Subject: World Geography

The world faces an unprecedented freshwater crisis, with over 4 billion people experiencing severe water scarcity annually, highlighting the growing disparity between water availability and increasing global demand.

Causes of Global Freshwater Crisis

Unsustainable Agricultural Practices

• Agriculture dominates water consumption accounting for 72% of global freshwater withdrawals, leading to groundwater depletion and aquifer stress.
• Inefficient irrigation systems and water-intensive crop patterns exacerbate the problem in regions like Punjab and California's Central Valley.

Climate Change Impact

• According to IPCC reports (2021-2025), climate change intensifies the global water cycle, causing:
  • Increased variability in monsoon precipitation.
  • More frequent and intense droughts.
  • Deteriorating water quality due to higher temperatures.
  • Enhanced risks to food security.

Population Growth and Urbanization

• Rising urban populations strain existing water infrastructure and resources.
• 25 countries face extremely high water stress, using over 80% of their renewable water supply as per World Resources Institute (WRI) 2023.
• Middle Eastern nations like Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar are among the most water-stressed countries.

Infrastructure and Management Issues

• Aging water infrastructure leading to significant losses through leakage.
• Despite planned investments increasing from €60 billion to €90 billion in the EU (2020-2030), global infrastructure remains inadequate.
• Poor water governance and lack of integrated water resource management.

Economic and Social Factors

• Unequal distribution of water resources between urban and rural areas.
• Water pricing policies often fail to reflect true scarcity value.
• Inadequate investment in water conservation technologies.

The crisis demands urgent attention through integrated approaches like Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM), sustainable agricultural practices, and climate adaptation strategies. Implementation of technologies like drip irrigation, water recycling, and rainwater harvesting along with strengthened international cooperation through frameworks like UN-Water can help address this global challenge.