#water-scarcity

#water-scarcity

The group, operating as the Water-AI Nexus Center of Excellence, said it is seeking to draw on the combined knowledge of its participants, working in academia, the water industry, utility sectors and tech to ensure AI growth does not come at the expense of the world's water supplies. "By maximising efficiency, eliminating unnecessary water use and investing in community-tailored solutions, we can collectively ensure that technological advancement and environmental stewardship will - and must - advance together," the group said, in a statement.

Growing up near Bolivia's Uyuni salt flats, Franz Ali Ramos remembers playing in the high-altitude wetlands near his home during the rainy season. It was a beautiful recreation area for us and for animals, he says. Now, the wetlands have given way to cracked, sunbaked earth a change that Ali Ramos blames on nearby operations by Bolivia's state lithium corporation, Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB).

"All rivers and water sources within a 100-kilometer radius of Tehran have been depleted," according to Nasser Karami, who researches sustainable development, climate change and water management.

As I started to photograph the well, Mustapha stepped forward, instinctively leaning in to look inside. That spontaneous gesture transformed the scene completely.

The community was initially approved for construction on 29,000 acres in the early 1990s and was dreamed up as a massive project featuring thousands of homes, half a dozen golf courses and even a hotel.

"We have lived forever without enough water," said Thomas Bajada, a marine biologist and recently elected member of the European Parliament.