While about 70 percent of the Earth is covered with water, only 0.007 percent of it is accessible for human use. The vast majority, 97.5 percent, is salt water.

The growing world population is competing for – and being affected by – those limited resources, which are the result of pollution, global warming and an increased carbon footprint, and changes in demographics brought on by increasing urbanization and a population shift to coastal cities. This is compounded by the fact that additional land- based resources our becoming increasingly difficult to allocate.

And all this is contributing to what looms as perhaps the most pressing human crisis of the 21st century – a global water shortage.

It's past time to look to the ocean as an alternative. As President John F. Kennedy said, "If we could ever competitively, at a cheap rate, get freshwater from salt water, that would be in the long-range interests of humanity [and] would dwarf any other scientific accomplishments."

According to the Intragovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations network of scientists, up to 2 billion people worldwide could be facing a major water shortage by 2050. Already, 20 percent of the global population in 30 countries experience shortages – a number that is projected to grow to 30 percent of the population in 50 countries by 2025.

The potential crisis touches virtually every corner of the Earth:

• Globally, water usage has increased six times since 1900 and is expected to double again by 2050.
• Tens of millions of Latin Americans and hundreds of millions of Africans who now have water will experience shortages in less than 20 years, according to the United Nations.
• Asia has 60 percent of the world's population, but only about 30 percent of its fresh water.
• In China, levels in the Yellow River – which provides water to 150 million people – are down 33 percent. Of the country's 669 major cities, 440 face water shortages. Ninety percent of China's cities and 75 percent of its lakes suffer from water pollution.
• In sub-Saharan Africa, less than 70 percent of water requirements are met, and scientists predict that less rain will fall annually continent-wide due to global warming – and that, in turn, could cause a dramatic reduction in river water.
• All 14 major rivers in India are polluted and drying up.
• It is estimated that 36 U.S. states could have water shortages within five years. The Colorado River has been experiencing a long-term drought, imperiling supply to the West and Southwest. A drought in the Southeast has dropped lake and river levels and left Georgia, Florida, and Alabama competing for a dwindling supply.
• In Australia, through late 2007, rainfall in catchments serving towns and cities was down by as much as 80 percent. In spite of recent rains, the possibility of future drought is still a major threat.
• Worldwide, rising sea levels threaten coastal infrastructure and saltwater intrusion of near-coast aquifers.

Water Standard Company (WSC) believes that the global community has a responsibility to help find solutions that can ease this crisis. That belief led us to develop a reliable, environmentally responsible, and energy-efficient alternative to land-based systems. WSC's Seawater Desalination Vessel can play an essential role in ensuring that the world has the water it needs, when and where it is needed.