‘Floods expected every 20 years, says UN

The News (UK): Catastrophic floods, similar to those recently witnessed in Pakistan and Australia that are normally anticipated once a century, can now be expected every 20 years instead, warn scientists. On the other hand, recent studies show, water demand in many countries will exceed supply by an estimated 40 per cent within a single generation, with one-third of humanity having half the water required for life’s basics.

Climate change, which is one of the least attractive topics for policy makers, has emerged as a major challenge to livelihood of millions of people. There is dire need to involve reputed scientists to help countries brace for drought, flood and unsafe water problems looming on a 15 to 20 year horizon.

The anticipated crises create a fast-growing need for technologies and services to discover, manage, filter, disinfect and/or desalinate water, improve infrastructure and distribution, mitigate flood damage and reduce water consumption by within a single generation, households and industry- the biggest water user by far at 71 per cent worldwide.

“Climate change will affect all societies and ecosystems most profoundly through the medium of water but there is no other way to generalize the crises ahead. At unpredictable times, too much water will arrive in some places and too little in others,” says Zafar Adeel, Chair of UN Water, which coordinates water-related efforts of 28 United Nations organisations and agencies. He is also Director of the United Nations University’s Canadian-based Institute for Water, Environment and Health.

“Water is a local issue demanding responses tailored to specific locations. Sadly, most communities, especially in developing countries, are ill-prepared to adjust to looming new realities. Canadian expertise in water management is greatly needed.”…

The January flooding in Toowoomba, shot by Kingbob86, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license