Editor's Summary
20 March 2008
Water under pressure
Over a billion people around the world lack access to safe drinking water and over two billion have little or no sanitation. Do we have the resources — and the will — to provide the water to support a booming population? This issue of Nature (see introduction, p. 269 and Editorial, p. 253) tackles the science, economics and politics of the global water crisis. Climate scientists say that unreliable rains and drier summer soils will become more common: Quirin Schiermeier reports on water strategies for a drier world. The pressure is on farmers to get maximum crop yields with minimum water use. As Emma Marris reports, the collaboration between plant breeders, agronomists and geneticists to that end has been far from smooth. As the population of India grows, the demand for water keeps rising. Daemon Fairless investigates an ambitious plan to redistribute the country's water supplies by linking rivers in a vast canal network. Jamie Bartram says it is time to improve the global targets for access to water and sanitation to make them relevant to all. In most countries, crop irrigation accounts for most freshwater use — more than drinking water and domestic consumption — but water use in energy production is catching up fast. Mike Hightower and Suzanne Pierce describe the measures being developed to economize on water use in the energy sector. The need for research into water purification is pressing. In an extensive Review Article, Mark Shannon et al. highlight the developing technologies that — it is hoped — can provide our drinking water in the decades ahead. Water is (almost) everywhere, yet physicists still trade theory and counter theory to explain its structure: Phil Ball explains. And Books & Arts looks at a documentary on water security, and at art inspired by water's surprising patterns. Go to http://www.nature.com/news/specials/water/index.html for the on-line start-page.
Editorial: A fresh approach to water
The water shortage that threatens humanity will have wide-ranging consequences for agriculture and energy production, requiring significant shifts in the way this precious resource is managed.
doi:10.1038/452253a
News Feature: Water: Water under pressure
doi:10.1038/452269a
News Feature: Water: A long dry summer
In parts of the world already facing unreliable food supplies, an uncertain climate adds to the future stress for soils, plants and people. Quirin Schiermeier reports on water strategies for a drier world.
Quirin Schiermeier
doi:10.1038/452270a
News Feature: Water: More crop per drop
Farmers' yields in the developing world are often limited by unreliable rains. Improving their harvests will require plant breeders, agronomists and geneticists to pull together — but can these experts work out their differences?
Emma Marris
doi:10.1038/452273a
News Feature: Water: Muddy waters
India's population is growing, and its water supplies are not keeping pace. Can an ambitious scheme to connect up the country's rivers slake the nation's deepening thirst? Daemon Fairless investigates.
Daemon Fairless
doi:10.1038/452278a
Commentary: Improving on haves and have-nots
All-or-nothing targets for global access to basic amenities such as drinking water and sanitation are outdated. The time has come, says Jamie Bartram, for a more fluid approach.
doi:10.1038/452283a
Commentary: The energy challenge
Global energy consumption is expected to grow by 50% by 2030, squeezing already scarce water resources. Mike Hightower and Suzanne A. Pierce recommend ways to integrate water and energy planning.
doi:10.1038/452285a
Books and Arts: Film: Water policy in the can
doi:10.1038/452288a
Essay: Water: Water — an enduring mystery
Yet another theory of liquid water structure raises questions about interdisciplinarity, drug design, astrobiology, molecular biology, geochemistry and more.
doi:10.1038/452291a
Review: Science and technology for water purification in the coming decades
doi:10.1038/nature06599