The alleged water crisis is caused by developments and attitudes in society, including man-made climate change. "In many regions of the world, global warming will significantly affect water availability - depending on how much global mean temperature will actually rise," says PIK water expert Dieter Gerten, who is also professor for Climate System and Water Balance in Global Change at Humboldt University in Berlin. "Every additional year that passes without a noticeable global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions thus increases the probability that future generations will have to deal with more chronic or acute shortages and increasing uncertainties in water supply and, as a consequence, crop losses." Gerten looks at the millennia-old relationship between mankind and the limited water resources of the earth and concludes: Now more than ever we need a new water ethos that respects the limits set by local and global environmental conditions.
The book:
Dieter Gerten: Wasser – Knappheit, Klimawandel und Welternährung.
C.H.Beck, 2018
