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How to Solve the Global Water Crisis
Article

How to Solve the Global Water Crisis

The Real Challenges Are Not Technical, but Political


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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Eye Opening
  • Overview

Recommendation

The World Wide Fund for Nature predicts that two-thirds of the global population could suffer from water shortages by 2025. Water on Earth – although it’s plentiful – it is not always potable or readily available where needed. As Scott Moore argues in a Foreign Affairs snapshot, water scarcity is less of a practical problem than a political and financial one. He implores wealthy states to enact appropriate policies and make the necessary investments to prevent water scarcity from becoming a threat to global security. If you’re concerned about world stability, getAbstract suggests adding this article to your reading pile.

Take-Aways

  • Water scarcity ranks among the top global challenges and increasingly contributes to political instability in fragile states.
  • Uneven water distribution across populated areas, climate change and heavy water pollution are causing local water shortages around the world. 
  • Better management of existing water sources, though cost-intensive, can solve much of the water shortage crisis.

About the Author

Scott Moore is a Senior Fellow at the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of the forthcoming book Subnational Hydropolitics.