22 next March is the date laid down by the UN as World Water Day. Humanity does not have many reasons to celebrate before the sorry picture described in this article. The situation described is getting worse on disability and irrationality in policy on the protection of the natural environment, among which are the water sources and waterways and the management of sanitation in many countries of the world. In addition, international conflicts over water use will not be adequately addressed by the absence of an international body with sufficient authority that enables your solution. Conflicts over water tend to get worse with desertification intensified by climate change resulting from global warming. In addition, daily, rivers, streams, and aquifers sheets are contaminated by sewage systems badly treated by the use of pesticides of crops, the toxic waste disposal industries. Every day the drought reaches regions where did not happen before, reaching last twice as long than in past decades as is currently taking place in Brazil.

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WATER ISSUE IN THE WORLD AND ITS IMMENSE CHALLENGES
Fernando Alcoforado *
Worldwide, there is a widely held view that water is an inexhaustible resource. It is,
however, huge mistake because water resources, although renewable, are limited.
Importantly, 70% of the water that make up the Earth, only 2.5% is fresh. Of these
2.5%, about 24 million km3 (or 70%) are in the form of ice (mountainous areas,
Antarctic and Arctic), 30% are stored underground (groundwater, icy soils and other)
representing 97% all fresh water available for human use. Of all the fresh water
available, only 0.4% are in lakes, rivers, or be available for people to use. 70% of the
fresh water is used for irrigation, 22% in industry and only 8% in the household [See
Article A escassez de água agrava os riscos de guerras no mundo, dizem os
especialistas que participam do Fórum Mundial da Água, em Marselha, na França
(Water scarcity increases the risks of wars in the world, say experts participating in the
World Water Forum in Marseille in France) available on the website
<http://www.vocesabia.net/saude/escassez-de-agua-na-terra-vai-gerar-conflitos/>].
In this article, it is reported that 800 million people lack access to safe drinking water
around the world, 2.5 billion lack basic sanitation, between 3 billion and 4 billion
people, which corresponds to half the world's population, lack access water permanently
using every day, a dubious quality water, 11% of the world population still share with
animals water in river beds and, according to WHO (World Health Organization), seven
people die per minute in the world by drinking stagnant water and more than 1 billion
people still defecate in the open. The OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development) reports that global demand will increase 55% by 2050. It is expected
that this year, 2.3 billion additional people - more than 40% of the population - will not
have access to water if appropriate measures are not taken. IBGE (2004) report that in
Brazil there are more than 45 million people without access to safe drinking water and
more than 90 million without access to sewerage.
Humanity today uses 50% of the planet's fresh water. In 40 years will use 80%. The
geographical distribution of freshwater is uneven. Currently 1/3 of the world population
lives in regions where water is scarce. The use of water unfit for consumption accounts
for 60% of patients on the planet. Half of the world's rivers are contaminated by sewage,
pesticides and industrial waste. UN report on the use of water confirms that without
measures against waste and for sustainable consumption, access to clean water and
sanitation will be further reduced [See the article Bilhões sofrerão com falta de água e
saneamento, diz relatório da ONU (Billions suffer from lack of water and sanitation,
says report UN) on the website
<http://sosriosdobrasil.blogspot.com.br/2009/03/bilhoes-sofrerao-com-falta-de-agua-
e.html>]. This UN report estimates that 5 billion people will suffer the lack of basic
sanitation by 2030.
UNICEF reports that every 15 seconds a child dies from diseases related to lack of clean
water, sanitation and hygiene conditions in the world. Every year, 3.5 million people die
in the world for problems related to inadequate supply of water, poor sanitation and lack
of hygiene policies, according to representatives of 28 other UN agencies, which are
part of the UN-Water. In the Report on the Development of Water Resources, document
that the UN-Water disclose every three years, the researchers point out that almost 10%
of cases registered around the world could be prevented if governments invest more in
access to water, measures hygiene and sanitation. Diarrheal diseases could be virtually

