Authors: Sierra Rayne, Kaya Forest
Supplies of per capita renewable internal freshwater resources are declining at alarming rates around the globe, necessitating efforts to better manage population growth and the use and distribution of freshwater. All major geographic regions saw substantial reductions in per capita renewable internal freshwater supplies between 1962 and 2011. Over this period, the global per capita freshwater stock declined by 54%, with decreases of 75% in Sub-Saharan Africa, 71% in the Middle East and North Africa, 64% in South Asia, 61% in Latin America and the Caribbean, 52% in East Asia and the Pacific, and 41% in North America. At current rates of depletion, global per capita renewable internal freshwater resources are projected to decline by 65% compared to 1962 values before stabilizing, having regional variation ranging from 60% in East Asia and the Pacific to 86% of the Middle East and North Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa is predicted to reach a negative per capita renewable internal freshwater balance by the year 2120. Per capita renewable internal freshwater resources are declining more rapidly in low income countries than their middle and high income counterparts. All countries except Hungary and Bulgaria experienced declines in their per capita renewable internal freshwater supply between 1962 and 2011. Most countries (55%) experienced a decline of between 60% to 80% in per capita renewable internal freshwater resources over this period. The majority of nations are projected to maintain positive per capita renewable internal freshwater balances under steady-state conditions, although overall declines of between 80% to almost 100% from 1962 levels are dominant (~52% of all countries). A group of 28 nations is projected to reach zero per capita internal freshwater resources within the near future. African countries dominate the list of nations projected to reach zero per capita internal freshwater resources, comprising 16 of the 28 countries - of which six are landlocked. A further group of 25 nations have data records that are too short, and recent population dynamics that are generally too complex, for reliable trend extrapolation. Close attention will need to be paid to the per capita renewable internal freshwater resource trends for these countries over the coming decades in order to obtain a better understanding of their resource depletion rates.
Comments: 8 Pages.
Download: PDF
[v1] 2013-01-13 13:57:22
Unique-IP document downloads: 491 times
Vixra.org is a pre-print repository rather than a journal. Articles hosted may not yet have been verified by peer-review and should be treated as preliminary. In particular, anything that appears to include financial or legal advice or proposed medical treatments should be treated with due caution. Vixra.org will not be responsible for any consequences of actions that result from any form of use of any documents on this website.
Add your own feedback and questions here:
You are equally welcome to be positive or negative about any paper but please be polite. If you are being critical you must mention at least one specific error, otherwise your comment will be deleted as unhelpful.