Water is the most important resource on our planet. Life is impossible without water. After all, it is water that nourishes plants and is the habitat for fish and many animals. It is necessary for human life. Therefore, supplies of clean water suitable for drinking may soon become the main source of wealth for states.

What happens if clean water disappears

To understand what can happen if there is no clean water left on earth, you should imagine such a situation. It is important to highlight the main consequences of the lack of clean water:

• This will inevitably lead to the death of river and sea inhabitants. The whole ecosystem will be disrupted. The loss of fish, shellfish and crustaceans will eliminate food sources for many people. After all, some countries thrive on the extraction of water resources;
• The lack of clean water will lead to the death of many land-dwelling species. After all, they consume water, just like people. Clean water is the basis of health. Therefore, many unadapted species will simply die;
• Livestock needs clean water just like other animals. Its disappearance will lead to the death of livestock. This means that humanity will lose basic food resources;
• Cultivated plants also need clean water. When watering them with contaminated water, some types of plants will simply die. Those that can survive will be poisoned. They will not be eaten. Such plants will contain harmful impurities.

Thus, the disappearance of clean water will lead to large-scale changes on the planet. Animals and plants will die. Only limited populations that can exist without clean water can survive on Earth.

Will humanity survive

The situation described above will inevitably lead to massive loss of life. Many simply will not be able to find food to satisfy their hunger. Lack of water will lead to wars and mass migrations of the population to more prosperous areas. After such a cataclysm, only small groups of people who will have access to water purification systems will be able to survive. But their food supply will be very meager.

Water is the source of life on Earth. But most often the question arises about the purity of water and its shortage. In the territories of many countries there is a catastrophic shortage of water; some peoples generally use poor-quality water, which entails the development of many diseases leading to death.

It is difficult to say whether today there are countries and territories where the water is not polluted and does not contain harmful impurities. We constantly hear that there is practically no clean water left on Earth, and if there are such places, then people do not live there.

This is due to the fact that water sources are polluted by people themselves, as industrial, agricultural, and municipal enterprises discharge waste from their activities into water bodies. In addition to the fact that these effluents pollute the water with various harmful substances, from which oil, phenol, detergent active substances, pesticides and other complex substances are released chemical compounds, carriers of dangerous infectious diseases also get into the water, and this can lead to disastrous consequences.

Many years ago, the governments of many countries faced the question of protecting water from pollution, because if nothing is done soon, there will be no drinking water left at all, and people will die. For this purpose, environmental requirements for production began to be developed aimed at protecting water resources from pollution. But the fact remains: many, in pursuit of material gain, are unable and unwilling to understand that without clean drinking water they and the planet Earth itself have no future. And what’s even worse, there are areas where there is no clean water at all, people have nothing to drink, water is either brought there, or they have to use high technologies to purify it, which requires large material costs, which many simply cannot afford. The question arises: why pollute water and create a lot of problems for yourself, if it is easier to protect your life and the life of your descendants by introducing new environmentally friendly technologies into production, albeit expensive ones? this moment, but they are equivalent healthy life not only today's people, but also future generations.

The problem of clean water is also associated with the constantly increasing volumes of its consumption, as the number of inhabitants of the planet and the volume of economic activity person. The main suppliers of water are rivers and lakes, and their water supply can decrease as a result of deforestation, plowing of meadows, and drainage of floodplain swamps. All this leads to a decrease in the level of water, which is the main source of nutrition for rivers and lakes.

Lack of clean fresh water- a problem that worries a third of the inhabitants of the entire planet, since basically the reserves of such water are located where people do not live. It seems as if nature protects the water, hiding it from people who do not protect it. This is true: after all, in Everyday life Many people, when opening the tap, can pour out as much water as they want, without even thinking that other inhabitants of the planet do not have enough of it. Others do not close the taps properly, from where such precious water also flows out aimlessly. If everyone thought about how many liters of fresh water are wasted thoughtlessly, it would be possible to save it and solve many complex problems.

Modern inhabitants of the planet should think about purifying fresh water, about developing ways to protect fresh water from pollution by waste from any type of production and life activity. If this is not done, the question will arise about the future fate of our planet, because, as you know, life and health depend on what kind of water to drink. The main thing is that tap water, which also cannot be called high-quality, even when passing it through a filter, cannot be completely purified, for example, from impurities heavy metals, because this requires more stringent measures than a regular household filter.

