Water is something that is taken for granted by people who live in a world where water pours out when you turn on the faucet.
But for some, a gourd of clean drinking water may be as desperate as life.
2 billion people.
That’s about a quarter of the world’s population.
It is said that so many people are suffering from extreme water shortages, such as using water contaminated with feces as drinking water.
According to a report published by the United Nations on the occasion of World Water Day today, 1.4 million people die from contaminated water every year.
Poor countries without proper water supply facilities suffer from such extreme water shortages, but it is not just a story of distant countries.
The UN classified Korea as a ‘water stress country’ in 2019.
It is interpreted as the country is not large and the population density is high, but the rainfall is concentrated in the summer, and the available water is limited.
According to the ‘OECD Environmental Prospect Report’, 40% of the country’s population will be in a serious water shortage by 2050.
Without going until 2050, Jeollanam-do right now is suffering from severe drinking water shortages due to the worst drought.
A problem that can only be considered as a story from a distant country is becoming a reality.
Bogil-do, Jeollanam-do has a super strong water system called ‘water supply for 2 days, water cut for 6 days’.
In today’s report, the United Nations proposes that by 2030, the world’s population needs to triple its investment in water in order to have access to safe drinking water.
There are many things we can do in life.
The total amount of water used for production, use, and disposal is called the ‘water footprint’.
It’s about consuming products with a small ‘water footprint’.
Tomatoes require about 180 liters of water to produce the same 1 kg, but 1 kg of beef requires 15,500 liters.
If you don’t eat 400g of beef, you can save more water than not showering for 6 months.
The more processed, the more water is needed, so the coffee that is imported by growing coffee trees, picking and roasting beans, and taking them on airplanes also has a high water footprint.
However, it is not easy to give up coffee and meat at once.
However, how about taking a small but big action to enjoy strong barley tea instead of coffee and a vegetarian diet instead of meat for about one day a week?
YTN Bori Yoon ([email protected])
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