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Graphic Truth: When it comes to freshwater, Canada is king
Water covers 71% of the Earth’s surface, but good ol’ H2O is a much more precious resource than it appears.
Less than 0.8% of Earth’s water is freshwater in lakes, rivers, or underground aquifers. And much of that already tiny fraction has been rendered unusable by pollution or is lost to poor management and inefficient agricultural practices. What’s worse, climate change and overexploitation of existing water resources mean that communities from California to Cambodia are struggling to provide safe water at an affordable price.
The good news for Canadians is that they have an absolute abundance of fresh water, more than 74,000 cubic meters of renewable water per person – enough for each to fill 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools!
It far outstrips peer economies in the G-7, as well as Brazil, Russia, and China, who along with the United States and Canada constitute the five countries with the most freshwater in absolute terms. Americans can fill a bit over two Olympic pools each, but none of their peers in Western Europe could even fill one.
But here’s the bad news: Freshwater is not easy to move, as Americans in Western states can tell you. Folks in Michigan have plenty (though, as Flint’s experience showed, not all of it is safe to drink), but keeping a green lawn and a full pool in LA is going to cost you a hefty chunk of change.
So what’s the solution? As discussed at a GZERO Live event sponsored by Suntory last week, the low-hanging fruit is agriculture. A whopping 90% of the freshwater humans use today is for irrigation farming, where much of it is lost to evaporation or seeps into the ground without nourishing crops. More efficient techniques and equipment can help farmers achieve the same yields with less water — but they will need financing and proper policy support too.A woman drinks water in El Crucero town, Nicaragua.
Hard Numbers: Water woes, COVID fatigue in Hong Kong, Ukrainians come and go, Beckham’s Instagram followers visit Kharkiv, Russian death toll
2.2 billion: Three decades since the UN declared March 22 World Water Day to raise awareness about conservation efforts and the need for access to clean water, 2.2 billion people — almost a third of the global population — lack access to safe drinking water.
71.5 million: Soccer great David Beckham is the latest celeb to weigh into the Ukraine crisis, giving access to his Instagram account, with its 71.5 million followers, to a Kharkiv-based doctor. Using Instagram stories, the doctor, a pediatric anesthesiologist, showed the harsh conditions faced by pregnant women, new moms, and newborns in the war-torn city.
320,000: More than 320,000 Ukrainian citizens living abroad — mostly men — have returned home to help fight since the fighting began, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine says. Meanwhile, some 10 million Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes, with some 3.5 million fleeing the country and another 6.5 million internally displaced by the violence.
125,000: Hong Kong will begin to ease COVID restrictions from April 1, shortening quarantine times for travelers and allowing schools to resume in-person classes. The zero-COVID policy enforced by the city — a commercial hub — has led to around 125,000 people leaving since the beginning of February.
9,861: Was it a leak? A mistake? A hack? Whatever it was, a well-connected Russian tabloid said Monday that the official death toll for Russian soldiers in Ukraine is 9,861. The webpage was swiftly taken down, but if the four-week number is true, it would surpass all US combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan combined and be the largest combat loss for the Kremlin since the decade-long Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s.Chinese dams under US scrutiny in Mekong rivalry
The Mekong Dam Monitor, part-funded by the State Department, uses data from cloud-piercing satellites to track levels of dams in China and other countries.
Indonesia's anti-graft body arrests ex-audit agency chief in bribery probe
JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has detained former commissioner of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), Rizal Djalil, for alleged bribery in relation to a potable water treatment system project.
Water cuts in Selangor to over 1m accounts as plants shut down due to contamination again
PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Yet another suspected contamination in Sungai Selangor has forced water supplier Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Air Selangor) to issue a stop-work order on its Phase 1,2,3 and Rantau Panjang water treatment plants causing unscheduled water cuts to 1,196,457 accounts in the state.
Water supply fully restored to Putrajaya, parts of Selangor after six days
KUALA LUMPUR - Water supply has been restored fully on Friday morning (Oct 9) to four Selangor districts and the federal territory of Putrajaya, water company Pengurusan Air Selangor in a statement.
Residents vent anger as water supply disruption in Malaysia's Klang Valley enters third day
PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Residents of Malaysia's Klang Valley affected by the latest water-supply disruption want the authorities to be more prepared to prevent such problems from recurring.
Four nabbed after water pollution leads to supply cut in Selangor and KL
KUALA LUMPUR • The Malaysian authorities yesterday remanded for six days four factory managers who are suspected of involvement in a water pollution case that caused the water supply to be cut for millions of people in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.