Oil production has no less impact on fresh water pollution, especially if any accidents occur that cause irreparable damage to water resources and the environment in general. But it is also dangerous that other harmful substances and compounds can be dissolved in oil, which then end up in the waters of the World Ocean, and therefore in the water that people use.

Today, only a small number of organizations are engaged in solving the problems of preserving and increasing clean water supplies on a global scale. But they consider one of the main tasks to be the fight to reduce harmful runoff into rivers and lakes, as well as work aimed at developing systems for desalination of salt water from seas and oceans, which would solve this problem. main problem providing the population globe clean water. Although desalination of salt water is still a very complex process in terms of material costs, both in terms of energy, and few people can afford such an expensive pleasure.

But there remains hope that people all over the Earth will begin to think about preserving clean water supplies.

And now we want to remind you that the easiest way to get tasty and clean water at home is by using

According to the United Nations, rising freshwater consumption, driven by population growth and migration, as well as the effects of climate change, is leading to growing water scarcity.

Every three years, the UN World Water Assessment Program (WWAP) publishes the UN World Report, the most comprehensive assessment of the state of the world's freshwater resources.

The latest report was released at the Fifth World Water Forum, held in Istanbul in 2009. This is the result of the joint work of 26 different UN entities united within the framework of the UN Decade “Water for Life” (2005 – 2015).

The report highlights that many countries have already reached their water use limits, with freshwater consumption tripling over the past half century. Large areas of the developing world continue to experience unequal access to safe drinking water, food water treatment, and wastewater treatment. If nothing is done, then by 2030 almost five billion people, about 67% of the planet's population, will be left without clean water.

In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 340 million people lack access to safe drinking water. There are no proper sewage treatment facilities in the settlements where half a billion Africans live. Almost 80% of diseases in developing countries are caused by drinking poor quality water. They claim the lives of three million people a year. Every day, five thousand children die from “diseases of unwashed hands”—one child every 17 seconds! 10% of the world's diseases can be avoided through improved water supply, water treatment, hygiene and good management water resources.

Now the world's population is 6.6 billion people, the annual increase is 80 million. Every year we need 64 million cubic meters more water. By 2050, almost ten billion people will live on Earth, with population growth occurring mainly in developing countries where water is already scarce.

In 2030, half of the world's population will live under the threat of water scarcity. In Africa alone, by 2020, due to climate change, between 75 and 250 million people will be in this situation. Water shortages in desert and semi-desert regions will cause intense population migration. According to experts, from 24 to 700 million people will be forced to change their place of residence. In 2000, the world's water shortage was estimated at 230 billion cubic meters per year. And by 2025, we will lack water ten times more: up to two trillion cubic meters per year.

According to the UN, by 2025 Russia, together with Scandinavia, South America and Canada will remain the most affluent regions fresh water. In these countries, each person accounts for more than 20 thousand cubic meters per year. The region is the most secure in terms of water resources Latin America, which accounts for a third of the world's runoff, followed by Asia with its quarter of the world's runoff. Then come the developed ones European countries(20%), sub-Saharan Africa and former Soviet Union, they account for 10%. The most limited water resources are in the countries of the Middle East and North America (1% each).

And according to the World Resources Institute, 13 states have the least amount of water per capita, including 4 republics of the former USSR:

Egypt – 30 cubic meters per year per person

Israel – 150 cubic meters per year per person

Turkmenistan – 206 cubic meters per year per person

Moldova – 236 cubic meters per year per person

Pakistan – 350 cubic meters per year per person

Algeria – 440 cubic meters per year per person

Hungary – 594 cubic meters per year per person

Uzbekistan – 625 cubic meters per year per person

Netherlands – 676 cubic meters per year per person

Bangladesh – 761 cubic meters per year per person

Morocco – 963 cubic meters per year per person

Azerbaijan – 972 cubic meters per year per person

South Africa – 982 cubic meters per year per person

The total volume of water on Earth is approximately one and a half billion cubic kilometers, of which only 2.5% is fresh water. Most of its reserves are concentrated in the multi-year ice of Antarctica and Greenland, as well as deep underground.

