65% of China is running out of water
China is one of the world’s largest water-using nations and is considered by the UN as one of the 13 countries with serious shortage of water.
China is running out of water. People in cities like Shanghai already search for water by drilling for groundwater themselves.
Throughout the city you see water hoses hanging at private houses providing groundwater because the supply of water from the tap is already for months heavily rationed by the government.
Already, water is scarce for two-thirds of China’s 660 cities and as China’s economy expands, so will its demand for water.
China’s reserves
The country draws heavily on groundwater. The reserves are vein deplete at an alarming rate in some regions and are badly pollute in many others. The water crisis is not unique to China. The regions Brazil to California are also facing serious problems because of water shortages.
Groundwater
Groundwater levels of the arid North China Plain have dropped as fast as 1 metro a year between 1974 and 2000, forcing people to dig hundreds of metros to access fresh water.
Consumption in the highly developed coastal provinces, and big cities as Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin, are largely relying on water resources in the water scarce northern provinces. These cities are already large importers of net virtual water at the expense of water resources depletion in other water scarce provinces.
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