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Global water consumption has tripled in the last 50 years. In the United States, the demand for fresh water will exceed the supply by 40 percent by the year 2030, according to a State Department report last year.

Technological advances have made removing salt from seawater and waste water less energy-intensive, but will they simply encourage us to use more?

For nearly a century, Californians have drained an incredible amount of water from the ground to grow crops and water landscaping. It is not sustainable. The water has not returned. The result is a sinking state. Here are some startling facts about California's groundwater depletion:

he island's current water supply comes from local wells, supplemented by the desalination plant located at the SCE Pebbly Beach Generating Station. The existing desalination facility produces up to 200,000 gallons of water per day, and with this GE expansion, the overall future capacity will increase to up to 350,000 gallons of water per day.

Conan O'Brien is working with the state of California and the Natural Resources Defense Council to develop a series of video public service announcements aimed at encouraging state residents to save water. That could be a successful strategy, since it focuses on humorous and upbeat messages rather than shaming people into saving water, writes Alexis Petru.

On Day Zero, about three months from now, Cape Town will shut off its spigots, an almost unfathomable step for a major city of 4 million people. And it might presage something bleaker for other regions that are grappling with the challenges of strained infrastructure and the effects of rising temperatures.

The impacts of climate change are among the environmental challenges facing Iran that helped spark protests in dozens of cities across the Islamic republic. At least 20 people have died in the uprising, driven by the sudden collapse of financial institutions, low wages and mistrust of national leaders. Rising temperatures are seen by some experts as an underlying condition for the economic hardships that led to the unrest.