Water-the most probable cause for third world war

Sonal Garg

MBA (IT) IV Semester

Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad

Thomas Fuller rightly said ‘We never know the worth of water till the well is dry’ Water is the most extraordinary substance. Water actually enabled life to be used as a building material. Do you know what the beauty of a desert is? The beauty is that somewhere there hides a well.

Water covers 73% o our planet. However, 97.5% of this is actually ocean. The fresh water represents a mere 2.5% of the available. Of this also almost three fourth is trapped in the form of snow and ice. So how much are we left with? We are left with a minimal amount of 0.65% of surface water for use. Imagine such a limited amount of supply. The demand is as usual ever increasing. We are more than a 6 billion inhabitants on this planet. Of this 6 billion almost 12 million people that is 20% of the global population  spread across 40 countries does not have access to safe drinking water.

The demand for clean water caused by surging population growth, environment abuse and poor water management is becoming a dangerous reason of friction in many parts of the world. The problem isn’t however confined to a particular region. Scientists at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have identified water crisis as the second most worrying problem after global warming. According to PWC consultancy just as war over fire sparked conflict among early pre-historic tribes war over water may result from the current tensions in the next few years. UN figures suggest that there are around 300 potential conflicts around the world over water arising from squabbles either over river borders or utilizing water from shared lakes and rivers. Friction between Lebanon and Israel is upon fresh water. Turkey’s plan to build a dam across the water of Tigris and Euphrates was strongly opposed by Syria and Iraq. The Iraq –Iran dispute over the Shatt-al-Arab waterway and of course the row over the use of water from the Nile involving Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia.

Another dimension to this complete issue is that since we have almost exhausted our share of valuable natural resources we need to explore those under the sea and ocean to sustain. Thus, this eventually leads to a quest for more resources that are trapped under water. But why do we often forget that water cycle and the life cycle are so much interconnected? The previous two wars may have been fought for power and land but this entire crisis for water could become the cause for a third one. Today when most of the nations have become nuclear powers one could only imagine the amount of destruction this war could cause. Just imagine a situation of war in which countries are fighting over every drop of water and each drop of water is being paid for by a drop of blood.

Painting a positive picture however, there are other issues like those of terrorism, poverty and probably countries losing onto their hard earned cash that could arise much serious world problems. Every now and then there is a bomb attack at common places. The very certainty of life has lost its meaning. What is going to happen the very next moment is just so unpredictable. We are fighting over international boundaries, arms, nuclear weapons and so on. The race for power and probably to become the centre of all critical activities is pushing nations in this lust for power. There are millions of children who have to work in order to earn two loaves of bread. School and education is a distant dream for them. The increasing poor-rich gap is by far making the poor poorer. It is worth pondering whether nations are going to fight over water crisis. In gulf most of the nations use saline sea water to be purified and be consumed for drinking purposes. At a time when nations across the globe are going bankrupt economic aid is probably what they require the most. The ripple effect is taking nations across the globe in its arms of economic downturn. Every other day people are losing what they have, their jobs, and their loved ones. Countries are in a state of uncertainty. Misery is hitting people across the globe.

However, no matter what water the hub of life is slowly becoming unavailable for most of us. We cannot imagine the catastrophic situation that its absence would create. Neither to drink nor any crops to grow, in short this race for growth would definitely come to a standstill. In the absence of sanitation diseases and epidemics will proliferate. Eventually this beautiful world of ours would become a mere desert rampant with disease. It is time for a collective collaborative effort to be taken up people around the world. Rather than playing a blame game lets conserve and put to judicial use what we have today.

“ Each drop of water saved today could  be a thousand lives saved tomorrow ”.