Era of global water bankruptcy' is here, UN report says

"All life depends on water but the report found many societies had long been using water faster than it could be replenished annually in rivers and soils, as well as over-exploiting or destroying long-term stores of water in aquifers and wetlands. This had led to water bankruptcy, the report said, with many human water systems past the point at which they could be restored to former levels."

"The climate crisis was exacerbating the problem by melting glaciers, which store water, and causing whiplashes between extremely dry and wet weather. Prof Kaveh Madani, who led the report, said while not every basin and country was water bankrupt, the world was interconnected by trade and migration, and enough critical systems had crossed this threshold to fundamentally alter global water risk."

"The result was a world in which 75% of people lived in countries classified as water-insecure or critically water-insecure and 2 billion people lived on ground that is sinking as groundwater aquifers collapse. Conflicts over water had risen sharply since 2010, the report said, while major rivers, such as the Colorado, in the US, and the Murray-Darling system, in Australia, were failing to reach the sea, and day zero emergencies when cities run out of water, such as in Chennai, India were escalating."

Human societies have been using water faster than annual replenishment in rivers and soils and have over-exploited or destroyed long-term stores in aquifers and wetlands. Many human water systems are past the point at which they can be restored to former levels, creating widespread water bankruptcy. Melting glaciers and increased variability between extremely dry and wet weather are exacerbating shortages. Global trade and migration link basins and spread risk beyond individual countries. Seventy-five percent of people live in water-insecure or critically water-insecure countries, two billion people live on sinking ground from aquifer collapse, and conflicts and city-level day-zero emergencies are escalating.

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