Water stress is a major growing concern of the whole world we have a rising sea water level and a shortage of freshwater and right now the world is not built to conquer these problems. Water stress will be a problem for the world, humans, animals and also companies will experience massive problems because of water stress. Instead of wars about religion or raw materials, wars will be about fresh water. At the moment the countries with the most water stress are the countries closest to the equator.

Billions of people are going to have less access to clean and fresh water due to climate change and population growth. The access of countries to clean and fresh water depends a lot on the location of the country.

Definition of water stress

Water stress happens when there is a scarcity because of a bigger demand for clean, fresh water usable water than a given area cab supply. More than 70% of the world's usable water is used for agriculture. The rest is used for industrial (19%) and domestic (11%) use. The supply of fresh and usable water comes from rivers, lakes, reservoirs and groundwater.

Scientist have a different way of defining water stress and also measuring water stress. Scientist include seasonal changes, water quality and accesibility. Measuring the amount of freshwater especially groundwater is very imprecise.

What is the cause of water scarity?

There are two cataogories that water scarity can be divided in: physical scarcity and economical scarcity:

Physical scarcity

Physical scarcity is a shortage of water caused by local ecological conditions

Economic scarcity

Economic scarcity happens when there is a shortage of water due to a lack of water infrastructure to transport the water.

Many time these two types of water scarcity come together and cause water stress. A good example of both the scarcities together is a area with barely any rainfalls as well as no capacity to store the water or to sanitize the water and resulting in water stress. Most of the time humans are the main cause of water scarcity and water stress. Almost always physical scarcity is not the main cause of water stress. It is caused by political and financial wherewithal scarcity to put into water infrastructure to provide all people of clean water. Eventhough some countries have a good infrastructure however, the rapid population growth causes water stress.

Climate change and water stress

Climate change is also affecting water stress. UN experts predict for every 1 degrees celsius increase in the global temperature there will be a 20% drop in renewable water sources. Climate change will increase the number of areaus with water stress and heighten the amount of water stress in areas that already have water stress. Due to climate change many regions are expected to have more extreme and longer droughts and more extreme rainfall as well. Rainfall and droughts will be more irregular and out of balance. Because the drought as well as the rainfall will become more extreme and out of balance, agriculture will become more of a challenge. Due to the rising temperature, water will evaporate more quickly from the soil making farming much more of a challenge. A more erattic climate will bring more flood that can ruin crops easily and overwhelm storage systems. Eventhough we have the pairs agreement to prevent the global temperature to go increase higher than 1,5 degrees celsius, the most devastating climate change effect will not be prevented.