Marubeni says it intends to become one of the top 10 players in the global water business, especially in emerging markets in Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

WSJ: Japanese Firms Are Thirsty for Water Utilities

It also means that whereas population growth may not be a global problem, it could often be a very nasty local one, causing conflict over local resources, especially water, and privation when politics (frequently) or natural disaster (occasionally) cause local scarcity or epidemic disease even within a wider world of abundance and improving health.

ECONOMIST: A Survey of the 20th Century

Declared one of three wetlands of global importance by Unesco in 1971, the Everglades is also the source of drinking water for approximately five million people in south Florida.

BBC: Florida��s newest wildlife refuge