Estate Living Digital Publication Issue 6 June 2015 | Page 46

Tech Savvy
Citizen Science

TECH SAVVY

48

WATER WOES
Our planet is covered with 70% water,
so it is easy to think that the world is
overflowing with water and that it will
always be plentiful. However, fresh
water is, in fact, incredibly scarce, with
only 3% of the world’s water suitable
to drink, bathe, feed our animals and
irrigate our crops. More alarming is the
fact that two thirds of this 3% is found
in frozen glaciers and not even readily
available and even more frightening
is the prediction that two thirds of the
world’s population might face water
shortages by 2025.
Climate change has altered global
weather patterns, resulting in shortages
and droughts in some areas and floods
in others and, whilst it is a significant
culprit, it is by no means the only one.
Agriculture consumes more water than
anything else and wastes just as much of
it through inefficiency. Rivers, lakes and
dams have also become stressed and too
polluted for human consumption. The
worrying lack of clean water has startling
consequences. According to statistics
from the World Wildlife Foundation, 1.1

billion people worldwide lack access to
fresh water and 2.7 billion people are
without water for at least one month of
the year. Another 2.4 billion people are
exposed to diseases such as cholera and
typhoid fever as a result of inadequate
sanitation and a staggering 2 million
people, mostly children, die each year
from diarrheal diseases alone.
A WATERED DOWN EDUCATION
Until fairly recently, it was thought that
creating consumer awareness of the
profound water shortages was sufficient
to make people change their behaviour
and make more sustainable lifestyle
choices. However, with a rich history and
operational experience encompassing
more than 90 years, the team at The
Wildlife and Environment Society of
South Africa (WESSA) knows first-hand
that this is very rarely the case.
As a result, the dynamic South African
environmental NGO aims to implement
high impact environmental and
conservation projects through a Citizen
Science approach, which helps to
promote public participation as opposed