Over the past two decades, global water consumption has increased by 25%, according to the new World Bank report Global Water Monitoring Report. Experts note the accelerated depletion of water resources, inefficient water use, and the growing impact of international trade in goods with a high 'water footprint'.
The Continental Drying report notes that the world is rapidly losing accessible freshwater resources. The research is based on the largest data set in the history of observations, significantly contributed by scientists from the University of Twente (Netherlands).
New data has allowed for the precise identification of regions with rational water use and areas where consumption remains excessive. The authors pay particular attention to global trade in products whose production requires significant volumes of water, exacerbating shortages in vulnerable regions.
Co-author of the report Rick Gogeboom stated that the highest growth in water consumption has been recorded in those parts of the world where resources were already limited and where large-scale drying processes are currently observed. According to him, water resources can be compared to a savings account: if more is consumed than replenished, depletion is inevitable.
The team from the University of Twente, which included Alexander Mialik and Han Su, developed a map of global water consumption with unprecedented resolution - 10×10 km. Such a level of detail has not been used in global-scale research before.
According to scientists' estimates, about a quarter of all water used is actually involved in the global economy through trade in goods. An example is the production of cotton products in Pakistan, where acute water shortages persist against the backdrop of exports. This, in the authors' opinion, confirms that water resources have long ceased to be an exclusively local problem.
The report also points to significant potential for reducing water consumption: eliminating inefficient losses in agriculture could reduce global water withdrawal by more than a third. This requires modern irrigation systems, rational land use, and more efficient resource management.
Despite the alarming findings, researchers emphasize that the situation is not hopeless. Detailed data allows for the precise identification of regions where intervention will yield the greatest effect.
