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Water Shortages
Water wars are around the corner as we continue to build up altered
earth matter around water supplies, and literally adhering to water as a
guide of where to build, live, and dispose. It is getting serious, and
we should all conserve water at whatever the cost.
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FAO: World Facing Severe Water Shortages
www.chinaview.cn 2007-02-15 07:18:25 - Editor: Feng Tao
ROME, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- In less than 20 years, close
to two billion people will be without water and two thirds of the
world will not have enough water, the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned here on Wednesday.
According to the head of FAO's Water, Development and Management Unit,
Pasquale Steduto, water use has expanded at twice the rate of
population growth over the past 100 years creating conditions of water
scarcity.
Water shortages are obviously most acute in the driest areas of the
world, which are home to more than 2 billion people and to half of all
poor people.
Agriculture is the number-one user of water worldwide, accounting for
about 70 percent of all freshwater withdrawn from lakes, waterways and
aquifers around the world.
"Water has a major impact on the capacity of people everywhere to
improve their lives. In many regions, farmers trying to produce enough
food and income face the added challenges of repeated droughts and
competition for water," Steduto said. One way to deal with water
scarcity is through farming-related techniques that harvest more
rainfall, reduce waste in irrigation and increase productivity, and in
changes in crop and dietary choices, Steduto added.
Steduto is currently chairman of the UN's coordinating agency
UN-Water, which includes UN departments that have a significant role
in tackling global water concerns as well as non-UN partners.
This year Rome-based FAO is coordinating World Water Day, on March 22,
which will be dedicated to the theme of "Coping With Water Scarcity"
and focus on the need for increased cooperation at international and
local levels to protect global water resources.
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The
The
Labors in the Spirits of
Science
Living on the Lost Planet 
