[Afghanistan] - Quarter of world's population dealing with extreme annual water stress

INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
New data from the World Resources Institute (WRI) reveals a quarter of the world&s population is currently exposed to extremely high annual
water stress.The WRI&s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas found 25 countries are currently suffering from extreme water stress every year & with
Bahrain, Cyprus, Kuwait, Lebanon and Oman the worst affected.Afghanistan meanwhile is ranked at number 40 out of 164 countries.In addition,
an even higher proportion is exposed to water stress at least some of the time.Currently, half of the world&s population endure extremely
high water stress at least one month of the year, a number the WRI predicts will rise to 60% by 2050.By then an additional one billion
people are expected to have to live with extreme water stress, even if global temperature rises are limited to between 1.3C and 2.4C by
2100.&People like to think about climate change as the biggest existential threat to humanity,& Crystal Davis, global director of WRI&s
Food, Land and Water Program told Sky News.&Water is essential to nearly every crisis we face, because when we don&t have enough water, we
don&t produce enough food or energy.&We can&t keep people healthy, wildfires intensify, people migrate, conflict ensues, and equality
worsens,& she said.&If a country is using 100% of its available supply, usually you&re going to start to see a few bad things happen,& says
Charles Iceland, director of Freshwater Initiatives at the WRI.&Groundwater levels drop, rivers dry up, lakes dry up, wetlands dry up and
we&re seeing that across places in the Middle East, like Iraq and Iran.&Currently, 60% of the world&s irrigated agriculture is grown in
areas with extreme water stress, meaning crops are at a heightened risk of failing in periods of dry weather.The worst affected region is
North Africa and the Middle East, where 83% of the population is currently exposed to extremely high water stress
By 2050 that figure is expected to rise to 100% of the population.South Asia is the second worst affected region, with 74% of the population
there exposed to extremely high water stress.The 25 counties currently experiencing extreme water stress annually are (in
order):Bahrain Cyprus Kuwait Lebanon Oman Qatar United Arab Emirates Saudi Arabia Israel Egypt Libya Yemen Botswana Iran Jordan Chile San
Marino Belgium Greece Tunisia Namibia South Africa Iraq India SyriaThe post Quarter of world&s population facing extreme annual water stress
first appeared on Ariana News.