The long hot days and summer drought conditions have turned into a deluge of rain. In October, England experienced aggregate rainfall almost 30% higher than the long-term average, according to the Met Office. The severe water shortages promised in August now seem much less likely.
Water covers about 71% of the Earth’s surface. There are 326 million cubic miles of it on the planet, according to the US Bureau of Reclamation. However, 97% is seawater that – untreated – is far too salty for human consumption, growing crops, or most industrial uses except cooling. Only 3% of the Earth’s water is fresh.
Furthermore, five-sixths of this is useless for humanity. It is either locked within glaciers, polar ice caps, soil or the atmosphere; too highly polluted, or too deep
