Your Thirsty World

Next week, the world will be celebrating Earth Day, but while many will be making efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle, Nickelodeon is putting the spotlight on another important issue, the global water crisis. On April 18, Nick News with Linda Ellerbee will be examining the topic in Your Thirsty World, a half-hour program in which kids in Honduras, Bangladesh, California and New Jersey talk about their water problems and what is being done to solve them. 

Many of us are used to being able to just turn on the faucet when we need a drink, however, one in five people do not have access to clean, safe drinking water. Water-related illness can cause sickness and death, and is responsible for killing almost four million people every year.

And while kids in Honduras and Bangladesh spend hours physically hauling or standing in line for water, this isn’t just a problem for developing countries — it’s happening in our own back yard, too. The water crisis is caused by politics, poverty and pollution, which are things that affect many regions, even in America. For instance, families in Central Valley, California cannot drink their tap water because fertilizer and pesticides have contaminated it. 

“Safe, clean water is not only a basic human necessity,” Linda says. “It’s a basic human right. Or ought to be. That’s what kids believe, and I agree.” Watch the eye-opening report on the global water crisis on Your Thirsty World, which premieres on Sunday, April 18, at 8:30 p.m. ET.