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Environment > Water > Availability: Countries Compared

Ian Graham, Staff Editor

Author: Ian Graham, Staff Editor

Chinese scientists studying glaciers on Mount Everest say they are shrinking faster than ever before due to global warming, an indication that world <a href=http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/env_wat_ava>water supplies</a> may be under threat. <p>Researchers found that the melting altitude of one of Everest’s glaciers had risen about 50 meters (165 feet) over a period of two years, more than twice as fast as usual. They also reported that a large, high-altitude cliff observed in 2002 seemed to have disappeared. On the Nepal side of the mountain, similar melting has occurred. In 2002, the U.N. warned that 40 Himalayan glacial lakes were on the verge of bursting and endangering nearby residents, as a result of global warming. <p>Three-quarters of the world’s fresh water is stored in glacial ice, especially in mountain areas, and released slowly into rivers during dry or hot months. <p>Some scientists say global warming could increase the average global temperature by 1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius (2.5 to 10.5 degrees Fahrenheit) over the next century, with catastrophic results, such as glaciers retreating, causing oceans to rise and flooding lowlands around the world.
DEFINITION: Water availability per capita (1961-1990 (avg.))
Units: Thousands Cubic Meters/Person
Units: This variable measures internal renewable water (average annual surface runoff and groundwater recharge generated from endogenous precipitation).

