Google pledges to replenish 20% more water than it consumes by 2030 amid US droughts

Alphabet Inc's Google pledges for replenishment of water more than the quantity it will be consuming in the following decade amid the droughts in the US. According to a report by VOI, Google Head of Sustainability, Kate Brandt revealed this in her blog that the tech-giant is planning to replenish 20% more than the amount of water it will consume by the end of this decade.

The company's statements follows the severe drought that the U.S. is witnessing this year. 

Replenishing 20% of its total water expense

According to VOI's report, Google's water stewardship target is to support water security in communities where the company operates by replenishing 20% extra water than Google's offices will consume by 2030. Reportedly, the company has spent 3.4 billion gallons of water in 2019 alone that it used to cool stacks of its data centre computers. This number provides an estimate for the astounding amount of water that Google will have to revive. Media reports state that Google plans to achieve its target by using rainwater for flush-usage in toilets and getting rid of water consuming components. 

Droughts in the U.S.

NASA's Earth Observatory satellite, which mapped the American states, revealed that one-third of the U.S. is currently facing at least a moderate level of drought. Providing scale to the problem, it revealed that over five crore people, primarly in western states, are living in drought-affected areas, according to the data revealed in 2020. The drought monitor also disclosed that a whopping 93% land areas in the states of Utah, Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico are faced with some level of drought where Utah and Colorado are severely affected with 69% and 61% respectively. A state is put in the "severe" category when drought causes stunted and browning crops, limited pasture yields, dust storms, reduced well water levels, and an increase in the number and severity of wildfires. The wildfires, considered a major product of droughts, have also been found to affect rains as new findings published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters revealed that smoke particles can curb precipitation in areas more associated with forest fires. 

(IMAGE: UNSPLASH)