Commentary by Jim Conca, Forbes Contributor. Source: Forbes, July 11, 2019.
People want to drink clean water even more than they want to breath clean air.
So it’s a good thing that almost 3 billion people have gained access to clean water over the last 25 years. But current water use, population growth and the effects of climate change have caused two-thirds of the global population – about 4 billion people – to live under conditions of severe water scarcity at least one month of the year. Some of this scarcity has led to violence and conflict, especially in Africa, Southern Asia and the Middle East.
The Syrian conflict was triggered by a years-long drought.
Almost 300,000 children under the age of five die every year from diarrheal diseases caused by dirty water. That’s almost 800 children a day, or one child every two minutes.
Read the full commentary here. Energy and Environmental speaker and author Dr. James Conca is the Senior Scientist at UFA Ventures, Inc. in Richland, Washington, and a weekly contributor to Forbes.com on energy issues. Conca combines the passion of activism with the bedrock foundation of research science to create a new dynamic for discussing complex topics like energy and its effects on society and the planet. By approaching the subject from the different perspectives of global poverty, debunking technological myths and achieving a just and sustainable energy mix, Conca has developed a sustainable and achievable energy mix that meets most of the serious environmental, climate and economic goals set out by the Administration, States, industry and environmental stakeholders.