The media coverage on climate change in Canada has focused almost exclusively on greenhouse-gas emissions, as have most politicians and commentators. While we do not want to underestimate the serious nature of these emissions, we wish to bring attention to another important cause of global warming: the global water crisis. Read more here
The world is running out of water. Humans are polluting, depleting and diverting its finite freshwater supplies so quickly, we are creating massive new deserts and generating global warming from below.
In many parts of the world, surface waters are too polluted for human use. Ninety per cent of waste water in the Third World is discharged untreated. Eighty per cent of China's and 75 per cent of India's surface waters are too polluted for drinking, fishing or even bathing.
Decreasing levels on the Great Lakes are projected to cost billions of dollars in lost shipping.
Dwindling inflows have aggravated the increasing pollution of many lakes with increasing nutrients from agricultural and urban sources, causing unprecedented nuisance blooms of algae.
Read more here
More from World Water Day 2007
This year's theme, 'Coping with Water Scarcity,' highlights the increasing significance of water scarcity worldwide and the need for increased integration and cooperation to ensure sustainable, efficient and equitable management of scarce water resources. Check for events in your area.