A child dies every 15 seconds from diarrhea contracted through contaminated water, but the world is still far from solving its shortage of clean water, says one environmental scientist.
Stanley Laskowski, a lecturer in the Master of Environmental Studies Program, contended that the water shortage and sanitation crisis constitute one of the biggest environmental problems in the world yesterday in Hayden Hall.
At the current rate of progress, he said, the world will not be able to reach the United Nations' goal of reducing the percentage of people who do not have access to a safe water supply by half before 2015.
He provided some troubling statistics, saying that 80 percent of the world's infectious diseases are caused by contaminated water and that one quarter of the world's population currently has an urgent need for clean water.
Laskowski said that in India, 114 cities with populations of about 50,000 dump untreated sewage into nearby rivers.
He also said China's government has sacrificed much of its environmental health for economic growth.
"Eighty-six percent of China's rivers have reached unacceptable pollution levels," he said.
But Americans can also help solve the problem, he said.
"People in the United States of America waste excessive amounts of water, and that is an attitude that must be changed if we hope to always have a guaranteed supply of clean water," he said. "It is everyone's job to raise our community's awareness regarding the water crisis."
Cooperation between the public sector, the private sector and non-governmental organizations will be essential if water-crisis issues are to be addressed, Laskowski said.
He added that Penn has been taking steps towards solving the global water-shortage crisis as well. Students from the Penn Engineers Without Borders organization are currently raising funds to build a water-supply system in Honduras.
Jamie Horvath, an Earth and Environmental Science graduate student, said she was surprised by the extent of the crisis.
"I originally came because [the lecture] would help with my own research, but I never realized what a serious issue this is," she said. "This was a definite eye-opener."
