Water availability is just one factor that influences where businesses locate, said Jason Morrison of the Pacific Institute, author of a report on likely economic fallout from a drier climate.

WSJ: Great Lakes region pins economic hopes on water

Another factor is the increasing availability of heroin, which over the last decade has begun to be refined from raw opium in Afghanistan itself.

BBC: Afghanistan, the drug addiction capital

But in October Trevor Brooking, the association's director of football development, said that availability and suitability and not necessarily nationality would be a factor in who replaces Italian Capello.

BBC: Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp in hunt for England job

One factor behind this, some argue, is the availability of cheap alcohol in supermarkets, which they believe promotes over consumption.

FORBES: Minimum Pricing, Maximum Confusion: Should Governments Fix The Price Of Booze?