Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1468438
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 MAY 2022 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications New Carmelite Saint FOLLOWING the canonisation of Saint Titus Brandsma by Pope Francis on May 15, 2022, Saint Elias College celebrated the new saint by a celebra- tion during which a new painting of the saint by Fabio Borg was blessed. Saint Titus Brandsma, a Carmelite, educator, journalist, and martyr of World War II has strong links with Catholic schools in his homeland, being an educator himself and founder of a few Catholic schools. He also defended the liberty of the same schools, insisting that they should be open to everyone, including Jews. Fr Jürgen Cucciardi Rector Water stress: a great problem WATER is a huge part of our everyday life. We drink it, we wash with it, we flush it and so much more. But, with so many changes facing the world we live in today, it's difficult to know how these will impact our future access to water. Water stress is the deterioration of freshwater sources, referring to the likes of droughts, dry rivers, and more. Because of growing global popula- tions, alongside changing climate con- ditions and water-intensive processes in agriculture, by 2040, there will a surge in pressure on our water supply systems. And with the water we use being a finite resource, there are measures we clearly need to be taking to help avoid water shortages. Many things contribute towards wa- ter stress levels, but in recent years it's largely been due to climate change and its subsequent impacts. Consistent in- creasing temperatures lead to reduced rainfall and drier climates where water demand stays relatively the same. So, when demand outgrows supply, it's only to be expected that the world will see an increase in water stress levels. From research of the Aqueduct wa- ter risk atlas, Malta came out as the top location in Europe which will see the highest increase in water stress, with an 'extremely high' (>80%) predicted increase. It is the only European coun- try set to expect an 'extremely high' increase in its water stress levels. Just outside Europe, Turkey followed next, with a 'high' (40-80%) increase in water stress predictions. After this Spain, Cy- prus, Greece, Poland, and Italy, are all set to see an increase of 20-40% mean- ing residents could see shortages. However, typically cooler countries such as Switzerland, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway all have low estimated wa- ter stress. Obviously, the hotter coun- tries are, the less supply there is due to lack of rainfall, and this will inevitably lead to higher pressure on supply sys- tems, as proven by our findings. John Debono St Paul's Bay