The world might get even hotter if we don’t lay off the almonds.
According to the United Nations, 5 billion people may struggle from water shortages by 2050 as a result of climate change. Now, climate change is one thing, but you know what certainly isn’t helping on that front? Water-intensive crops.
At the moment, over 25% of the world’s crops are located in areas suffering from severe water shortages. Today, we have a list of the five everyday foods that are particularly water-intensive and contribute to droughts.
- California almonds are a very greedy crop. For every single California almond, 12 liters of water is consumed. California grows 80% of the world’s almonds.
- Petorca Avocados are pigs when it comes to water consumption. The Chilean avocado crops require 2000 liters, or 10 bath tubs full of water just to produce one kilogram of product.
- The Pakistani sugarcane is terribly greedy as well. The crop needs 210 liters of water to produce just one kilogram.
- Punjabi rice got the memo, and that crop wants its fair share of water too. India is the world’s largest rice producer, but the crop soaks up groundwater like a giant vacuum. Rice needs 1670 liters of water for every kilogram produced.
- Lastly, we have Dominican bananas. The Dominican Republic produces 55% of the world’s organic bananas. One large banana can consume 160 liters of water.
