Is Our World Running Out of Water? Experts Weigh In
Experts warn of severe environmental challenges, including water scarcity and pollution. The prevailing economic model is blamed for exacerbating the crisis. Urgent actions are called for to protect water resources and promote sustainable practices.
The director of the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Change of the UNAM, Jorge Zavala Hidalgo, stated that the necessary interactions must be sought in the various areas and sectors — public, private and academic — to solve the challenge of conserving the environment, water, soil and atmosphere.
It is a challenge that cannot be faced in isolation, but with approaches and collaborations, he said at the inauguration of the 1st International Congress of Environmental Engineering that took place in the Engineering Tower of the UNAM.
In turn, the director of the Faculty of Chemistry, Carlos Amador Bedolla, commented: chemistry is the central science, mainly within the biosphere and everything that happens is related to it.
That is, changes in gases, bonds, but it becomes more interesting when the topics of water, soil and waste are addressed. In this context, the theme of the Congress is basically life.
In inaugurating this academic activity, whose objective was to be an interdisciplinary meeting point to reflect on the perspectives of sustainability in areas such as atmospheric pollution, water, soil, urban solid waste and sustainability, among others, the general coordinator of Graduate Studies at UNAM, Cecilia Silva Gutiérrez, stressed:
We can all contribute to environmental care, and we have the responsibility in academia, in our own disciplines and in our daily actions to find a way to raise awareness in industry, in economic systems, in addition to bringing the knowledge we produce to society.
Later, when offering the keynote lecture “Water knowledge at the service of Mexico”, the researcher on leave from the Hydraulics Coordination of the Engineering Institute (II) of the National University, Adrián Pedrozo Acuña, asserted that by the year 2050, 51 percent of the global population will be exposed to a high water risk.
The prevailing economic model in the world has direct consequences for the environment, such as over-concessioning and over-exploitation of the vital liquid, added the head of the Mexican Institute of Water Technology.
He stated that among the urgent needs in this area are: re-establishing the State's authority over water as a guarantor of its conservation; recognizing it as an element of national sovereignty and well-being; progressively guaranteeing the human right to this resource, particularly in indigenous peoples and rural areas.
Furthermore, measuring concessions and discharges of large users; water management of the territory; defining sustainable limits for industry; creating sustainable agriculture; quantifying availability in a scientific way; encouraging integrity with clear rules, that is, eliminating the black market.
Referring to the water impact index in 2023, divided into five categories, the Level III member of the National System of Researchers, mentioned that in a “critical” state are included activities such as fashion design and manufacturing, cotton production, gas, oil and mining extraction, car manufacturing, as well as pig and poultry farms.
At a “very high” level, production of motors, batteries, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages; at “high”, production of cereals, ceramics for construction, high-impact hotels, and supplies for health care. At “medium”, creation of wood and glass products, services and equipment for the energy sector; at “low” water impact, generation of geothermal energy, solid waste management, information technology services and electrical networks.
The event was attended by: María Neftalí Rojas Valencia, president of the Academic Subcommittee for Field of Knowledge in Environmental Engineering of the II; as well as Alfonso Durán Moreno, coordinator of the Master's and Doctorate Program in Engineering at UNAM; Pedro Francisco Rodríguez Espinosa, director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Research and Studies on Environment and Development at the National Polytechnic Institute; and through a video message Rosa María Ramírez Zamora, director of the II, who recognized the importance of said Congress.