Almost all the water we drink comes from lakes, rivers and shallow underground springs. Only about 200 thousand cubic kilometers of these reserves can be used - less than a percent of all fresh water reserves or 0.01% of all water on Earth. A significant proportion of them are located far from densely populated regions.

Renewal of fresh water depends on evaporation from the surface of the oceans. Every year, the oceans evaporate about half a million cubic kilometers of water. This is a layer one and a half meters thick. Another 72 thousand cubic kilometers of water evaporates from the land surface. 79% of precipitation falls over seas and oceans, another 2% over lakes, and only 19% of rain falls on land. A little more than two thousand cubic kilometers of water penetrate into underground springs per year. About two-thirds of all precipitation returns to the atmosphere.

Short description

The goal of the project is to develop children's interest in learning and personal desire for practical research The most important component of the environment is water. In the series of lessons presented in this project A number of topics are included that are studied in a certain sequence and are related to each other. The classes are structured in such a way that they allow you to see the unusual, the new in the familiar and ordinary.

Description

A series of lesson notes “Water is the main wealth on earth.” The air is clean, fresh,
breathe easily and freely.
But…
Don't wash, don't drink without water,
A leaf cannot bloom without water.
They can't live without water
birds, beast and man,
and therefore always
everyone needs water everywhere! 1. Lesson on the topic “Water, water – water all around.”
Target:
Give children an idea of ​​the importance of water in our lives and the form in which water exists in the environment.
Preliminary work:
Invite children to remember throughout the day where and what kind of water they saw (indoors, on a walk); how they used it. Did they need a lot of water? At the end of the day, discuss the results of observations and write them down. It is important that children feel how often we need water. We cannot live without her. Let them imagine what would happen if the water suddenly disappeared.
Progress of the lesson:

- Guys! To find out what we will study, you need to guess the riddle:
That you can't roll up a mountain
You can't hold it in a sieve
And you can’t carry it in your hands. (Water)
– Indeed, we will talk about water.
Conversation:

Educator: What is water needed for? (children's answers)
- How does she help us? (children's answers)
In this case, you can use illustrations where water is present (watering flowers, cooking, washing). Children, who needs water? (The educational aid “Water” is used, the children name trees, birds, animals, and the teacher opens the picture and checks whether everyone has been listed). Yes, without water, all life on earth will die. Water is life, and water must be protected. How long can a person live without food? (Three months), but without water? (A week). Do you think there is a lot of water on Earth? – Let’s look at the globe, this is a model of our Earth. (The teacher shows the globe)
– What color is there more on the globe?
– Show me everything that is highlighted in this color? What color does water represent on the globe? (Blue). Show water on the globe. Who knows how many oceans there are on earth? (4 oceans), how many seas? (30 seas). Do you think this is a lot or a little? What part is land? (Fourth). Let's check. I have an apple in my hands. Let's imagine that this is our planet. The fourth part of it is land, but this large part is water. Is there much or little water on the planet? (A lot of). Guys, who knows what sea water tastes like? (children's answers) In the seas and oceans, the water is salty. In rivers and lakes, water has no taste (if it is clean). It's called fresh.
It seems that there is a lot of water on Earth - look how much blue paint there is on the globe! But the water that a person needs is actually very little.
– What kind of water do we drink? (Salted or fresh?)
A person cannot drink salt water, but there is much more of it on Earth than fresh water. There are countries where people do not have enough water even to quench their thirst.
– Find yellow areas on the globe.
These are deserts with very little water, so people rarely live there. A person can live without food for several weeks, but without water - only 3 days.
In addition, there is now very little clean water left on Earth. For example, we take clean water from the tap, but pour dirty, already used water into the sink, and it pollutes water bodies. This means that water must be conserved. Water has a great concern - to give water to all its inhabitants. Why does a person need water? (A stick is used - mobile). “How does a person use water?”

(waters plants, cooks, drinks, bathes, does laundry, etc.) who else needs water?

