--- description: The combined effects of climate change, population growth and changing socio-economic conditions could drive widespread water shortages title: Asian Countries Could Experience Widespread Water Shortages by 2050 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c98df0542b9e50e/69888d2a3c163960ba45ca69/asia-drought-climate-change.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [climate change](/tag/climate-change/) ## climate change Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Asian Countries Could Experience Widespread Water Shortages by 2050  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Mar 31, 2016 3:27 PM CUT  Traveling over the hard and dry world Traveling over the hard and dry worldJong-Won Heo—Getty Images/Moment RF  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Mar 31, 2016 3:27 PM CUT The combined effects of climate change, population growth and changing socio-economic conditions could drive widespread water shortages across Asia by 2050 and threaten the water supplies of more than 1 billion people, according to new [research](http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0150633 "undefined"). The study, published in the journal _PLOS ONE_, suggests that more than 1 billion people additional people across the continent will have trouble accessing a steady water supply by mid-century. “It’s not just a climate change issue,” said study author Adam Schlosser, a research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in a [press release](http://news.mit.edu/2016/water-problems-asia-0330 "undefined"). “We simply cannot ignore that economic and population growth in society can have a very strong influence on our demand for resources and how we manage them.” The factors driving water insecurity vary by location. Industrial growth due to rapid growth has the most effect in China while India is more vulnerable to population growth, according to the study. Climate change could have serious effects on water security throughout the continent. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4277774/climate-change-water-shortages-asia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4277774/climate-change-water-shortages-asia/"},"headline":"Asian Countries Could Experience Widespread Water Shortages by 2050","datePublished":"2016-03-31T15:27:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:22:17.474Z","description":"“It’s not just a climate change issue”","url":"https://time.com/4277774/climate-change-water-shortages-asia/","keywords":["climate change"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c98df0542b9e50e/69888d2a3c163960ba45ca69/asia-drought-climate-change.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8c98df0542b9e50e/69888d2a3c163960ba45ca69/asia-drought-climate-change.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"asia drought climate change","caption":"asia drought climate change","creditText":"Jong-Won Heo—Getty Images/Moment RF","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/climate-change/","name":"climate change"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4277774/climate-change-water-shortages-asia/","name":"Asian Countries Could Experience Widespread Water Shortages by 2050"}}]}] ```