Water is the literal lifeblood of tourism. By water, I refer to the clean drinking water that sustains tourists; the freshwater in rivers where tourists’ fish, and the ocean saltwater in which tourists swim and frolic.
Water makes tourism popular. Think of exotic infinity pools, luxurious spas, boisterous water parks and delicious cuisine. Can we imagine tourism without water? The answer is "No," of course not.
Water, however, is a painfully finite resource. Even more so is potable water, or drinkable tap water.
Some 71 percent of the Earth's surface is covered by water but most of this vast amount is ocean saltwater unfit for human consumption. Our planet holds a total of 326 million trillion gallons of water, according to the United States Geological Survey. The world's oceans account for 97.2 percent of this total.
On the other hand, only 2.5 percent of the Earth's total water is freshwater. Found in sources such as lakes, reservoirs and glaciers, freshwater is key to life on Earth and plays a crucial role in the survival of human civilization. Drinkable water is derived from freshwater.
Yet only one percent of total freshwater is easily accessible as the potable water that streams out of our faucets. To put this fact into perspective, if all the world's water were capable of being poured into a 3.8 liter (one gallon) bottle, the readily available freshwater would be equivalent to only 15 milliliters or one tablespoon.
World Water Crisis
Today, even the miniscule amount of potable water in this figurative tablespoon is rapidly shrinking. The causes are myriad but among the more prominent are wanton waste by humans, accelerated evaporation due to extreme climate change, contamination by pollution and overpopulation.