Do you want to play a game with me?
You will be the seeds, Olya will be the sun, Gena will be the gardener. I plant seeds in the ground. The sun is shining brightly. The gardener takes a watering can with water and waters the seeds. They swell and slowly begin to sprout. The first shoots have already appeared. They stretch and stretch upward. The gardener waters them with water. And the gentle and kind sun warms them with its rays. Now they have grown up and opened their beautiful buds. How beautiful it is all around! Who are you? We are flowers. I am a daisy! I am a tulip! etc. What did we get? (Flower bed). Well done!
You already know that in order for water from the river to get to our house, it has to go a long way. Do you think water from the river immediately gets into our house? (No). Pumps pump water from the river into settling tanks, where it is thoroughly cleaned and filtered. After filtering through the pipe, the water enters the clean water tank, and only from here pumps pump clean water through water pipes to our apartments. This is how long it takes for water from the river to reach us. Many people work to help water travel this path. So how should you treat water? Carefully, wisely, economically,
in a businesslike manner. Turn on the water in a thin stream, close well and tightly
faucet, do not allow the faucets to be faulty. Remember the proverb about water: “Don’t waste water. Know how to value water!”
Child: Do not leave the water tap open,

Educator:So what conclusions can we draw? (children's answers) That's right, we cannot live without water. Water includes lakes, rivers, oceans, and seas. It seems that there is a lot of water on earth; there should be enough for everyone. But this is not so: the fresh water that we use is not enough on our planet. And every year there is less and less such clean water, as people pollute water bodies.

2. Experimental - experimental lesson on the topic “Properties of water” Target:
1. introduce children to some properties of water, show the variety of states of water in environment.
2. Developing the skill of consistently expressing your thoughts, constructing your speech correctly, and enriching your vocabulary.
3. Awakening interest in nature and its phenomena.
Equipment:strips of colored paper (blue, dark blue, gray, white, green, red, yellow), a tray with laboratory glassware for each table (4 glasses of water), pieces of ice, lumps of snow, a thermos with hot water, glass or a mirror.
Progress of the lesson

Educator:Let's join hands. Let's smile at each other. To create good mood. To learn a lot in our class you need to be attentive, not shout, listen to each other, raise your hand.
- Listen, I’ll tell you a riddle now. And you must be careful and guess them.
I am both a cloud and a fog,
And the stream and the ocean,
And I fly and I run,
And I can be glass. (Water) - What are these riddles about? (about water) So what will we continue to talk about today about water.
Conversation: - Guys, today I received a letter and would like to read it to you. Listen: “Hello, guys! Three droplet sisters are writing to you. Help us. We lived together and never quarreled. One day the sun was so hot that one of us turned into steam. And then he came terrible frost. The second one was combing her braid at that moment and froze,
turning into a beautiful snowflake. And the third managed to hide. And it remained a drop. Snowflake became very self-important, began to admire herself and did not want to recognize the droplet and the “pink” as her own sisters.”
- Guys, help! Prove that we, the snowflake, the droplet and the “twee” are sisters.
- Guys, do you want to help? What are they asking you to do?
Imagine that our room is a research laboratory. To prove that a snowflake, a “frozen” and a droplet are sisters, we need to examine the properties of water. We will now conduct experiments.
Experiment No. 1: “Water has no shape” ”
Compare the shape of the water in your glass with the water from your neighbor, the teacher (the teacher shows that if you pour water into a dish of a different shape, the water takes the shape of this dish).
– What can you say about the shape of water?
Experiment No. 2: “Water is liquid and can flow”

Give the children 2 glasses: 1 with water, 2 empty. And invite them to pour water from one glass to another. Ask the question: “Is water flowing? Why?". Conclusion: liquid water flows.
Experiment No. 3: “The water is clear”

What color is the water? You have strips of paper on the table, with their help we will determine the color of the water. Attach and compare the color of the water and the color of each strip. Can you say that the water matches one of their colors? (No). What color is the water then? (Colorless, transparent). Think about how you can check the transparency of water? (Look through a glass of water at something: a text, a drawing, a neighbor).
Experience No. 4: “Water has no taste”

Do you know the taste of salt, sugar, lemon, onion? You are familiar with the taste of apples, potatoes, tomatoes, bread, and cake. Taste the water in the glass. Can water be called salty, bitter, sweet, sour? None of my friends
tastes cannot be attributed to water. Conclusion: water has no taste.
Experiment No. 5: “Water has no smell”

