Impact of climate change on water availability and quality
World Water Day 2024
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Climate change, today, represents one of the biggest environmental threats on the planet, and has a great impact on people's health, especially children's. The effects of climate change affect water to the greatest extent, causing water shortages, water pollution or excess water in a certain area. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that water-related disasters will increase in both frequency and severity in the coming years.
In a resolution from 1993, the General Assembly of the United Nations designated March 22 as the date for marking the World Water Day. The main goal of celebrating March 22 is to raise public awareness that despite numerous efforts, 2.2 billion people on Earth still do not have access to safe drinking water.
The commemoration of this year's World Water Day aims to increase awareness of the importance, benefits and challenges of water, as well as to foster partnership, dialogue and association in the field of freshwater management as one of the important priorities. The theme of World Water Day 2024 is "Water and Peace" and is dedicated to the care of fresh water and the sustainability of the management of fresh water sources, the threat of which can lead to conflict.
In recent years, the focus has been, among other things, on climate change and its impact on the availability and safety of water. Almost two-thirds of the world's population experiences severe water shortages for at least one month of the year. Data from the World Health Organization indicate that about 85% of the world's population lives in the arid part of the planet, and that in many parts of the world the availability of water resources is decreasing. About 780 million people in the world do not have access to water, and about 2.5 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation. Also, about 6 to 8 million people a year suffer the consequences of diseases caused by contaminated water.
Climate change can lead to greater fluctuations in the occurrence and extent of precipitation, air temperatures and a corresponding increase in water temperatures. The consequences are more intense storms and heavy rains, floods and droughts. These changes can threaten the quality of waters used as sources of water supply: rivers, lakes, springs and groundwater. Changes in the quality of water in sources for water supply under the influence of frequent and heavy rainfall and floods can complicate the operation and maintenance of water supply systems, the production of drinking water, impair its healthiness at the tap and lead to interruption of water supply and shortage of drinking water. In contrast, drought can negatively affect the available quantities of water in springs and fountains, as well as its quality and healthiness. It can lead to the concentration of existing pollution, when the water level in the rivers drops.
Cooperation in the field of water has an ethical, social, political, institutional and economic dimension and is recognized as a good balance between needs and priorities in this area.
Serbia is also facing a major change in climate patterns. Projections indicate a further rise in temperature, more abundant precipitation and the number of extreme weather events. In this regard, it can be expected that children will suffer disproportionately more because they are in the process of physiological development. As a result of climate change, children face both the effects of climate shocks - sudden extreme weather events, such as heat waves, floods and forest fires, which are becoming more frequent and severe, as well as slower events, such as droughts and the rise of vector-borne diseases .
In order to empower young people to recognize the dangers of climate change on health and to behave appropriately in extreme weather conditions, UNICEF in Serbia, in cooperation with the Institute for Public Health of Serbia "Dr. Milan Jovanović Batut", has developed a series of educational videos.
