Water, Water, Every Where, Nor Any Drop to Drink
Renown words from the Rime of the Ancient Mariner ( Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English Poet) sound somewhat prophetic related to the new millennium and this era, sometimes referred to as a thirsty century.
The world’s oceans contain 97% of Earth’s water resources – salty. Fresh water accounts for only 3% of available water. Some estimates have two-thirds of that 3% in the earth’s icecaps and glaciers. With less than 1% of all the Earth’s water available for humans, the anticipated increase in human need for water over the next few years is foreboding.
Already an estimated 20% of the world’s population does not have access to safe potable water. A full 50% of Earth’s people lack safe sanitation. While attention levels are rising about this critical issue, more needs to be done, at every level of society, to avert a continually increasing tragedy of disease and death.
Effective interventions and impacting modifications abound. A critical issue is that of possessing the will to act.
AHM NewsSource-2008
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