Sunday, November 7, 2010

Water and Urbanism

Some statistics :
2,5 % of the water on Earth is fresh water
10 % of that 2,5 % is accessible for human use
8 % of the 10 % is consumed, 22 %  is used industrial processes and 70 % is used in agriculture
There is however a global inequality in the availability of fresh water. In other words, some counties have more water than others. According National Geographic’s Daily News:
In sub-Saharan Africa, existing water storage is equal to less than 26,400 gallons (100 cubic meters) per person, compared to 1.3 million gallons (5,000 cubic meters)—enough to fill two Olympic-size swimming pools—in the U.S.
(How to Stem a Global Food Crisis? Store More Water)
Water availability is not only a crisis for potable drinking water but for the corps and agriculture as well. 94 % of corps in the Sub-Saharan desert relies solely on rain water.   
Aerial images showing a decrease in vegetation during a 2003 drought in southwest Africa

Image created for the Aigües de Barcelona in response to a 2008 drought in Barcelona

Louis-Pierre Bélec - 07/11/2010

"Water « Essential Urbanism." Essential Urbanism. Web. 07 Nov. 2010. <http://essentialurbanism.wordpress.com/tag/water/>.

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