Water pollution can lower economic growth worldwide by up to one-third. Many factors contribute to water quality including pollution, global warming, and population increases. The quality of water affects the health of local people as well as the ecosystem. High nitrate levels due to runoff from fertilizers can affect brain development. High salt content can lower the amount of food an area can produce. Rich and poor countries are affected, but the affect is multiplied in poor countries which lack technology to make improvements.

Key Takeaways:

• An unfortunate byproduct of countries getting wealthier is a bigger and badder cocktail of chemicals being added to the water supply.
• At the root of the ever-worsening water supply in the UK, pundits point the finger at climate change and a burgeoning population.
• Although water quantity has been a huge concern for those watching the impact of climate change, the effect on water quality is rapidly becoming a crisis concern as well.

“The authors of the report employed a variety of technologies to study the problem, including satellite imaging of major algae blooms and artificial intelligence to assess the data they were collecting.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/aug/20/whats-in-our-water-report-warns-of-growing-invisible-crisis-of-pollution