Emerging Water Shortages Threaten
Food Supplies, Regional Peace
Spreading water shortages threaten to reduce the global food supply by more than 10 percent. Left unaddressed, these shortages could lead to hunger, civil unrest, and even wars over water, reports a new book from the Worldwatch Institute.
Irrigation accounts for two thirds of global water use, but less than half that water reaches the roots of plants. \"Without increasing water productivity in irrigation, major food-producing regions will not have enough water to sustain crop production,\" said Sandra Postel, author of Pillar of Sand: Can the Irrigation Miracle Last? The book was funded by the Wallace Genetic Foundation and by the Pew Fellows Program of the Pew Charitable Trusts.
\"Some 40 percent of the world\'s food comes from irrigated cropland,\" said Postel, \"and we\'re betting on that share to increase to feed a growing population.\" But the productivity of irrigation is in jeopardy from the overpumping of......
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