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Earth is often called a planet of water as two thirds of its surface is covered with water. However, the water resources available to humans are limited.

The amount of fresh water available for domestic or agricultural use is quite small and its distribution is also unbalanced. Worse still, it is decreasing with each passing day due to various factors.

Global warming is causing a rapid depletion of terrestrial water.

In the period between 2000 and 2002 alone, water that could fill 650 million large swimming pools was lost and such phenomenon has continued to reach an irretrievable phase.

Scientists claim that this phenomenon is attributable to the increased evaporation of water caused by a rapid temperature rise since 2000. They predict that the increase in evaporation due to the temperature rise might lead to droughts and food crises in different parts of the world.

It has been argued that the cause of the recently widespread forest fires around the world should be related to the very low moisture content in soil.

Meteorologists analyse that the increasing variability in global weather and extreme climate in recent years demonstrate the unprecedentedly rapid progress of global warming, which denotes a growing risk of damage from climatic phenomena.

Meanwhile, due to global warming, glaciers which account for 68.7 percent of the world’s freshwater are melting away at a fast rate.

According to data available, an average of 273 billion tons of glaciers are melting each year, equivalent to the amount of water consumed by the world population for 30 years.

Glaciers are melting at an accelerating rate in all parts of the world from Greenland to the Himalayas of Asia, the Alps of Europe and the Andes of South America.

For instance, nearly 40 percent of the Alps glaciers melted in the 21st century. It is said that grey rocks have been exposed in many areas of the biggest glacier which extends for 20 kilometres and weighs 10 billion tons.

A Swiss research group asserted that if climate change continues, the ice will disappear and there will be only a grey valley.

Glaciers are playing the role of water towers on this planet. The water flowing down from them ensures the survival of billions of people in the world. Experts claim that if glaciers melt at an unpredictable speed as now, 2 billion people will suffer from water and food crises and the risk of landslides and other natural disasters will increase.