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5 key causes of water scarcity
5 key causes of water scarcity
Problem of drought in Africa
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Each day, over 5,000 children die from diarrhea-related diseases developed from unsafe drinking water. Approximately one billion people do not have access to clean drinking water; one billion people about equates to one out of every six individuals. The deaths resulting from unsafe drinking water are greater than the number of deaths caused by war. We all must work together to find new sources of freshwater so that everyone in the world will have adequate supplies of safe drinking water. This essay will outline current and future technologies that will be available to resolve this problem in the coming years.
Water covers nearly three quarters of the Earth, yet people still die everyday from the lack of fresh water. How is this possible? Only three percent of the planet’s water is fresh water, and a small amount of that constitutes water not found in snow or ice. Depletion of this fresh water is occurring at a faster rate than replenishment, creating a fresh water crisis. Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) project that within 40 years, four billion people—nearly two thirds of the world’s population today—will face major fresh water shortages. This problem cannot be solved by any one group of people, yet at the heart of the matter lays engineering. Engineers need to optimize current technologies:
1. Desalination of ocean water
2. Diversion of water
3. Recycling of wastewater/irrigation
Also, engineers need to continue to develop new technologies. New projects on the horizon of fresh water engineering include:
1. Nano-osmosis of ocean water
2. Decentralized distillation units in rural areas
3. Strategies for reducing water use
Desalination of ocean water presents enormous challenges w...
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...Much of this explosion in population will occur in regions considered to be “third world.” Fresh water is scarce in these regions today; in 2050 the lack of fresh water in these regions could reach disastrous levels. The implications of these numbers greatly weigh on the shoulders of engineers. Lack of fresh water cannot be ignored requiring the further development of technologies and programs aimed to solving the problem. This problem has implications socially, politically, and scientifically. Engineers alone cannot be tasked with solving the problem, yet their work will greatly aid the progress towards developing a solution.
Works Cited
http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9142.aspx
http://environment.about.com/od/biodiversityconservation/a/desalination.htm
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/seawater-desalination-solution-or-problem.html
It is imperative that domestic water provided for direct consumption and ingestion through food must be sanitary. Scientific research indicates that as many as 19 million Americans may become ill each year due to parasites, viruses a...
The human race needs three things to survive; air to breathe, food to eat, and water to drink. A large majority of the public thinks these resources are infinite and plentiful. What they fail to realize is that they are not infinite, air can become polluted, food can carry pesticides, and water can transmit diseases very easily. In order to keep these necessities safe, many companies are taking the initiative by trying to cut down on pollution and stop using harmful pesticides. Water, however is not getting enough attention, especially in urban areas. Framework exists for these urban areas to be able to have successful water management, but some countries cannot afford these ideas or simply do not want
It’s no mystery that having clean water is a fundamental element to living in a prosperous society and one of the few things essential for human survival. Water not only sustains our health, but is required in making everything from electronics to clothes. Clean water may seem as ordinary as putting on your shoes, but it’s a daily party of our life that’s being threatened.
This is because only a small part of the population, particularly in developing countries, have access to water of acceptable quality. It is estimated that in some countries only 20% of the rural population has water of satisfactory quality. Based on these statistics, it is clear the urgent need for awareness about caring for water use. Almost without realizing it, we are seriously jeopardizing this essential resource, not for us but for our children's children and their generations, aware that in other parts o...
Introduction on Water It covers 70% of our planet, makes up 75% of our body, it is necessary for survival and it is declining at a rapid rate (http://www.sscwd.org). It is water. Unfortunately, clean water is rare, almost 1 billion people in developing countries do not have access to water everyday. “Yet, we take it for granted, we waste it, and we even pay too much to drink it from little plastic bottles” (The Water Project). Use of earth’s natural resources should be seen as prosperity, although it is taken for granted, every aspect of daily life revolves around the environment, forcing water conservation to be necessary for future on this planet.
748 million people in the world do not have access to safe water. This is roughly one in ten of the world's population. Every year, around 60 million children are born into homes without access to sanitation. People, especially those in water-starved parts of the world, have been searching for fresh water solutions for centuries. Even in modern times, entire populations struggle with a cruel irony; they are surrounded by salt water, but lack drinking water.