CONTENTS

# COUNTRY AMOUNT DATE GRAPH
1 Iceland 294.34 thousand cubic metres 1990
2 Gabon 176.37 thousand cubic metres 1990
3 Papua New Guinea 154.61 thousand cubic metres 1990
4 Canada 84.51 thousand cubic metres 1990
5 New Zealand 79.81 thousand cubic metres 1990
6 Liberia 58.85 thousand cubic metres 1990
7 Norway 57.71 thousand cubic metres 1990
8 Democratic Republic of the Congo 53.89 thousand cubic metres 1990
9 Bolivia 51.39 thousand cubic metres 1990
10 Peru 47.55 thousand cubic metres 1990
11 Colombia 45.56 thousand cubic metres 1990
12 Laos 40.43 thousand cubic metres 1990
13 Central African Republic 37.41 thousand cubic metres 1990
14 Brazil 37.25 thousand cubic metres 1990
15 Venezuela 33.83 thousand cubic metres 1990
16 Panama 30.79 thousand cubic metres 1990
17 Ecuador 30.37 thousand cubic metres 1990
18 Nicaragua 29.15 thousand cubic metres 1990
19 Australia 27.81 thousand cubic metres 1990
=20 Angola 24.24 thousand cubic metres 1990
=20 Uruguay 24.24 thousand cubic metres 1990
22 Costa Rica 23.35 thousand cubic metres 1990
23 Russia 22.82 thousand cubic metres 1990
High income OECD countries average (profile) 22.56 thousand cubic metres 1990
24 Madagascar 22.55 thousand cubic metres 1990
25 Sierra Leone 21.97 thousand cubic metres 1990
Former Spanish colonies average (profile) 21.79 thousand cubic metres 1990
26 Malaysia 20.24 thousand cubic metres 1990
27 Burma 20.06 thousand cubic metres 1990
28 Chile 19.56 thousand cubic metres 1990
NATO countries average (profile) 19.56 thousand cubic metres 1990
29 Guinea-Bissau 19.15 thousand cubic metres 1990
30 Finland 18.01 thousand cubic metres 1990
Cold countries average (profile) 17.78 thousand cubic metres 1990
31 Cameroon 17.3 thousand cubic metres 1990
32 Mongolia 16.32 thousand cubic metres 1990
33 Sweden 15.91 thousand cubic metres 1990
Group of 7 countries (G7) average (profile) 14.85 thousand cubic metres 1990
34 Bhutan 14.08 thousand cubic metres 1990
35 Guatemala 14.03 thousand cubic metres 1990
Former French colonies average (profile) 14.01 thousand cubic metres 1990
36 Honduras 13.09 thousand cubic metres 1990
Non-religious countries average (profile) 12.54 thousand cubic metres 1990
37 Ireland 12.47 thousand cubic metres 1990
Emerging markets average (profile) 11.59 thousand cubic metres 1990
38 Indonesia 10.96 thousand cubic metres 1990
39 Paraguay 10.77 thousand cubic metres 1990
40 Guinea 10.13 thousand cubic metres 1990
failed states average (profile) 10.02 thousand cubic metres 1990
41 Zambia 10.01 thousand cubic metres 1990
42 Cambodia 9.92 thousand cubic metres 1990
43 Slovenia 8.04 thousand cubic metres 1990
44 Bosnia and Herzegovina 7.91 thousand cubic metres 1990
45 Argentina 7.65 thousand cubic metres 1990
46 Estonia 7.4 thousand cubic metres 1990
47 United States 7.09 thousand cubic metres 1990
48 Cote d'Ivoire 6.87 thousand cubic metres 1990
49 Austria 6.37 thousand cubic metres 1990
50 Latvia 6.31 thousand cubic metres 1990
OPEC countries average (profile) 6.06 thousand cubic metres 1990
51 Croatia 6.01 thousand cubic metres 1990
52 Nepal 5.97 thousand cubic metres 1990
53 Mozambique 5.81 thousand cubic metres 1990
54 Switzerland 5.74 thousand cubic metres 1990
55 Tajikistan 5.56 thousand cubic metres 1990
56 Kyrgyzstan 5.47 thousand cubic metres 1990
Eurozone average (profile) 5.19 thousand cubic metres 1990
57 Lithuania 5.1 thousand cubic metres 1990
European Union average (profile) 4.72 thousand cubic metres 1990
Former Soviet republics average (profile) 4.56 thousand cubic metres 1990
South Asia average (profile) 4.12 thousand cubic metres 1990
58 Albania 4.09 thousand cubic metres 1990
59 Philippines 3.79 thousand cubic metres 1990
60 Tanzania 3.64 thousand cubic metres 1990
61 Kazakhstan 3.63 thousand cubic metres 1990
South and Central Asia average (profile) 3.5 thousand cubic metres 1990
62 Thailand 3.5 thousand cubic metres 1990
63 Mexico 3.47 thousand cubic metres 1990
64 Zimbabwe 3.4 thousand cubic metres 1990
65 France 3.26 thousand cubic metres 1990
66 Portugal 3.25 thousand cubic metres 1990
67 Jamaica 3.24 thousand cubic metres 1990
68 United Kingdom 3.1 thousand cubic metres 1990
69 Greece 2.96 thousand cubic metres 1990
70 Vietnam 2.8 thousand cubic metres 1990
71 Belarus 2.79 thousand cubic metres 1990
72 Togo 2.71 thousand cubic metres 1990
73 Japan 2.6 thousand cubic metres 1990
74 Turkey 2.59 thousand cubic metres 1990
75 Republic of Macedonia 2.55 thousand cubic metres 1990
76 Denmark 2.49 thousand cubic metres 1990
Muslim countries average (profile) 2.37 thousand cubic metres 1990
