As we commemorate World Water Day on March 22, 2013, it is sobering that NASA’s Curiosity rover found convincing evidence that at one time Mars, like Earth today, was awash with water.
Curiosity’s trips have allowed scientists to peer into the past. Roughly three billion years ago Mars’ environment changed, the planet reportedly cooled and water froze or evaporated into space, leaving Mars desolate, cold and dry.
Today, the converse of that scenario – heat, brought on by a changing climate – is happening, and a drier, hotter and more parched Earth could well be our future unless we fundamentally change the way in which we manage the planet’s most precious resource: water.
The UN, through their site UNWater.org call the world is currently experiencing a water crisis. Imagine, about one in seven people do not have access to clean water. Based on the fact that 85 percent of the earth's population living in dry areas. As many as 783 million people lack access to clean water and nearly 2.5 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation. In addition, as many as 6-8 million people die each year from the consequences of disasters and water-related diseases.
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| Reflections on World Water Day 2013: A Water-Rich Africa. (Picture from: http://blogs.worldbank.org/) |
For instance, in Assam, Kutcha, India, most of its citizens often consume dirty water from contaminated wells variety of algae and ferns. Wells are also contaminated by amphibians and insects, such as spiders and mosquitoes, which live and nest in it.
Apparently, well made most citizens do not have a concrete base that is easily contaminated by surrounding areas that are already polluted. As a result, residents in Assam often contracted various diseases related to water and sanitation, such as diarrhea and skin diseases.
Working Group on Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation Site exposing water shortages also hit a rich country. WWF, in a report entitled Rich Countries, Poor Water, describes the water crisis is becoming a global issue also occurred in some developed countries, such as Australia, Spain, Japan, England, and America.
Aside from a fairly extreme climate change, it is driven by the loss of wetlands that serve as water storage. It is usually closely related to the more rapid development of infrastructure thus eliminating the watershed.
According to the World Health Organization in 2008, the water crisis made more than 3.4 million people die each year due to disease related to water and sanitation. In addition, the disaster caused losses due to reduced income because it must pay for the family to go to the doctor because of diseases related to water and sanitation projects.
The survey of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) shows the water crisis makes 443 million school days are lost each year. It happened because the number of students affected by the disease, such as diarrhea, vomiting, and skin diseases.
The same thing also happened in Indonesia where the clean water crisis happening not only in Jakarta. Many other cities in Indonesia experienced the same conditions. This condition like the opaque portrait that has own record in commemorating World Water Day which falls every year on March 22, where only 23 percent of the urban population in Indonesia have access to piped water.
Looking ahead, we can do much to galvanize action in the water sector by strengthening international collaboration, the theme of World Water Day 2013. Water is the basis of life. Let’s use it wisely. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | UNWATER | WORLD BANK | UNTUNG WIDYANTO | KORAN TEMPO 4177]
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