When mom bakes pies and buns, you will smell a delicious smell outside the apartment doors. Flowers and perfumes emit a delicate aroma. Smell the water, what does it smell like? Conclusion: water has no odor.
Experiment No. 6: “Ice - solid water”

Invite the children to bring icicles of different sizes. And see which one melts faster.
You can use snow, and also, if it’s a warm season, freeze water in the refrigerator. Conclusion: ice and snow are also water.
Experiment No. 7: “Steam is also water”

Take a thermos with boiling water. Open it and show it to the children. Place a mirror and glass above it. Show that steam is also water.
Can we say that a snowflake, a droplet and a “frozen” are sisters? (But why?
Game: “Where the water hid”
– Look at the pictures and find where the water is hidden.
Educator:So what can we say about water? Water in the environment varies. Solid as ice, in the form of vapor and liquid. It is transparent, tasteless, colorless and odorless.

3. Educational lesson “The Water Cycle” - “The Journey of a Droplet”
Target:Give children basic knowledge about the water cycle in nature.
Equipment:a picture of a hare against a forest background, a picture of “droplets”, a picture of a cloud, a picture of a leaf with dew.
Progress of the lesson.

Discussion with children about where Droplet disappeared, what happened to her? (children's answers).
Droplets of water constantly travel: they fall on the ground with rain, run in streams, water plants, and then, under the rays of the sun, return home again - to the clouds from which they once came to earth in the form of rain. (children's answers).
Educator:So what can we sayabout droplets of water. In nature, they “walk and move” in a circle, fall out of clouds in the form of rain (snow), travel along the ground, and then return back under the rays of the sun. Water does not disappear, but only transforms from one state to another and travels.

Leading:We “Water Defenders” have come to tell you that in our city there are people who are destroying rivers and lakes. Are there any of you like that? Now we will find out. Where do you think water can be found? Why is water needed and for what? (answers). Listen to poems about water that will be read to you by “water protectors.”
1 Defender:We cannot live without water. Water includes lakes, rivers, seas, and oceans. It seems that there is a lot of water on Earth, but this is not so. Every year there is less and less fresh water.
2 Defender:Everyone needs water. A person can live without water for only 3 days. Water is needed for cooking, drinking, washing, and washing. Animals and plants cannot live without water. If there is no water on Earth, all plants will die.
3 Defender:
Water travels in nature
It never disappears:
It will turn into snow, then into ice,
It melts - and again we go on a hike.
Along the mountain peaks,
wide valleys,
Suddenly it soars into the sky,
It will turn into rain.
Look around
Take a look at nature:
We are surrounded everywhere and always
This sorceress is our water.
Leading:Guys, where can we find water at home? Where does the water in the tap come from? (answers) Water enters the tap from a well or river. Only it doesn’t get into the tap right away: those droplets with which we wash our hands make big way. First, a person sent it from the river (well) into pipes, where the water was purified and after that it comes to us. In order for clean water to flow from your tap, many people had to work hard: some made pipes at the factory, others helped the water get into the pipes, i.e. they built a water pipeline, others purified the water, and others repaired the taps. And sometimes it seems to us that water flows from the tap itself and there is a lot of it, there is no need to save, let it flow! But we now know that water flows into the tap from the river, and if all people leave the taps open, what can happen?
Children read B. Zakhoder’s poem “What Happened to the River”

