The February issue of Scientific American offers a series "Tapped Out?" on our waning water supply and how to deal with it. Features articles, statistics, and subtopics.
Articles include:
Introduction: Safeguarding Our Water
"In the following pages, Peter H. Gleick of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security describes the magnitude of the world's pressing water problems in terms of skyrocketing usage and ominous limits to the known supplies. Sandra Postel of the Global Water Policy Project then narrows the discussion to irrigation, the single largest use for freshwater, and to the prospects for improving this vital agricultural technology. Lest anyone think that other options for staving off water shortages are lacking, we also consider a quartet of other approaches, including desalination, "bag and drag" transport, recycling and increased plumbing efficiency. A water crisis may be in the cards for some, but not if we act quickly to develop all the solutions at our disposal."
Making every drop count
"We drink it, we generate electricity with it, we soak our crops with it. And we're stretching our supplies to the breaking point. Will we have enough clean water to satisfy all the world's needs?"
Growing more food with less water
"If the world hopes to feed its burgeoning population, irrigation must become less wasteful and more widespread."
How we can do it
"A water-covered planet facing a water crisis seems paradoxical. And yet that is exactly the reality on planet Earth, where 97 percent of the water is too salty to quench human thirst or to irrigate crops."
From Scientific American