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31st March 2025 (31 Topics)

World Water Day

Context

World Water Day is held every year on 22 March to raise awareness of global freshwater challenges and solutions.

About

  • The day was established by the United Nations in 1992, during the world Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro.
  • The celebration is closely linked to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, which aims to ensure water and sanitation for all by 2030.
  • Currently, around 2.2 billion people lack access to clean and safe drinking water.
  • Theme 2025: Glacier Preservation
  • Concerned Findings:
    • Since 1975, glaciers worldwide (excluding the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets) have lost over 9,000 billion tons of ice—an amount that would form a 25-meter-thick ice sheet over Germany.
    • According the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS), five of the past six years have recorded the fastest glacier retreat on record.
    • The period from 2022 to 2024 saw the largest three-year loss of glacier mass ever documented. The year 2024 marked the third consecutive year of net glacier mass loss in all 19 monitored regions.
    • Glacier melt is now the second-largest contributor to rising sea levels, following ocean warming. Between 2000 and 2023, glaciers lost 6,542 billion tons of ice—causing an 18 mm rise in sea level.
  • In 2010, the United Nations recognised the human right to water and sanitation, stating that everyone has the right to sufficient, safe, acceptable, and affordable water for personal and domestic use.

According to the NITI Aayog report, nearly 600 million Indians face high-to-extreme water stress, with around 200,000 people dying annually due to inadequate access to safe water.

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