Leading:This is what can happen if you don't turn off the taps. Do you have children in your group who forget to turn off the tap? So that you don't forget, we're giving you a poster to hang over your sink. And then no one will forget to turn off the tap. You can make these posters yourself and give them to your friends.
Defender:Do not leave the water tap open,
And if you forget, the ocean will disappear.
You need to remember this, don’t pollute the stream
And try to pick up trash after yourself.
Let's help nature together.
Protect wells and do not throw garbage into them.
After all, even in a small drop there is a sip for a flower
And the drop will turn into a cheerful stream.
Leading:Now let's play.
Song-game “Stream”.
Droplets ran in the little blue boots (easy running),
The droplets turned into streams-paths,
A stream ran over pebbles, ran over pebbles (running),
Then in a transparent puddle he lay, lay, lay (children crouch: “fall asleep”),
So again he ran at a gallop and gurgled loudly (jumping and changing into a circle),
I saw a river - jumped there (jumping forward),
And he immediately fell silent (the children sit on the carpet).
The Lake, the Little Mermaid, the Vodyanoy appear - teachers in appropriate costumes or children from the preparatory group.
Lake:We are looking for “Water Defenders”, we are dying from wrong behavior evil people, which clog us and poison our inhabitants. Look what we have become!
Lake: Help us!
Leading:Children, how can we help the lake? (Answers) Let's clean it up.
Game - relay race: Children are divided into two teams. (then the children, one by one, scoop up the dirty water and pour it through the “Barrier” filter. In this way, d Children clean up the lake. The guests thank and leave.
Leading:Guys, of course, you understand that this is a fabulous lake. But this can happen to a real lake and it will be difficult to help. How are we
can we save our rivers, lakes, seas? (answers) Children, if you agree to help us, if you want our reservoirs to be clean, we can accept you into our society of “Defenders of Nature”.
“Defenders of Nature” accept children into their ranks by attaching emblems to them.

Presenter:Congratulations, from now on you are also “Defenders of Nature”. We remind you what conservationists should do.
Defender:Use water sparingly, close the taps tightly, do not pollute water bodies, stop those who throw garbage into water bodies, clean up garbage on the banks of lakes, rivers, and forests.
Conclusion: All people need to learn to respect our nature and love it.
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Samorukova P.G. Methods of introducing preschoolers to nature. – M., “Enlightenment”, 1992.
Samorukova P.G. How to introduce preschoolers to nature. – M., 1983.
Vasilyeva M.A. Education and training program in kindergarten. – M., “Enlightenment”, 1987.
Luchich M.V. Children about nature. – M., “Enlightenment”, 1989.
Veretennikova S.A. Introducing preschoolers to nature. – M., “Enlightenment”, 1980.
Vinogradova N.F., Kulikova T.A. Teach children to observe nature. – M., “Enlightenment”, 1993.
Kulikova T.A. Excursion into nature with children preschool age. – M., 1985.
Nikolaeva S.N. Young ecologist. – M., 2002.
Nikolaeva S.N. Communication with nature begins from childhood. – Perm, 1992.
Kondratyeva N.N. etc. “We”. – S.-P., 2002.
Smirnova V.V. and others. Path to nature. – S.-P., 2001.
Ryzhova N.A. Our home is nature. – M., 2001.
Ashikov V.I., Ashikova S.G. Seven-flowered. – M., 1998.
Belavina I., Naydenskaya N. The planet is our home. – M., 1995.
Arsentieva V.P. Ecological ABC. – Smolensk, 1995.
Arsentyeva V.P., Zaitseva L.M. Primary environmental education. – Smolensk, 1999.
Nikolaeva S.N. Education of ecological culture in preschool childhood. – M., 1995.
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Website -

The Middle East was on fire.

And what happens when there is no water... Conflicts have engulfed the entire region. Social and economic problems brought people to the streets. An article in the British newspaper The Observer by the famous columnist J. Vidal was devoted to this important topic. This is the main point of the article. Among the reasons that led to the aggravation of the situation in North Africa and the Middle East, there is undoubtedly one very serious one - the shortage of water resources. At the moment, it seems to have faded into the background, but it is still impossible to dismiss it, because it is connected with the food problem.

Rising food prices in the Arab world are a good reminder that without solving the water problem, it will be difficult to count on an increase in agricultural production. Arab countries are located in a very dry area of ​​the world. There are few rivers here, and water needs are growing as the population grows. Moreover, water resources are being depleted. As a result, virtually all Arab countries depend on imported food, the prices of which have now reached record levels. What could this mean for a region where the population will double within 40 years and could reach 600 million people, especially in the context of climate change and the presence of fundamental problems, say various studies, including UN studies, the publication notes. Demonstrations and uprisings that occurred three times in five years after significant increases in food prices may provide a glimpse of what could happen unless efforts are made to distribute natural resources more equitably and policies on water and oil use do not change.

