World Water Day

The theme for World Water Day 2019 is "Leaving no one behind". This is an adaptation of the central promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: as sustainable development progresses, everyone must benefit. Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) includes a target to ensure availability and sustainable management of water for all by 2030. By definition, this means leaving no one behind.

Somewhere between 70 and 75 percent of the earth’s surface is covered with water. At birth, water accounts for approximately 80 percent of an infant’s body weight. Roughly 70 percent of an adult’s body is made up of water. By the time a person feels thirsty, his or her body has lost over 1 percent of its total water amount. The weight a person loses directly after intense physical activity is weight from water, not fat.

Pure water (solely hydrogen and oxygen atoms) has a neutral pH of 7, which is neither acidic nor basic.

Water dissolves more substances than any other liquid. Wherever it travels, water carries chemicals, minerals, and nutrients with it. Much more fresh water is stored under the ground in aquifers than on the earth’s surface.

The United States uses about 346,000 million gallons of fresh water every day. The average person in the United States uses anywhere from 80-100 gallons of water per day.

An international day to celebrate freshwater was recommended at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/47/193 of 22 December 1992 by which 22 March of each year was declared World Day for Water, to be observed starting in 1993, in conformity with the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) contained in Chapter 18 (Fresh Water Resources) of Agenda 21.

World Water Day is an international observance and an opportunity to learn more about water related issues, be inspired to tell others and take action to make a difference. Each year, UN-Water — the entity that coordinates the UN’s work on water and sanitation — sets a theme for World Water Day corresponding to a current or future challenge. The engagement campaign is coordinated by one or several of the UN-Water Members with a related mandate.

Source: state.gov | randomhistory.com | un.org