or the oceans to the atmosphere and back again. What is affected is the availability of usable water where and when needed.
Since water plays a very vital role in sustaining life on Earth, water must be accessible and safe. Lack of safe water is a cause of serious illnesses. Tuberculosis, cholera, diarrhea, typhoid and malaria are the main water borne diseases, which kill over two million people every year, the vast majority being children mostly in developing countries. The world's total population is six billion. One in six people in the world do