In this regard, the appearance of the report “The Blue Peace report” prepared for the EU countries is noted, the presentation of which took place in Switzerland. The report was written by the so-called Strategic Foresight Group. At the presentation, Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey noted that in the future the main geopolitical resource of the Middle East will be water rather than oil.

Unless there is a major technological breakthrough or some miraculous discovery, the entire Middle East will face severe water shortages. The authoritarian rulers of oil-rich countries have kept their people in check all these years through control of natural resources and virtually prevented unrest through huge subsidies of “virtual” water in the form of staple food imports. But this state of affairs may collapse as food prices rise to record levels and the need for water and energy increases. So far, the issue of water itself has had relatively little influence on the current unrest. But when subsidies were removed, there was often a period of instability. This has already happened. Water shortages will be worse in the future, so what leaders do now may not be enough. Arabs depend on imported food. Therefore, floods in Australia or frosts in Canada have the same meaning for them as a harvest in, say, Egypt or Algeria. The value of Arab food imports in 2008/2009 amounted to $30 billion. Rising prices have aggravated the situation of millions of unemployed and poor people. The paradox of the Arab economy is that it depends on oil prices, and oil prices drive up food prices.

One of the poorest Arab countries, Yemen is the most vulnerable in terms of water and food availability. There, there is less than 200 m3 of water per person per year. Meanwhile, the international level of “water poverty” is 1 thousand m3 per person. Yemen is forced to import 80 - 90% of its food. The government is even considering moving the capital from Sanaa, with a population of 2 million, because there will be no water left in the city within six years. 19 out of 21 underground water reservoirs are no longer replenished. The country is being torn apart by two internal conflict. Lack of water is one of the aggravating factors.

The situation is no better in other Arab countries. In Jordan, water demand is expected to double within 20 years. There are already shortages due to population growth and a water dispute with Israel. The World Bank estimates that within 30 years, water availability per person in this country will fall from the current 200 m3 to 91 m3. Algeria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Iraq and Iran are experiencing water shortages. Only Turkey has a surplus, but it doesn’t want to share it with anyone. Abu Dhabi will pump out its underground relic water reserves within 40 years. Libya has spent $20 billion drilling wells in the desert to tap deep, prehistoric aquifers. But no one knows how long that water will last. In Saudi Arabia, water demand will increase by 500% in 25 years, and then double within 20 years. The fact is that the need for energy is growing by 10% per year. At the same time, water levels in the region as a whole are falling. Since the 1960s in the Dead Sea - about 30 meters. Marshes in Iraq have shrunk by 90%, and the Sea of ​​Galilee (Lake Kinneret) may become salty. Due to intensive irrigation, agricultural lands become unsuitable because water stagnates and salinization occurs. Oil-rich countries are trying to do something. Since they had already drained underground sources of fresh water, seawater desalination plants began to be built en masse. There are already 1.5 thousand of them. These enterprises carry out 2/3 of seawater desalination in the world. It turned out, however, that this was not an easy decision. The water is either evaporated and passed through a separator or passed through filters. All this is very costly in terms of energy consumption. True, in some places they use the energy of the sun for this, but most importantly, the extracted salt is dumped back into the sea. That's the problem. Only now are they beginning to understand the downside of the desalination process. The salinity of the seas is increasing and this is killing marine life. In the 70–80s. almost 20% of Saudi Arabia's financial resources were spent on the creation of wheat fields, parks, lawns, and golf courses. And how much energy and water have to be spent on cooling buildings in the Persian Gulf countries! People are starting to think about this, and they are starting to create fewer lawns. Instead, the areas around the buildings are filled with concrete. They are starting to save water everywhere, even in mosques. For this purpose, special equipment is installed that saves water. Saudi Arabia reduces wheat production at home and begins to acquire land abroad. An underground storage facility for desalinated water is being built in the UAE. Once complete there will be a supply there for three months. The shortage of water is recognized by everyone in the Arab world, and this provides an opportunity, because the best way avoid conflicts - negotiate. This sounds encouraging, the publication concludes, but the winds of change in the region suggest that anything is possible there.

Water is a real miracle of nature. If there were no water, then there would be nothing living. Not a single living form could appear, maintain its existence, or develop.

