Water is Essential to Sustain Life
Our atmosphere provides an enormous untapped water source
• 1.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water (UN).
• By 2025 that number will more than double to 2.8 billion (UN).
• Annual deaths from diseases caused by poor drinking water and sanitation: 10 million.
• Water supplies are increasingly pressured by pollution, the shift to water-intensive agriculture, and aquifer depletion.
• 2.6 billion people in the world do not have access to adequate sanitation. This is almost two fifths of the world's population. (WHO/UNICEF)
• 1.4 million children die every year as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation. This amounts to around 4,000 deaths a day or one every 20 seconds. (WHO)
• The lack of safe water and sanitation costs sub-Saharan Africa around 5% of its Gross Domestic Product each year. (UNDP) |