Revealed: Water scarcity in the first and third worlds

Annual average monthly blue water scarcity, provided by ScienceAdvances

According to a report made by ScienceAdvances, "two-thirds of the global population (4.0 billion people) live under conditions of severe water scarcity at least 1 month out of the year. Nearly half of those people live in India and China." The number who face water scarcity in first-world countries like the United States and the United Kingdom is exceedingly disproportionate to the previous metric.

Citizens of first-world countries hardly find themselves facing water scarcity any month of the year. But according to research done by the Guardian, water bills in America rose by at least 27% between 2010 and 2018. Evidence shows that we are on a dangerous trend towards a world without access to clean, affordable water.

As previously stated, there is already a part of the world where water scarcity has become a great issue. What is clear is that third-world countries are affected much more severely than first-world countries, where the looming threat of water scarcity seems to be a mere shadow on the wall for now.

But water scarcity is an issue for all citizens around the globe, regardless of nationality. The situation in these third-world countries paints a horrific picture of what life could become in a world without water. It is time that the water scarcity crisis becomes a pressing concern for all first-world countries.

The same report from ScienceAdvances mentions scarcity levels are high in areas with a high population density, a presence of over-irrigated agriculture, or low natural water availability. Arid regions throughout the world face the worst of this issue.

Freshwater is one of the core ingredients for society. When waters run dry, communities fail to drink, wash, or feed crops. Global water scarcity will continue to worsen at the current consumption rate.

Children born into poor families throughout these nations must deal with the crisis for months at a time. The water they drink, if they can find it at all, is often unsanitary and contaminated with waterborne diseases. 

"In countries with adequate water resources, water scarcity is not uncommon," as reported by the website unicef.org. "This is due to several factors. Collapsed infrastructure and distribution systems, contamination, conflict, and poor management of resources are to blame." Most importantly, climate change and human factors are the biggest contributors to withholding from communities (regardless of nationality) their right to sanitary and accessible water.

There are two primary methods to reveal the truth about how water scarcity affects communities. Water scarcity can come as "shortage (impacts due to low availability per capita) and stress (impacts due to high consumption relative to availability)", according to the National Library of Medicine. Detailed below is a map of how this affects different regions across the world.

Map of water scarcity trajectory archetypes, provided by ScienceAdvances

Call to attention the sites of water scarcity in third-world regions such as the Middle East and Africa, and compare that to first-world countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. Some would say that the water scarcity crisis proportionately affects all, or does not exist. But as mentioned previously, the first-world is not immune to water scarcity: it is a crisis whose reach grows by the day. Areas in France, Germany, and other western European nations.

But there is still a clear difference in what areas of the world have access to water. This truth is undeniable, and the nations of the world must act.

"In the last 50 years, the world's population has doubled. With its accompanying economic development and industrialization, this growth has transformed water ecosystems worldwide and resulted in a massive loss of biodiversity," says the World Wildlife Fund; "41% of the world’s population lives in river basins that are under water stress."

Concern about water availability grows as freshwater use continues at unsustainable levels. Furthermore, these new faces also need food, shelter, and clothing, thus resulting in additional pressure on freshwater by producing commodities and energy.

Some of the world's worst water stress comes from agriculture, according to the World Wildlife Fund. "Agriculture uses 70% of the world’s accessible freshwater, but some 60% of this is wasted due to leaky irrigation systems, inefficient application methods as well as the cultivation of crops that are too thirsty for the environment in which they are grown."

"This wasteful use of water is drying out rivers, lakes, and underground aquifers. Many countries that produce large amounts of food—including India, China, Australia, Spain and the United States—have reached or are close to reaching their water resource limits", the source continues. "Added to these thirsty crops is the fact that agriculture also generates considerable freshwater pollution – both through fertilizers and pesticides – all of which affect humans and other species."

"These pesticides and fertilizers that wash away from farms can pollute water sources. Additional pollutants include untreated human wastewater and industrial waste. Even groundwater is unsafe from pollution, as many pollutants can leach into underground aquifers."

The World Wildlife Fund reasons that some effects of pollution "are immediate, such as when harmful bacteria from human waste contaminate water and make it unfit to drink or swim in. In other instances—such as toxic substances from industrial processes—it may take years to build up in the environment and food chain before their effects are fully recognized."

It is clear from the evidence provided that communities in Africa, India, China, and other third-world countries fail to receive the same access to water that first-world countries enjoy. This truth has been revealed, and must now be further unraveled before water scarcity becomes a global issue.