Morocco will experience a water shortage of serious intensity in less than 20 years, according to the projections of a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The kingdom will be part of about forty countries in the world. Unprecedentedly, most African countries will not have to face this problem.
Climate change has a serious impact on water resources, the lack of rain, causing drought, the drying up of dams, but the high demand for water due to urbanization, and waste, particularly domestic but also in inappropriate crops that consume a lot of water in already arid regions, contribute highly to the threat to the water security of the countries.
“Some territories are already experiencing serious water shortage problems,” says the German portal Statista, which offers statistics on several subjects.
“Endowed with a naturally arid or semi-arid climate, North Africa and the Middle East have the highest levels of water stress and are already bearing the full brunt of the effects of climate change”, continues the same source.
According to data from the Ecological Threats Register dating from 2020, the North African region and the Mediterranean in general, already appeared in the projections of the geographical areas most exposed to high and extreme levels of water shortages.
The case of Algeria demonstrates that the effects of the lack of water are already being strongly felt. The country has moved to the rationalization of water which can only be consumed at certain times of the day and the country often resorts to unexpected water cuts.
For 2040, i.e. in less than 20 years, data from the World Resources Institute with the Economist Intelligence Unit, ranks Morocco in the regions most affected by water scarcity.
According to the graph which projects the ratio between water withdrawals and available water resources (water stress) in 2040, Morocco is classified in the “extremely high” risk zone with a consumption of more than 80% of its water resources.
Algeria, Tunisia and Libya are also threatened. And these countries are the only ones on the African continent to suffer this threat.
Countries such as Eritrea, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia are classified in the “high” risk zone with water consumption comprising 40 and 80% of their resources. The rest of the African countries present low risks and in their majority “low to medium” estimated between 10-19%.
According to the report of the Economist Intelligence Unit, this situation of severe water shortages expected by 2040 that Morocco will have to undergo, is the result of “galloping urbanization, population growth, climate change and the economic development” that put pressure on water supply systems.
Apart from the region of North Africa, Europe is no exception. Greece, Spain and also, further north, Belgium, are the States in which the population is most exposed to this environmental risk, with a consumption of 40 to 80% of the renewable water resources at their disposal.
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