The average human can not live any longer than three days without water. Many of the world’s fresh water sources are running dry or are being contaminated, particularly in developing nations, leaving many without safe water to drink. Only two and a half percent of the Earth’s water is freshwater, and less than one percent is accessible by humans (not tied up in ice caps). This one percent of the Earth’s water supply is expected to sustain a population of over 7 billion people, each needing 2.6 liters a day to remain fully healthy, plus all of the water required for agriculture and industry. These scenarios will only become more and more prevalent as time moves on and we consume more water. The United Nations has classified our planet as being in the midst of a global “water crisis.” Global water supply and shortages are becoming an incredibly real and serious issue, and planning for the future is key to preventing population decline due to a lack of safe drinking water. Shortages of drinking water lead to wars and serious international conflict for basic human survival needs. One of the most popularly and commonly proposed solutions to this problem is to create seawater desalination plants to remove salt from ocean water to make it safe to drink. These water desalination plants, however, are not a viable option to carry us in to the future due to their potentially harmful impacts and expenses.
Clean water is needed for good human and animal health, but as DoSomething.org states, over 1 billion people worldwide don’t have a means of getting clean drinking water, an...
Freshwater is quite scarce, but it is even scarcer than one might think: about seventy percent of all freshwater is frozen in the icecaps of Antarctica and Greenland and is unavailable to humans. Most of the remainder is present as soil moisture or lies in deep underground aquifers as groundwater. It is not economically feasible to extract this waster for use as drinking water. This leaves less than one percent of the world’s fresh water that is available to humans. It includes the water found in lakes, reservoirs, groundwater that is shallow enough to be tapped at an affordable cost. These freshwater sources are the only sources that are frequently replenished by rain and snowfall, and therefore are renewable. At the current rates of consumption, however, this supply of fresh water will not last. Pollution and contamination of freshwater sources exacerbate the problem, further reducing the amount of freshwater available for human consumption. Something must be done if humans want to even survive in the near future: the lack of clean drinking water is already the number one cause of disease in the world today. The first step is worldwide awareness of the water crisis: governments and the citizens they govern worldwide need to know about this problem and be actively involved in solving this problem.
Have you ever had to walk miles away just to get clean drinking water, or don’t even not have access to clean drinking water? People all over the world, even in North America, don’t have access to clean drinking water or have to walk very far just to drink water. The main areas where this problem is prominent is in third world countries, and this is due to the lack of money and sanitation (Millions Lack Safe Water). Due to this lack of sanitation, water borne diseases can grow and infect people who consume it. Clean water is very important for life, and within this paper I will explain why we need it, how it can affect us, and what it will take to obtain clean water.
Clean and safe drinking water resources are becoming scarce as the population grows. The world is facing many problems, but the most important thing needed to survive, is water. Water is getting low in many countries, therefore residents are suffering the misfortune of not having the reliable source of clean water. Today many countries are having water shortages meaning rivers, lakes, streams and groundwater are not enough to rely on for supplying water demands. For example, California is facing a drastic water shortage, the natural water resources are not enough to fulfill their water demands.
The problem of water scarcity has increasingly spread throughout the world as of yet, The UN reports that within the next half- century up to 7 billion people in 60 countries which is more than the whole present population will face water scarcity (Sawin “Water Scarcity could Overwhelm the Next Generation”). As well the demand for freshwater has tripled over the past 50 years, and is continuing to rise as a result of population growth and economic development. 70% of this demand derives from agriculture which shows the influence of water on food supply globally as well not just drinking water (Sawin “Water Scarcity could overwhelm the Next Generation”). But increasing water use is not just a matter of the greater number of people needing it to drink and eat; it also comes from pollution and misuse of water supplies, by either dumping or runoff of bacteria or chemicals into water. This also “causes other pollutions as well such as soil and air pollution, accelerating wetland damage and human caused global warming” (Smith and Thomassey 25). According to UN report, recent estimates suggest that climate change will account for about 20 percent of the increase in global water scarcity in coming decades.
Water is the most priceless resource on our planet. Billions of gallons flow through our rivers and lakes. Millions of gallons are consumed by humans each day. Our world’s surface is seventy percent water. With so much water around us, how can 1.1 billion people still lack access to clean water (Cooper, Water Shortages)? People are already using fifty four percent of all the freshwater available on this planet (Cooper, Water Shortages). We cannot afford to neglect something so essential to our very survival. We must defend our most important natural resource—water.
Freshwater in the world makes up only a small portion of water on the planet. While the percentage of water in the world is nearly 70%, only 2.5% is consumable. Even further, only <1% is easily accessible to basic human needs. According to National Geographic, “by 2025, an estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas plagued by water scarcity, with two-thirds of the world's population living in water-stressed regions as a result of use, growth, and climate change.” With this current trend, water will become more immersed in environmental, economic, political, and social changes. Many of these in later years shall need to be addressed as tension rises:
Less than 1% of the water supply on earth can be used as drinking water.