....snips about water issues... snipped and linked... http://www.odci.gov/cia/publication...k/print/xx.html (g) increased concerns about the environment, including loss of forests, shortages of energy and water, the decline in biological diversity, and air pollution Natural resources: the rapid depletion of nonrenewable mineral resources, the depletion of forest areas and wetlands, the extinction of animal and plant species, and the deterioration in air and water quality (especially in Eastern Europe, the former USSR, and China) pose serious long-term problems that governments and peoples are only beginning to address Environment - current issues: large areas subject to overpopulation, industrial disasters, pollution (air, water, acid rain, toxic substances), loss of vegetation (overgrazing, deforestation, desertification), loss of wildlife, soil degradation, soil depletion, erosion Disputes - international:... other sources of contention include access to water http://www.science.uwaterloo.ca/~cc...ternatural.html Canada fresh water resources Canada has 20% of the world's fresh water supply http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/st...sis/default.stm The world's supply of fresh water is running out. Already one person in five has no access to safe drinking water. Click on the map to read about some of the world's water flashpoints [PDF] Ongoing Consultations on Document UNEP/GCSS.VIII/4 on Water ... File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML ... B. Background i) UNEP Water Policy and Strategy 4. The supply and quality of freshwater remains one of the most critical issues of the twenty-first century. ... www.pnuma.org/panama/ UNEP-GCSS-viii-4WaterSanitationHumanSettlements.pdf - http://www.cric.ca/en_html/guide/water/eau.html#fresh Freshwater, an inestimable resource Overall, Canada may be considered a freshwater-rich country: on an average annual basis, Canadian rivers discharge close to 9% of the world's renewable water supply, while Canada has less than 1% of the world's population. When we know that only 2,5 % of all water around the world is drinkable, the word «wealth» is not an extrapolation. Water is also highly visible in Canada: probably no country in the world has as much of its surface area covered by freshwater as does Canada. Of particular note are the Great Lakes. This set of lakes, which is shared with the United States, makes up the largest surface area of freshwater found in one place anywhere in the world.