Water is the most amazing substance on planet Earth. She takes part in a colossal number of processes occurring on our blue planet. It’s not for nothing that the planet is called “blue”. Images taken from space show what a significant share is occupied by water resources - salty and fresh water (used by humans).

The human body is 60-80% water. Deprive a person of water and he will fade away. A person must definitely consume water, and in sufficient quantities. This is necessary for the normal metabolic process. Without water, a person would not be able to walk, think, feel, digest food, or eliminate excess; without water there would be no blood, no vessels, no muscles. The individual would not be able to see, hear, or speak. Water takes part in absolutely all processes of the human body. Water connects all the components of living organisms together. The water contained in the cells of our body is a kind of “memory device” of our cell, it determines how healthy we are.

If there were no water, then there would be no animals, no birds, no insects, no fish on earth. There would be no soil, no trees, shrubs, flowers, or grass would grow.

Why do we need water? For life. We need water to maintain body hygiene, to do laundry, wash dishes, and to produce material goods. It is difficult to imagine the development of civilization without water. Industry and Agriculture without water resources they would not be able to function and develop.

If there were no water, then life in the form in which we observe it would simply be impossible.

Aerospace Agency scientists analyzed satellite data and assessed climate change in individual regions. Futurologists do not rule out that in the near future there will be wars over water.

Drought in the USA. Photo: EPA/TASS

The United States will be affected by climate change in the next hundred years stronger than Russia. Many cities and even entire states will be left without water due to global warming. These are new data from the American aerospace agency NASA.

NASA specialists are processing satellite data, trying to assess future climate changes in certain regions of the planet and even in specific cities. It is predicted that by the end of the century the concentration carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could rise to almost double its current level, and then, according to NASA, the average daily temperature in cities such as Jerusalem, New York, Los Angeles and Mumbai will rise to +45°C.

Last year, American scientists warned President Obama that climate change would turn into a full-scale disaster for the United States.

How serious is this threat? Answered by the head of the Climate and Energy program of the Foundation wildlife Alexey Kokorin.

Alexey Kokorin Head of the Climate and Energy Program at the Wildlife Foundation“Large areas of the United States will indeed suffer from fresh water shortages. How much of a deficit there will be across much of the U.S., including the East Coast and the mid- and part of the West Coast, will depend heavily on how global greenhouse gas emissions go. Of course, the United States needs to be very careful about its future water supply. They are now very actively putting pressure on other countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, primarily on China. To a lesser extent on India, and they themselves are making a lot of efforts.”

California, for example, is already facing this problem. In March it was reported that there was only a year's worth of water left in storage facilities. And in May, the governor of the Sunshine State, Jerry Brown, called for an urgent reduction in water consumption by at least 25%. The water has not yet been turned off, but the restrictions are already noticeable, California resident Andrei Bulgak told Business FM.

Andrey Bulgak California resident“They persistently tell everyone not to waste water just like that. I haven’t seen any official information, maybe they don’t want to scare, but apparently information is leaking out, and they say that if the next winter, that is, the rainy season, is again without rain, then the changes will become irreversible. In some places, it will already begin to turn into a desert, and the climate will no longer be able to recover.”

Fun fact: Popularity is growing in California mobile application, which allows users to send photos of water wasters to authorities. Wherein Special attention Californians are attracted to the residents of luxurious Beverly Hills mansions.

Is Russia facing a fresh water shortage? Hydrologist Mikhail Bolgov answers.

Mikhail Bolgov hydrologist “There is quite a lot of water; we are in second place in terms of reserves after Brazil. But against this background, we have problems with water resources in some regions. This is mainly the South, the Caucasian slope, where the population is large, agricultural consumption is high, and local water resources are not always sufficient. We, of course, have problems with changes in water resources; warming will not escape Russia either. There are global forecasts that say that the temperature on Earth as a whole will increase, but no one knows what will happen to water resources. This is a more complex task than simply predicting the change in temperature on the planet.”

According to the UN, today over a billion people already live in conditions of constant water shortages, and approximately half a billion more are in areas where this problem may appear in the near future. The world will have to face a serious shortage of this resource as early as 2030. And futurologists have repeatedly stated that in the near future water will become the number one commodity on the planet, and wars will be fought not for oil, but for fresh water.