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eliminated if there was this effort, especially in developing countries. This type of
disease, usually related to drinking contaminated water kills 1.5 million people
annually. Several factors influence the occurrence of diarrhea, such as the availability of
drinking water, food poisoning, inadequate hygiene and cleaning water tanks [See
Article Falta de água de qualidade mata uma criança a cada 15 segundos no mundo,
revela Unicef (Quality Lack of water kills a child every 15 seconds in the world,
UNICEF reveals) available website <http://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/noticia/2013-03-
22/falta-de-agua-de-qualidade-mata-uma-crianca-cada-15-segundos-no-mundo-revela-
unicef>].
Despite the amount of water available in the world is constant, demand, however, is
increasing due to population growth and agricultural production, creating a climate of
uncertainty and the possibility of internal conflicts in several countries and
international. The OECD says that conflicts usually occur within the same country as
the population has different needs regarding the use of water (for agriculture or
consumption, for example) and this creates disputes [See Article A escassez de água
agrava os riscos de guerras no mundo, dizem os especialistas que participam do Fórum
Mundial da Água, em Marselha, na França (Water scarcity increasing the threat of
wars in the world, say experts participating in the World Water Forum in Marseille,
France) available on the website <http://www.vocesabia.net/saude/escassez-de-agua-
na-terra- will-generate conflicts />].
In 2003, UNESCO published a report identifying watersheds with the greatest potential
to generate international conflicts. Among the areas cited by UNESCO are the La Plata
basin, which can lead to disputes between Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and
Brazil, the construction of hydroelectric dams on the Madeira River in Brazil which is
challenged by the Bolivian government claiming environmental impacts, the basin Nile
involving nine countries in Africa (Egypt, Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Ethiopia), the Golan Heights posing in
confrontation Israel and Syria in the struggle for sources of the Jordan River, the two
aquifers that supply Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories which have declined
and put in confrontation these three states and the waters of the rivers that cross Turkey,
Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan [See Article Escassez de água pode levar a conflitos
(Water scarcity can lead to conflict) available on the website
<http://www.univesp.ensinosuperior.sp.gov.br/preunivesp/1343/escassez-de-gua-pode-
levar-a-conflitos.html>]. United States and Mexico are in conflict over water of the
Colorado River, China and India by the Brahmaputra River, Botswana, Angola and
Namibia by the Okavango River and Bangladesh and India by the Ganges River.
New report released by the United Nations on 20/03/2015 states that if nothing is done,
water reserves in the world can shrink 40% by 2030 still pointing that 748 million
people worldwide have no access to sources of drinking water. Another conclusion is
that Brazil is among the countries that registered environmental stress after changing the
natural course of rivers. According to the report, 20% of the world's aquifers are already
exploited excessively, which can lead to serious consequences such as soil erosion and
saltwater intrusion in these reservoirs. Scientists also predict that in 2050, agriculture
and the food industry will need to increase by 400% their demand for water to increase
production.
22 next March is the date laid down by the UN as World Water Day. Humanity does not
have many reasons to celebrate before the sorry picture described lines behind. The

3. 3
situation described is getting worse on disability and irrationality in policy on the
protection of the natural environment, among which are the water sources and
waterways and the management of sanitation in many countries of the world. In
addition, international conflicts over water use will not be adequately addressed by the
absence of an international body with sufficient authority that enables your solution.
Conflicts over water tend to get worse with desertification intensified by climate change
resulting from global warming. In addition, daily, rivers, streams, and aquifers sheets
are contaminated by sewage systems badly treated by the use of pesticides of crops, the
toxic waste disposal industries. Every day the drought reaches regions where did not
happen before, reaching last twice as long than in past decades as is currently taking
place in Brazil.
*Fernando Alcoforado , member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor of Territorial
Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, a university professor and
consultant in strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is
the author of Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova
(Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São
Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado.
Universidade de Barcelona, http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e
Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX
e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of
the Economic and Social Development-The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Muller
Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe
Planetária (P&A Gráfica e Editora, Salvador, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e
combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011)
and Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012),
among others.