We are always looking for it on faraway planets, but somehow fail to protect it on our own. One person in eight has no access to water. The shortage takes many forms: water is wasted, poisoned and stolen, while even the glaciers, the most ancient of reservoirs, are retreating. Meanwhile, the eyes of the Earth, our lakes, are narrowing, dried out by a changing climate. According to the United Nations, by 2025 some two-thirds of the world’s population will be facing water shortages. Telespazio has been monitoring the emergency for several years now with its satellite images, contributing valuable data to those planning to tackle this most difficult of challenges - a challenge that prompted John F. Kennedy to say, almost half a century ago: “Anyone who can solve the problems of water will be worthy of two Nobel Prizes - one for peace and one for science.” Click here to download the Calendar (pdf)

Baltoro Glacier, Pakistan 35° 45’ N, 76° 25’ E Landsat-7 © NASA/USGS, EarthSat, courtesy GLCF     Weizhou Island, Gulf of Tonkin, China 20° 57’ N, 109° 02’ E COSMO-SkyMed © ASI/Italian MoD     Aral Lake, border between Uzbekistan and Kazakistan, 45° 15’ N, 59° 19’ E Terra MODIS © NASA, courtesy NASA/GSFC     Barents Sea, North Cape, Norway 71° 12’ N, 25° 45’ E Terra MODIS © NASA, courtesy NASA/GSFC     Centre pivot cultivation, Umatilla along Columbia river, Oregon , US 45° 54’ N, 119° 23’ W COSMO-SkyMed © ASI/Italian MoD     Red Sea coral reef, Northern coast of Saudi Arabia 27° 50’ N, 35° 18’ E QuickBird © 2005, DigitalGlobe     Click on the images to know more details