家园纪录片 第21期

The victory over famine has a downside, however. In many parts of the country, the drill has to sink ever deeper to hit water.

In western India, 30% of wells have been abandoned. The underground aquifers are drying out.

Vast reservoirs will catch the monsoon rains to replenish the aquifers. In dry season, women from local villages dig them with their bare hands.

Thousands of kilometers away,800 to 1,000 liters of water are consumed per person per day. Las Vegas was built out of the desert.

Millions of people live there. Thousands more arrive every month.

The inhabitants of Las Vegas are among the biggest consumers of water in the world. Palm Springs is another desert city with tropical vegetation and lush golf courses.

How long can this mirage continue to prosper? The Earth cannot keep up.

The Colorado River, which brings water to these cities, is one of those rivers that no longer reaches the sea. Even more alarmingly, its flow is diminishing at source.

Water levels in the catchment lakes along its course are plummeting. Lake Powell took 17 years to reach high-water mark.

Its level is now half of that. Water shortages could affect nearly two billion people before 2025.