Climate: Day Zero signals global water crisis

Cape Town, South Africa’s coastal city of 4 million people, will be the world’s first modern city to run out of water. (”When the taps run dry,” Time magazine, 2/19).

After three years of unprecedented drought, April 22 will become Day Zero. And climate models show the city faces continued warming and a drier future.

Cape Town is not alone. Mexico City residents are experiencing cuts to their water source and millions of Brazilians have endured rationing because of prolonged droughts. San Paulo was down to less than 20 days supply in 2015.

The Water Resources Institute, a Washington-based research organization, reports that more than a billion people currently live in water-scarce regions and as many a 3.5 billion (nearly half the world’s population) could experience water scarcity by 2025.

As residents of a region with abundant water resources, we are reminded both how fortunate we are and how necessary it will be to protect those gifts going forward.

This story was originally published March 1, 2018 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Climate: Day Zero signals global water crisis."