Population and economic growth across Asia and the rest of the developing world is a major factor driving fresh-water scarcity. The earth’s human population is predicted to rise from 6 billion to about 9 billion by 2050. Feeding them will mean more irrigation for crops.
Increasing attention is also being paid to the global “virtual water” trade. It appears in food or other products that require water to produce, products that are then exported to another nation. The US may consume even more water -- virtual water -- by importing goods that require lots of water to make. At the same time, the US exports virtual water through goods it sells abroad.
Image: Auto-rickshaws pass in front of a billboard promoting packaged drinking water brand Bisleri in Chennai. | Photograph: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images
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