Nitrogen Pollution in River Basins Could Contaminate World's Drinking Water by 2025; Affecting Up To 3 Billion People, Including the US [Study]

Nitrogen pollution in river basins is putting global water resources at risk and it could contaminate the world's drinking water by 2025, affecting billions of people, including a partial population of the United States. This is according to a new study led by scientists in the Netherlands and Germany, where they concluded that today's water security is at stake due to the pollution caused by both climate change and anthropogenic emissions.

US drinking water, as well as in several countries and continents, is at risk because of the said public health and environmental problems. The new research paper highlights that the story does not end in water pollution since there could be a severe lack of water resources, affecting up to 3 billion people.

This means that both water quality and quantity will be affected by the pollution caused by nitrogen aggravates.

Although climate change influences water availability, the researchers of the study also considered that urbanization and agricultural activities (amid population growth) have led to increasing water demand and pollution, limiting the availability of safe water.

The threat of water insecurity is in addition to other pollutants that impact different bodies of water on Earth, including freshwater systems.

World's Drinking Water in Danger

The research team in the Netherlands and Germany published their findings on the impact of nitrogen pollution to the world's drinking water in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday, February 6. The study projected a future pollution where water is scarce in global river basins.

This projection is based on a global assessment several decades from now.

The team analyzed future clean-water scarcity for the period 2050s by including the water pollution aspect to classical water quantity-induced scarcity assessments, focusing on thousands of sub-basins and nitrogen pollution in rivers. In their short-term forecast, the scientists found that 33.3% of the world's drinking water could be polluted with nitrogen by next year.

Data from the paper's assessment showed water pollution is a growing concern in the southern part of North America, which makes US drinking water also in potential turmoil in the future. Aside from the US, the researchers project that Central Europe, Africa, and South China can become hotspots of water scarcity; mainly due to the presence of excessive nitrogen.

What is Nitrogen Pollution?

Nitrogen pollution pertains to the excessive number of the element nitrogen in the environment, and the pollution comes from the combustion of fossil fuels, use of synthetic fertilizers, and discharge of wastewater, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). An unprecedented large amount of nitrogen can pollute not only water but also the atmosphere and terrestrial areas.

Amid the threat, the UNEP is calling on the world to take action by limiting nitrogen pollution, which disrupts terrestrial and marine life, as well as contributes to the ongoing climate crisis.

Furthermore, nitrogen waste threatens human health and poses a burden on the economy, the UN body says.