The world’s water cycle is out of balance ”for the first time in human history,” according to a new report.
The Global Commission on the Economics of Water, which is made up of global experts, attributed the imbalance to “decades of collective mismanagement and undervaluation of water.”
“We can no longer count on freshwater availability for our collective future,” the report stated.
The water cycle is the movement of water in the Earth’s ground and atmosphere and includes processes such as water evaporation and precipitation.
The commission is affiliated with the government of the Netherlands and is facilitated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group of the world’s wealthiest nations.
Its report said that 1,000 children under the age of five die each day from illnesses related to unsafe water and sanitation.
The report also said that food systems are running out of fresh water and cities are sinking as aquifers beneath them dry up.
And this could become more dire: More than half of the world’s food production is in an area where water supplies are expected to decrease.
The report also projected “severe” economic impacts if current practices don’t change. The combined impacts of these issues and rising temperatures caused by climate change could shrink the GDPs of high-income countries by an average of 8 percent in 2050 and lower-income countries by 10 to 15 percent.
