Facing our freshwater crisis via fluid and agile communication: A grand challenge

Earth has been labeled the blue planet because of its abundance of water that covers most of its surface, but the majority is salt water in our oceans. Oceans account for ~352 million km² or 69% of the planet's surface, land for 150 million km² or 29%, and fresh water for 9 million km² or 2% (Shiklomanov, 2000). Most of the fresh water is locked away in glaciers and ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica, with less than a third accessible to biota (Shiklomanov, 2000). This miniscule fraction of fresh water is our most precious natural resource, the foundation for life in terrestrial environments, and humanity depends on it, but the resource faces enormous threats. My aim in this brief editorial is to define the freshwater resource, succinctly summarize the major threats it faces, and underscore recent calls for conservation. My review is cursory, but I call attention to various recent exhaustive reviews. I end with my views on how journals can help advance global freshwater conservation efforts.