Niko Wanders

Freshwater ecosystems such as rivers, lakes, ponds cover only 0.8 percent of the Earth’s surface, but are incredibly biodiverse. They harbour around ~15,000 fish species, corresponding to approximately half of the global known fish.

Human activities such as water abstraction, diversion, damming, and pollution are posing a threat to the survival of fish.

Climate change and over-exploited river basins may leave developing countries in Asia, such as India and China, without enough water to cool power plants in the near future, according to a study.