West Asia is thirsty; Dehydration, a crisis that has not yet been taken seriously.

West Asia is thirsty; Dehydration, a crisis that has not yet been taken seriously.

 West Asia, as the cradle of human civilization, is one of the main centers of the water crisis in the world these days. Today, more than 26 countries in the world have water shortages, of which 9 countries are located in this region.

For decades, experts, universities, and international institutions have been warning about the water crisis and that it could lead to social, economic, and possibly political and security crises, and that these warnings have not been heeded. It can be said that in recent years, with the emergence of the effects of water shortage, the authorities and even ordinary people are touching it more than ever.

Crisis and water management issues are recognized by the United Nations as the second most important issue in the world after the population problem. It should be noted that it is not possible to increase the world’s fresh water resources and solve this crisis in this way.

According to UNESCO in 2012, only less than 1% of the Earth’s total water resources are fresh, and about 63% of all freshwater resources in the form of ice in the Arctic, Antarctic and mountain glaciers are out of direct human reach. Eleven countries, Brazil, Russia, China, Canada, Indonesia, the United States, India, Colombia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, account for 61 percent of all known freshwater resources.

In this article, we try to give an overview of the water crisis in the West Asian region as one of the main centers of the water crisis on the planet. The issue of water is also one of the causes of tension and crisis among the countries in the region, which will be addressed in a separate article.

Most West Asian countries are very poor in fresh water. The severity of the water crisis in the Middle East is such that in the next 11 years, many countries will not be able to meet their water needs for agriculture, industry, drinking and other uses. Today, more than 26 countries in the world have water shortages, of which 9 are in the Middle East.

The Middle East is home to six percent of the world’s population and only one percent of the world’s freshwater, so countries in the region must make a vital decision to bridge the gap between water demand and supply.