Thirsty Yet?

E: The Environmental Magazine, May, 1999 by M.B.

The one billion people lacking access to clean water today will not be suffering alone in the years ahead (see "Water, Water Everywhere," cover story, September/October 1998). The Johns Hopkins University School of Health has issued a report estimating 2.8 billion of the world's projected eight billion people will encounter water shortages by the year 2025. A country's ability to conserve water, decrease pollution, limit population and effectively manage supply and demand is going to increasingly affect the availability and quality of the world's water, the report concludes. Author Don Hinrichsen, a consultant with the United Nations Population Fund, says, "In many developing countries,

lack of water could cap future improvements in the quality of life. Meanwhile, there is no more freshwater on Earth than there was 2,000 years ago, when population was three percent of its current size." CONTACT: Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, MD 21202-4012/ (410)659-6266.