Importing goods, exporting drought?

Water is fundamental for human life. Naturally there is enormous variability in its availability and societies where water is scarce have learned to adapt to life with low river flows and scarcity of rainfall. However, a series of changes threaten the equilibrium that has existed, bringing the spectre of water scarcity to many places. In an interconnected and globalised world, it is also the case that some places increasingly suffer from low water supplies for indigenous people on account of agricultural and manufacturing activities serving people in distant societies, spatially removed from the sites where water insecurity is developing.

In this 21st Century Challenge, we take a look at the causes of water insecurity and scarcity and the consequences these bring, as well as examine the idea of virtual water and the true scale of our water consumption. Water futures are also considered.

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