1.0 INTRODUCTION
There has been a significant water crisis in various regions of the world over the last few years. Only about 3% of the water in the world is fresh; therefore there is relatively little fresh water available in some regions of the world, these regions are called arid and semi arid regions. The FAO (1987, cited in IFAD,n.d) defines arid and semi arid regions as “areas falling within the rainfall zones of 0-300 mm and 300-600 mm, respectively”. In other words, arid and semi arid regions are regions in which there is insufficient rainfall and rainfall patterns are liable to significant fluctuations. Some arid regions are in North Africa, South America, some parts of central Asia and the Middle East as well including countries like Kenya, Lesotho, Egypt, and Morocco, among others.
Figure 1: Areas experiencing water scarcity in the world.
Source: International Water Management Institute.
The main problem arid regions encounter is the inadequate amount of rainfall available in the regions and the wide variations in the reliability of rainfall patterns. The average rainfall in arid regions varies between 100 and 300 mm per year (FAO, n.d), compared with over 500mm in other regions of the world. Also, arid areas face the problem of the shortage of fresh water provided by rivers and lakes and this shortage has caused health, agriculture and economic problems for instance, in Kenya, where “over 10,000 children die every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation” (WaterAid, n.d) and some parts of central Asia where there is not enough water to cultivate plants. This report evaluates the feasibility of two different water provision techniques: desalination and ground water pumping; that can be ...
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“Water is the driving force of all nature.” Leonardo da Vince once said. Water is a huge part of life, and everything that lives requires water to make it through its days on earth. A lot of people think that the world has massive amounts of water available for use; therefore, most roll their eyes when conserving water is mentioned. After all, 71% of the earth’s surface is made up of water. However, the truth is that only 2.5% of that is clean, drinkable water, and two-thirds of that percentage is unavailable because it is stuck in ice caps and glaciers (water). The water ordeal in America is bigger than many realize, and the United States needs to begin looking at how we can solve this issue. The U.S. needs to acknowledge the impending dangers and help the states that are already suffering by putting water conservation methods in place and investing money into research for alternatives.
This is not a problem which is limited to the developing world either, as even the United States has also been experiencing the effects of water shortages in recent years. In the US, the average citizen uses more than three times the amount of water as many European countries (Data 360). A key difference between the US and the European continent is the geographical variation. A majority of the large cities in America where water is becoming more scarce are located in the West and are surrounded by arid landscapes, although it should be noted that shortages are not limited to this area alone (The Atlantic). Most water usage in the country is reserved for irrigation of farmland, general landscaping, and home use (EPA). It is estimated by the EPA that the average family uses over 400 gallons of water every day, and that the cumulative volume of water used in homes is much less than the former two greatest uses. Not only is extreme overuse a problem, but seasonal droughts have become increasingly frequent throughout the US. Here, we will look more closely at the causes, effects, and implications of water shortages across the United States and beyond.
Water scarcity is a crucial issue in a country called Djibouti. Djibouti lies in “The Horn of Africa” which is a peninsula in Northeast Africa. However, due to climate change and variability, refugees from Somalia and poverty, Djibouti is now considered an extremely water poor country. The aim of this report is to inform the government about the water crisis in Djibouti and that climate change is one of the main factors that cause it.
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.
Despite the abundance of water resources, the government at all levels (federal, state and local) have been unable to successfully harness these water resources to ensure sustainable and equitable access to adequate, safe, and affordable water and sanitation for its population. This is an example of economic water scarcity as the region has adequate water resources to cope with demands yet due to lack of infrastructure created by the government, there is an inadequate supply of freshwater for the population and this causes many problems such as disease due to lack of sanitation, poverty and
The amount of water has been shrinking steadily but with extreme increases in population growth and consumption rate, countries in dry areas specifically the Middle East will feel the colossal effects of a water shortage. Since 1950, the population of the Middle East has risen by 21% a...
Due to geography and population growth, the Middle East nations are faced with a growing demand for a shrinking water supply. Throughout most of the Middle East region rainfall is irregular and the rainy season is very short. The World Bank reports that this area (including North Africa) has 5% of the world’s population, but only 1% of the world’s water. Droughts have been occurring more frequently and lasting longer, warning of a bleaker future.
Desalination involves the removal of salt and other minerals from saline water to produce pure water. Specialized facilities, referred to as desalination plants, utilize this process to generate fresh water from seawater and brackish ground water. The water produced by these plants can then be used for human consumption and agricultural purposes. Therefore, the construction of desalination plants is being considered as an answer to the state’s current water crisis. Although desalination offers the significant benefit of an increased water supply, there are negative environmental impacts. The problem is its extreme energy demands resulting in high emission of greenhouse gases.
One of the biggest challenges facing the world is availability of fresh water. Only about one third of a percent is of the fresh water available on earth is found in surface and ground water for human consumption. Globally these sources of fresh water have been dwindling away and becoming scarcer every year as water demand grows. This problem is true throughout the world and is especially prevalent in the arid regions of the world such as the Southwest United States. Since I am a student here at the University of Arizona and a resident of the state now, these growing water issues not only affect me but all of the residents of Tucson, Arizona. This makes water sustainably critical to the entire region and me.
2.1 billion people in countries that are undergoing a form of urbanization have inaccessibility to clean drinking water as a result of pollution, poverty and poor management of resources. Water resources are being depleted by agriculture and energy production
Developed countries struggle with managing water consumption. Our high demand in agriculture, industry, and domestic use further complicates this issue. With increasing urbanization and extravagant changes in lifestyle, our use and wasting of water will only increase. As of this year, nearly 1.1 billion people live without clean drinking water and 2.6 billion live without adequate water sanitation. The McDonald's down the street, however, will sell you a 1/3 pounder burger for only 150 gallons. Changes in lifestyle can easily reduce this number and help not only save water, but money as well. Currently, with our diminishing water supply, one of the main goals of humanitarian organizations is ensuring that everyone has t...
One main causes of water scarcity is water mismanagement worldwide. Water mismanagement has become a crisis of governance that will impact heavily ...
People don’t appreciated the many advantages that comes with having clean potable water to use, taking it for granted. A lot of clean useful water is wasted by humans all the time that people don’t care about saving water because they have easy access to it. Clean and safe drinkable water resources are getting scarce as the population grows. The world is facing many problems, but the most important needed to survive, is water. Water is getting low in many countries, therefore habitants 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 shortage affects the agricultural sector, so as a consequence the price for production
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.
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.