It's 6:00 AM and your alarm buzzes on your nightstand alerting you to start your morning routine. You walk to your bathroom and turn on the shower and wait five minutes for the water to heat up. In the meantime you use the toilet and wash your hands. Then you brush your teeth, letting the water flow freely from your faucet. Finally you climb into the warm water, and let your ten minute cleansing in
the shower commence. Just a normal morning; nothing wrong with this picture, right?
Wrong
While never really thought about, clean, potable water is one of the most prized possessions of the human race. Our worlds have always revolved around it; it is a force that provides our environment with wonder and ourselves with survival. As the world's timeline has unfolded, water has been there to support our population growths, migrations, and creations of convenience. Unfortunately now, the future of our water sources seems uncertain.
Water scarcity is a problem that occurs worldwide, touching every continent and, according the United Nations, affecting about one-fifth of the world's population. Over the last century water use has increased greatly and has become unevenly distributed throughout the world. Additionally, our once clean waters become wasted or polluted, further depleting our sources. Many nations that are considered "water-stressed" lack the facilities and infrastructure that can provide them with potable water, and are equally inhibited by the rapidly changing global climate (notable areas of impact include sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Southern Asia).
This crisis leads to tragedy for many people around the world. Water, when plentiful, can boost societies leaps and bounds, however when scarce can inhibit life on the individual level. Access to clean water not only changes the physical health of peoples, but directly impacts economies, educations, and overall development of societies. Instead of worrying about job security, class finals, or infrastructural development, peoples are concerned with finding clean sources of water imperative to their survival.
History has shown that, when societies are threatened by a serious issue that threatens their well-being, diplomacy can be abandoned, and chaos can ensue on a global level. The current situation with international water quality and abundance is no exception, and could definitely prove to be a major facet (if not the cause) of another world war.
Never thought that your morning routine could impact the future of our world as we know it? Guess again.