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UN Water Conference Highlights a Stubborn Shortage of Global Action
The undervaluing of freshwater has led to an unsustainable drain on the finite resource, experts report, pushing the global water cycle out of balance for the first time in human history.
By Delaney Dryfoos
Facing projections of dire freshwater shortages around the globe, the United Nations has wrapped up its first conference on the issue in nearly eight decades. A central theme emerged amid the voluminous statistics and proposals presented: Why are so many countries ignoring a threat to the global population and, inevitably, their own well-being?