77 Spain 2.33 thousand cubic metres 1990
78 Nigeria 2.26 thousand cubic metres 1990
79 Benin 2.25 thousand cubic metres 1990
80 Slovakia 2.24 thousand cubic metres 1990
81 Ethiopia 2.17 thousand cubic metres 1990
82 North Korea 2.11 thousand cubic metres 1990
83 Italy 2.04 thousand cubic metres 1990
84 Cuba 2.01 thousand cubic metres 1990
85 Bulgaria 2 thousand cubic metres 1990
86 Dominica 1.92 thousand cubic metres 1990
87 Ghana 1.87 thousand cubic metres 1990
88 Moldova 1.83 thousand cubic metres 1990
89 China 1.72 thousand cubic metres 1990
90 Sri Lanka 1.62 thousand cubic metres 1990
91 El Salvador 1.59 thousand cubic metres 1990
92 Trinidad and Tobago 1.58 thousand cubic metres 1990
93 India 1.56 thousand cubic metres 1990
94 Malawi 1.55 thousand cubic metres 1990
95 Kenya 1.51 thousand cubic metres 1990
96 Poland 1.48 thousand cubic metres 1990
=97 Czech Republic 1.45 thousand cubic metres 1990
=97 Romania 1.45 thousand cubic metres 1990
99 Germany 1.35 thousand cubic metres 1990
100 Ukraine 1.26 thousand cubic metres 1990
101 South Africa 1.25 thousand cubic metres 1990
102 Belgium 1.19 thousand cubic metres 1990
103 Hungary 1.17 thousand cubic metres 1990
104 South Korea 1.16 thousand cubic metres 1990
105 Armenia 1.12 thousand cubic metres 1990
106 Uganda 1 thousand cubic metres 1990
107 Senegal 0.96 thousand cubic metres 1990
108 Rwanda 0.95 thousand cubic metres 1990
=109 Oman 0.93 thousand cubic metres 1990
=109 Haiti 0.93 thousand cubic metres 1990
111 Burkina Faso 0.86 thousand cubic metres 1990
112 Azerbaijan 0.79 thousand cubic metres 1990
113 Lebanon 0.66 thousand cubic metres 1990
=114 Netherlands 0.65 thousand cubic metres 1990
=114 Burundi 0.65 thousand cubic metres 1990
116 Iran 0.63 thousand cubic metres 1990
=117 Libya 0.6 thousand cubic metres 1990
=117 Bangladesh 0.6 thousand cubic metres 1990
119 Morocco 0.42 thousand cubic metres 1990
=120 The Gambia 0.4 thousand cubic metres 1990
=120 Mali 0.4 thousand cubic metres 1990
122 Algeria 0.39 thousand cubic metres 1990
123 Israel 0.36 thousand cubic metres 1990
124 Syria 0.35 thousand cubic metres 1990
125 Uzbekistan 0.31 thousand cubic metres 1990
126 Somalia 0.24 thousand cubic metres 1990
127 Pakistan 0.23 thousand cubic metres 1990
=128 Saudi Arabia 0.22 thousand cubic metres 1990
=128 Tunisia 0.22 thousand cubic metres 1990
Middle Eastern and North Africa average (profile) 0.203 thousand cubic metres 1990
130 Mauritania 0.18 thousand cubic metres 1990
131 Jordan 0.07 thousand cubic metres 1990
132 Kuwait -0.2 thousand cubic metres 1990
133 Egypt -0.24 thousand cubic metres 1990
134 Niger -0.33 thousand cubic metres 1990
135 Iraq -0.45 thousand cubic metres 1990
136 Turkmenistan -0.49 thousand cubic metres 1990
137 Sudan -0.53 thousand cubic metres 1990
138 United Arab Emirates -0.91 thousand cubic metres 1990
139 Namibia -1.94 thousand cubic metres 1990
140 Chad -3.28 thousand cubic metres 1990
141 Botswana -7.46 thousand cubic metres 1990

Citation

Environment > Water > Availability: Countries Compared Map

NationMaster

Interesting observations about Environment > Water > Availability

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Chinese scientists studying glaciers on Mount Everest say they are shrinking faster than ever before due to global warming, an indication that world <a href=http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/env_wat_ava>water supplies</a> may be under threat. <p>Researchers found that the melting altitude of one of Everest’s glaciers had risen about 50 meters (165 feet) over a period of two years, more than twice as fast as usual. They also reported that a large, high-altitude cliff observed in 2002 seemed to have disappeared. On the Nepal side of the mountain, similar melting has occurred. In 2002, the U.N. warned that 40 Himalayan glacial lakes were on the verge of bursting and endangering nearby residents, as a result of global warming. <p>Three-quarters of the world’s fresh water is stored in glacial ice, especially in mountain areas, and released slowly into rivers during dry or hot months. <p>Some scientists say global warming could increase the average global temperature by 1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius (2.5 to 10.5 degrees Fahrenheit) over the next century, with catastrophic results, such as glaciers retreating, causing oceans to rise and flooding lowlands around the world.

Posted on 17 May 2005

Ian Graham, Staff Editor

Ian Graham, Staff Editor

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