Photograph by John Stanmeyer, National Geographic Clean water is
essential for life, but most people in the developed world don't
think much about the water they use for drinking, food
preparation, and sanitation. In developing nations, however, the
search for safe drinking water can be a daily crisis. Millions
of people die each year, most of them children, from largely
preventable diseases caused by a lack of access to clean water
and proper sanitation. Sandra Postel, director of the Global
Water Policy Project and the National Geographic Society's
freshwater fellow, said freshwater scarcity presents a growing
problem to be addressed during the United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Brazil from June 20 to 22.
"It manifests itself in the depletion of groundwater, and the
drying up of rivers and lakes upon which people depend for
irrigation to grow their food," she said. "The intersection of
water scarcity, food security, and a changing climate on top of
it all raises a suite of wate