| HotSpots H2O: New Report Urges Policymakers to ‘Wake Up to the Looming Water Crisis’
The world is behind schedule to achieve global water and sanitation goals, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization.
In order to secure universal access to clean water by 2030—the target date for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals—the current rate of progress would need to quadruple, the report found. Climate change is only making the situation more dire, as warming temperatures continue to worsen droughts, floods, and other water-related hazards. A comprehensive UN climate report released in August found that if atmospheric warming reaches 2 degrees Celsius, an additional 8 percent of the world’s population would be exposed to water scarcity. By 2050, more than 5 billion people are expected to have inadequate access to water at least one month per year, up from 3.6 billion in 2018. | 