Water Pollution and Water Scarcity

Water is essential for humans and organisms to live “Drinking water, “2008). Water covers most of the world and makes up more of the world than land. Water comes from different sources. Water may surround us but there are still shortages. Water allows us to live but it could be harmful to our bodies when polluted. Humans and natural disasters can cause damage to the water supply It is important to conserve water whenever possible (“Drinking Water, “2008).

Oceans make up two-thirds of the Earth (“Drinking Water,”2008). It is made up of saltwater. This water is not useable for humans to drink or use for food. Even though it is not a water source for organisms or humans to drink, it has it own importance in the world. It contains organism sources for food, like fish, lobsters, squid, and clams to name a few (“Why Oceans,” 1998). The ocean helps with the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which helps lower climate change. Climate change is a continuing problem humans are dealing with today. Humans dispose different substances like chemical weapons, and radioactive material into the ocean that is banned on land. River pollutants are washed into the ocean, to help provide cleaner rivers (“Why Oceans,” 1998).

The world is only made up of 3% fresh water (“Why Ocean,” 1998.) Almost two-third of fresh water is not even liquid format. It is trapped in glaciers and ice caps. Ground and surface water consist of other fresh water. Ground water provides for almost half of the world’s drinking water. It is also important for our agriculture, industrial and environment uses. Surface water consists of rivers, swamps and lakes. It provides for a small factor of drinking water but it is still important (“Drinking Water, “1998).

Water is recycl...

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...g water resources and ecosystems (“Gauging,”2010). It was the second largest oil spill in the nation. The cause is still unknown. The NOAA detected huge deepwater plumes of dispersed oil up to 30 miles long, seven miles wide and hundred of feet thick. Gulf of Mexico already has industrial pollutants and agricultural run-off from the Mississippi River. The oil from the spill could cause hypoxic conditions. The oil also affected the wildlife just as much as it did the water. Animals were found dead and covered in oil. There could be long-term effects from the chemicals use to break-up the oil. The oil started to wash up in the wet lands, which already has problems with overdevelopment and pollution. The government plans to re-look at the energy policy. The ecosystem started recovering quicker than expect but still has long-term effects (“Gauging,” 2010).