WORLD WATER CRISIS
ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS
1-The average Sub-Saharan African uses the same amount
of water
in a day as someone in a developed country uses when they do
what?
A. Brush their teeth for two minutes with the tap running
B. Run a lawn sprinkler for a
minute
C. Flush a toilet
D. Any of the above
The answer is D
The average Sub-Saharan African uses 10-20 litres of water a day –
compared to 600 litres used by urban dwellers in the US and Japan,
and Europeans, who use about 300 litres. Running a tap uses 7-12
litres a minute, sprinklers and hoses use about 20 litres a minute,
and flushing a toilet uses 6-20 litres.
2-The number of people dying from
waterborne disease is equal to
how many large passenger jets crashing every day?
A.8
B.24
C.46
D.69
The answer is C
An
estimated seven million people die a year from waterborne diseases,
including 2.2 million children under five. That means a child under five
dies every 14 seconds.
3-Most of the Earth is made up of
sea. But exactly what proportion of
our planet’s water is not salty?
A.0.5 %
B.15%
C.4.2%
D.2.5%
The answer is D
Of the
2.5 % of water that is not salty, only about 0.3% is actually
available for people to use. The rest is locked up in ice and in
groundwater.
4-It takes between 0.4 and three cubic
metres of water to produce a
kilogramme of cereals. How much does a kilo of grain-fed beef need?
A.3
B.5
C.10
D.15
The answer is D
It takes
at least five times as much water to produce grain-fed beef
than cereal. It takes three to four times as much water to produce a
kilo of lamb from a sheep fed on grass.
5-How many people in the world do
not have access to clean drinking
water?
A.1 in 3
B.1 in 6
C.1 in 10
D.1 in 20
The answer is B
An estimated 1.1 billion people do not
have access to safe drinking
water, nearly two-thirds of whom are in Asia. An estimated 2.6 billion
worldwide lack access to improved sanitation.
6-What proportion of the
world’s major rivers are seriously polluted or
depleted?
A.10 %
B.25%
C.50%
D.75%
The answer is C
According
to WWF, there are an estimated 12,000 cubic kilometres of
polluted water worldwide, which is more than the total amount
contained in the world’s 10 largest river basins at any given moment.
7-Which of these countries uses most
water per person per year?
A.Russia
B.India
C.Egypt
D.Germany
The answer is C
Egypt uses most per
person, followed by India. Countries where water
is scarce tend to need more for irrigation than water-rich countries.
The US uses almost twice as much water per person as Egypt, however.
8-The World Commission
on Water estimates that it would cost an extra
$100bn a year to tackle global water scarcity. What is this roughly
equivalent to?
A.The amount spent on ocean
cruises, make-up and ice-cream yearly
B.The net worth of
Microsoft chief Bill Gates
C.The estimated value of
the worldwide bottled water industry
D.A
quarter of the US budget deficit
The answer is D
It is
roughly twice Bill Gates’s net worth, and also roughly twice the
amount spent on cruises, make up and perfumes yearly. The worldwide
bottled water industry is worth an estimated $22bn - just over a fifth
of $100bn.
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