The world probably has less clean water than we thought

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-05-23 19:00

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Current estimates of the amount of water available to people around the world are based solely on the amount of water there is, and not whether that water is of a high enough quality to use, according to Dutch researchers. That means we've underestimated the extent of global water scarcity, they say, as including water quality in estimates suggests 55% of the global population doesn't have access to enough clean water for at least one month per year, rather than the 47% suggested if only water quantity is taken into account. They also used computer simulations to estimate water scarcity at the end of this century, and say it's likely to affect between 56 and 66% of the population by then, with sub-Saharan Africans the hardest hit. Measures to cut our water use and stop polluting our water sources could help curb the effects of water scarcity on people and the environment in the future, they conclude.