3.2.3.3 Water GapFill

Whilst the Earth is covered in water the majority is  freshwaterwarsurplusseawater, which is salty and cannot be consumed by humans without treatment. Access to  freshwatermalariaseawaterhistoric is limited as much of it is trapped in glaciers and  undergroundsurplusovergroundcholera. Accessible freshwater can often be contaminated with diseases such as  malariaseawatercholeradeficit so needs to be treated before it is considered safe to drink. Countries with a stable access to safe drinking water are said to be in a state of water  insecuritysecurityeconomicstress. Water security is distributed unevenly across the world. This is due to a large number of factors ranging across physical and  insecurityhistoriceconomicseawater availability. Global areas of water  undergrounddeficitsurplushistoric include Northern Europe, Northern USA and Canada, and areas around the Amazon rainforest. Areas of water  warfaminessurplusdeficit include Australia, Northern and Southern Africa and the Middle East. Several regions of the world are in a state of water  securitycholerastressfamines. This is where there is a limited supply of clean fresh water for the population. Clean water is fundamental in human development. Lack of clean water can lead to  faminesseawaterdroughtssurplus (due to food shortages), disease and even conflict or  seawatereconomic growthsurpluswar.