Water covers 41 per cent of the Earth’s surface. However, only 3 per cent is freshwater and 68.7 per cent of this is frozen in polar ice caps and glaciers; 30.1 per cent is located in deep aquifers and 0.9 per cent in other conditions. Thus, only 0.3 per cent is surface water, of which 87 per cent is in lakes and dams, 11 per cent in wetlands and 2 per cent in rivers (UN Water 2015). This freshwater is shared among a growing population, where the number of people tripled during the last century, but water use increased six fold. Further, 41 per cent of the Earth’s surface belongs to drylands, where 30 per cent of the population lives. These water-scarce regions produce half of the livestock worldwide and grow 44 per cent of the global food supply.
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