Water is life, and it too is being threatened by global warming. The threat to water is much more than droughts and flooding, although it includes those problems also. The threat to water also means rising temperatures in the oceans, which ruins ecosystems and alters the sustainable living possibilities for millions of people in South American and the Caribbean. The threat to water also means worrying about whether there will be clean sources of water for communities today, and for future generations. Water is already surpassing oil as the world’s most precious resource, and increasing water scarcity creates the possibility that future conflicts and wars will be waged over water.
The video below from the Climate Reality Project focuses on climate change and its impact on water issues in South America, but understand that climate change and water issues are happening all over the world. The predictability and the availability of water, in all its forms, is changing. This is because of global warming and the cost of carbon pollution. We are paying the cost of carbon now.
Coral reefs provide $4 billion annually to the Caribbean. Without action, the reefs are projected to disappear by 2060. (Tweet this Stat!)
Tens of millions of South Americans rely on the disappearing Andean glaciers for water. (Tweet this Stat!)
About the Author
