Hydrological Cycle or Water Cycle:
Water is one of the most important and basic natural resources. Water is not only one of the most essential commodities of our day-to-day life, but the development of this natural resource also plays a crucial role in economic and social development processes. While the total amount of water available in the world is constant and is generally said to be adequate to meet all the demands of mankind, its quality and distribution over different regions of the world is uneven and causes problems of scarcity and suitability. It is therefore imperative that man develops, uses and manages this scarce commodity as rationally and efficiently as possible.
The hydrologic cycle describes the continuous movement of water above, on, and below the surface of the Earth. The water on the Earth’s surface—surface water—occurs as streams, lakes, and wetlands, as well as bays and oceans. Surface water also includes the solid
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Rapid growth in industrialization to support the country’s growing population and economy has polluted our rivers like never before. Studies show that domestic and industrial sewage, agricultural wastes have polluted almost all of Indian rivers. Most of these rivers have turned into sewage carrying drains. This poses a serious health problem as millions of people continue to depend on this polluted water from the rivers. Water-borne diseases are a common cause of illness in India today. The bad effects of river pollution are not limited to human population only. Pollution of river has affected animals, fish, and bird’s population, sometimes threatening their very existence. Polluted water seriously affects the reproductive ability of animal and fish species in rivers thus making them extinct in
The ability to obtain abundant, pure water is a basic requirement for an individual’s well-being. Likewise, access to abundant, safe water is also indispensable for resilient agricultural crops as well as a thriving national economy. These requirements for pure water are so substantial that disputes amongst regional groups, states, as well as nations arise on a frequent basis regarding the rights to various water sources.
The hydrologic cycle is how water moves through the natural process of evaporation, condensing as clouds and then falling back to the earth as rain, sleet, snow or fog. The Hydologic Cycle as defined by Lutgens F. and Tarbuck E. (2013), “The unending circulation of Earth’s water supply. The cycle is powered by energy from the sun and is characterized by continuous exchanges of water among the oceans, the atmosphere, the geosphere and the biosphere.” In Napa California the hydrologic cycle is when water enters the system as rainfall and leaves the system as either runoff to the San Francisco Bay or evaporates back into the cycle.
In our generation of new technologies and high civilization it is hard to believe that our World is in Water crisis. This crisis is affecting not only low-developed parts of the world but also it affects high-developed countries, about one third of the humanity suffers from the scarcity of water (Molden 2010). One of the main causes of it is overpopulation. In increasing water demand water sources which we have now are not able to renew themselves. Another factor of water scarcity is not economized water consumption. Nowadays most of countries are beginning to realize that solving the problem of scarcity of water is very crucial. One of them is Mexico where water shortage is the national problem.
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...
Retrieved from Kamala, 2016 p.97 Written Assignment Unit 4 - UoPeople 3 Figure 2: The Water Cycle. Retrieved https://pmm.nasa.gov/education/water-cycle After a deep comprehension into this biogeochemical cycle - water cycle, I have been able to identify and come up with two elements of my lifestyle, which I strongly believe has an impact on this cycle:
The water cycle is the process of steps that water goes through by evaporating and and precipitating. Gravity and the sun both control the water cycle. Gravity pulls water down hill in rivers and streams. Gravity also causes it to rain. The sun evaporates the water to the clouds.
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.
Water scarcity occurs when there is insufficient water resources in quality or quantity for a regions demand (Boulton, 2014). This demand can be considered to include environmental, agricultural and human usage of water resources (Liu, Crossman, Nolan, & Ghirmay, 2013). Water resources are most commonly sourced from streams, reservoirs, groundwater and localised storage (e.g. storage tanks) (Pereira, Cordery, & Iacovides, 2009) . Water scarcity affects every continent and is in general increasing in prevalence and severity over time (Marshall, 2002).
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.
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.
Water scarcity is harmful to human life because when water is poorly managed throughout the world, those who need water are deprived of nutrients they truly need, causing them to die. This eventually affects the global population. Therefore, many experts have proposed several solutions such as the LifeSaver Bottle, TrojanUVPhox treatment system, and Waste Water Recycling. 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.
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 the 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.
“Water is the lifeblood of this planet. Every time a good is bought or sold there is a virtual exchange of water. Every time we interact with water, we change it, redirect it, or otherwise alter its state. We have never learned how to efficiently manage water.”(Cluckie, 2009) Ian Cluckie, Professor of Hydrology and Water Management, emphasizes the fact that humans can’t survive without water. Although water is a renewable resource that can replenish under hydrological cycles, our intervention has interrupted its natural cycle causing its supply to decrease.(Cluckie, 2009)
Water is an integral part of not only human beings but all other creatures in the world. We use it every day for different purposes such as domestic, agricultural and industrial. Water has always been a prestigious resource. However, the majority of people do not appraise water’s worth since they do not face water scarcity; whereas, in third world countries it is one of the most serious problems. Nearly 2.4 billion people have a lack of water resources in the world, shows the investigation done by the Pacific Institute, an Oakland, California-based non-profit scientific research group. Moreover, every year this number is growing gradually and more people are suffering (Bloomberg News, 2010). There are certain causes which deteriorate current situation. The most influential reasons are global warming, pollution by human-beings and overpopulation. It is known that India is one of the countries which face water scarcity so this essay will consider the possible ways of solutions of water shortage in India.