Which South American country would run out of water in 2040?

Currently, around 25 countries, home to a quarter of the world’s population, They face water stress and consume almost all of their available water supply. Almost half of the world’s population lives in these conditions, that is, with water scarcity.

According to the World Resources Institute (WRI) Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas project, “Living with a high level of water stress puts life, work, food and energy security at riskas water is essential for growing crops and livestock, producing electricity, human health, promoting equitable societies and achieving global climate goals.”

The WRI, World Resources Institute, is a global, non-governmental, research organization that seeks create conditions of fairness and prosperity through the sustainable management of natural resources.

The cause of water stress is quite simple: the demand for water exceeds the quantity of available liquids because it has doubled compared to 1960. “The increase Demand for water is usually a result of population growth and activities such as irrigated agriculture, livestock, energy production and industry,” the WRI says.

In this context, the WRI makes water stress forecasts for several countries. One of them supports him a country in Latin America will have serious difficulties in water supply in the not too distant future.

Which South American country would run out of water in 2040?

If a country is faced with”extreme water stress” means you use at least 80% of the available supply, while if you use 40% of the available supply you are in the “high water stress” category.

Currently, according to the WRI, the five countries with the greatest water stress are Bahrain, Cyprus, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman and Qatar.

But the forecasts of this non-profit organization for 2040 indicate that among the 33 countries that will have the greatest water stress there will be a South American country for the first time.

Chile ranks 24th among countries in difficulty.the first Latin American country to appear in this worrying ranking.

WRI explains that Chile will move from very high stress, already recorded in 2010, to extremely high stress in 2040.

The organization that studies and warns against these phenomena states that (Chile) is one of the countries most likely to face a decrease in water supply “due to the combined effects of increase in temperatures in critical regions and changes in precipitation patterns.”

Middle East in trouble

The World Resources Institute (WRI) indicates that, compared to forecasts for the year 2040, 14 of the 33 countries likely to have the greatest water stress, They will come from the Middle East.

“This region, already arguably the least safe in the world, is heavily dependent on water groundwater and desalinated seawater,” specifies the WRI.

The list prepared for 2040 places the top ten countries with extreme water stress: Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, San Marino, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Oman.

But water scarcity will also affect other countries, such as the United States, China and India.

The Institute predicts that high water stress in the three countries will remain roughly constant until 2040. However, some regions, such as the southwestern United States and Ningxia Province of China, could experience an increase in water stress.