Page 56 - Frontier Technologies to Protect the Environment and Tackle Climate Change

Frontier Technologies to Protect the Environment and Tackle Climate Change

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that in the United States (U.S.) alone, water
leaks within households account for 1 trillion gallons (approx. 3.8 trillion litres) of usable water lost
annually, enough to fill 1.5 million Olympic-sized swimming pools. This figure is especially stark
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when viewed in conjunction with the intensive water demand of the agricultural activities in the US,
which account for over 80 per cent of the Nation’s consumptive water use – a level that is fairly
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typical for the agricultural and livestock farming sectors all over the world. The demand for more
power to fuel economic growth also necessitates harnessing more water for hydropower dams and
nuclear plants. Combined with the constraints on water supplies due to unpredictable weather events,
water shortages have already become a reality in several cities around the world (including in recent
years, water crises in Cape Town, South Africa, and New Delhi, India). The ramifications of water crisis
patterns are far-reaching as water shortage affects not only the agricultural output and food security
in the areas affected, but also leads to rising conflict and the suspension of vital services (such as
medical surgeries, as seen during New Delhi’s period of water crisis a few years ago). 162
Moreover, only 3 per cent of all water worldwide is actual freshwater, of which 30 per cent lies
underground as groundwater. A 2015 study at the University of Victoria in B.C., Canada, found
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that while groundwater (in aquifers and wells that millions of people rely on globally) is usually
considered a renewable resource due to its three times larger volume than other fresh water contained
in the Earth’s lakes and rivers, in reality, groundwater is largely non-renewable due to its slow rate
of replenishment and renewal, which is estimated to be only 6 per cent within a 50-year span.
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Therefore, as pollution and climate change affect the global water cycle, the world may fall 40 per cent
short of the amount of freshwater needed to support the global economy by the year 2030.
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