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A desert environment with tumble weeks around and a shed in the center of the image with hills in a distance and some sparse green vegetation. a white car speeds by, half behind the shed. On the small brown shed with white ink it says Water is LIFE

Water is Life

2.2 billion

Total population worldwide that lack access to safe drinking water

70%

Proportion of global freshwater withdrawals due to agriculture

1.8 billion

Number of people living under drought in 2022 and 2023

The Global Water Institute tackles critical water challenges by connecting Ohio State’s expertise in research, teaching, and outreach with exceptional partners all around the world.

Water issues are about people, and ecosystems, and financial realities. They’re about climate and energy and old habits dying hard. Since really thorny water issues don’t have a single cause, the only way to make progress is to integrate all of those other pieces—people, energy, climate, economics—into the solution.

clear water with light wave and bubbles

Magazine cover with many logos including UN Water and unesco at the top. Title is The United Nations World Water Development Report 2024 water for prosperity and peace with infographic of a dry arid land with a cityscape at a distance and greenery and buildings along the banks of a river in the foreground as two people are rolling the carpet toward the dry land/city.

The United Nations World Water Development Report (WWDR) is UN-Water’s flagship report on water and sanitation issues that is launched on World Water Day each year and gives policy recommendations to decision-makers by offering best practices and in-depth analyses. The 2024 report highlights the wider significance of water for our lives and livelihoods. It explores water’s capacity to unite people and serve as a tool for peace, sustainable development, climate action and regional integration. Consistent with the Sustainable Development Goal for water and sanitation (SDG 6), it is essential for global prosperity and peace.

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November 8, 2024

Interdisciplinary Water Symposium 2024

the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H center on Ohio State’s campus

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Tom Darrah

September 22, 2024

Ohio State's Tom Darrah Recognized as a Forbes Sustainability Leader for Groundbreaking Work in Clean Energy

Forbes has unveiled its first-ever list of fifty Sustainability Leaders, recognizing entrepreneurs, scientists, funders, policymakers, and activists who are making a significant impact in the…

A waterway flanked by a row of grass and flowering tree farms under blue skies.

September 14, 2024

Ohio State-Led Study Projects Intensifying Droughts and Rainfall Extremes Across North America

Researchers from The Ohio State University, led by former Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center member Kyungmin Sung, now a research fellow at the Korea Environment Institute, have conducted a…

A Blue green river with algea in a red canyon with white skies.

September 13, 2024

Can Dietary Changes Help Save the Colorado River?

As climate change accelerates, the relationship between food and the environment becomes increasingly apparent. In the Western United States, the depletion of the Colorado River has become a…

A view of the hazy city from a hill top from a dirt trail with a white picket fence on either side.

September 12, 2024

How a California County Removes PFAS from Its Drinking Water

J. Wayne Miller, Ph.D. Water Treatment Plant is the nation's largest Per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS) water treatment plant, constructed in recent years as a partnership between the…