Water

• Only 2.5% of all water on Earth is freshwater — the rest (97.5%) is salty ocean water.
• Most freshwater is locked away in glaciers/ice (68.7%) and groundwater (30%) — only 1.3% is in rivers, lakes, soil and the air, i.e. the water we can actually reach easily.
• We get our water from three main sources: lakes & rivers, aquifers (groundwater), and reservoirs — plus desalination and rainwater harvesting.
• Globally, 70% of water goes to agriculture, 20% to industry, 10% to domestic use — but this split flips in rich countries (MEDCs use more for industry) versus poor countries (LEDCs use more for farming).
• Global water demand has quadrupled since 1934, driven by population growth, rising living standards, and industrialisation.
• Water stress = below 1700 m³ per person/year. Water scarcity = below 1000 m³ per person/year.
• Scarcity comes in two flavours: physical (there just isn't enough water there) and economic (the water exists, but people can't afford to access it).
• Water shortages cause disease, conflict, lost schooling, food shortages, and slower development — the impacts ripple through everything.
• Solutions range from small-scale appropriate technology (wells, drip irrigation) in LEDCs to huge engineering projects like Spain's Tagus–Segura transfer in MEDCs.

🌍Why water feels abundant but actually isn't

Here's the thing that trips people up: Earth is called the "blue planet," 71% of its surface is water, and yet water shortage is one of the biggest global issues of our time. How does that make sense? The answer is that almost none of that water is drinkable or usable.

Think of it like being handed a giant swimming pool full of water but told you can only scoop out one small cup — and even that cup is mostly frozen solid or buried underground. That's essentially the situation with global water.

So of that already-tiny 2.5% freshwater slice, most is either frozen in glaciers or hidden underground as groundwater. The water in rivers, lakes and the air — the stuff we actually see, drink, and irrigate crops with most easily — is a sliver of a sliver: about 1.3% of freshwater, which works out to roughly 0.03% of all water on Earth.

🚰Where humans actually get their water from

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