Climate Change and its Effect on WASH
World Water Week 2021 was August 23-27 and brought together experts from across multiple sectors to discuss and create concrete solutions to a wide range of water-related issues. The theme of this year’s annual event was Building Resilience Faster and it focused on addressing one of the biggest challenges of our time: climate change. The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change outlines the devastating effects of global warming such as rising sea levels, severe flooding, and worsening droughts. With water scarcity and extreme weather events becoming a regular occurrence, climate change also poses a risk to everyone having access to clean water, adequate sanitation, and proper hygiene (WASH).
Source: https://globalhealth.org/climate-change-and-its-effect-on-wash/
Sustainable Development Goal 6 aims to ensure access to water and sanitation for all. Though global progress has been made on WASH, it is estimated that 3 billion people worldwide lack adequate facilities to safely wash their hands at home and more than 2 billion people worldwide do not have access to basic sanitation. Climate change has exacerbated this crisis as heavier storms have created sewage waste overflows and contaminated water sources. Additionally, due to longer droughts, people often have no choice but to drink unsafe water.
