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An essay the causes of water scarcity
An essay the causes of water scarcity
An essay the causes of water scarcity
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Water is needed for the sustenance of life and without its supply; death is inevitable because all living things must have water to survive. People can only a few days without water but can survive for weeks without food. Studies have shown that more than three quarters of the world’s population live in the driest half of the planet and over 783 million people do not have access to clean water around the world. Lack of water is a crisis taking place currently and many people are suffering as a result. The level of availability and usage of water varies around the world. In the last fifty years, the human population has greatly increased as well as the demand for fresh water and the concern about water availability grows as freshwater use continues at unsustainable levels. People in developed countries tend to use much more water than those in poorer countries. Lack of water have forced the minds of those who are capable of making a difference, to come up with ways of providing clean water to those who need it. Despite its importance water remains a scarce resource in many regions of the world and there are many factors that contribute to its scarcity and these include but not limited to climate change, pollution and inadequate infrastructure to supply water.
Climate change is altering patterns of weather and water around the world, causing shortages and droughts in some areas, and floods in others. Many of the most profound and immediate impacts of climate change will relate to water. Although clean water is essential for survival, there is growing lack of it. Changing climate is one of the causes of the water crises that are now faced worldwide. Rivers, lakes and aquifers are drying up. Now more than ever there are more severe...
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...-need-of-clean-water/ http://www.xyleminc.com/valueofwater/media/Failing_Infrastructure_and_Water_Scarcity.pdf http://www.nrdc.org/water/ http://www.unwater.org/water-cooperation-2013/water-cooperation/facts-and-figures/en/ https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/water/interesting-water-facts/ http://worldwildlife.org/threats/water-scarcity https://www.childfund.org/The-Dangers-of-Drought/
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Water is the foundational basis of life on Earth. Ecosystems, society and humans are completely dependent on it, and as the world population continues to grow, there will be more mouths to feed, and those people will need water to continue their daily lives. However, shortages and poor management leads to the destruction of natural habitats and human suffering. Desertification of land in China is ever-increasing, turning green, lush land into desert. However, this is due mainly in part, because of human activity, and global warming (Wang, Yang, Dong, & Zhang, 2009). The United States could experience a crisis similarly to China’s, but for now they have averted such a catastrophe, because of heavy regulation of water. Though there are water shortages in many parts of the world, it is unwise to export water from the Great Lakes to those regions. Two major reasons why diverting the Great Lakes is a terrible idea, one: it allows for waters wars to start on the basis of who is allowed to access it and for commodification purposes. Two, diverting water on such large scales could have cataclysmic effects on the local residents as well as the environment.
Over the past fifty years, the U.S. population has doubled in size. During this time, total water usage per person has almost tripled. Since the end of World War II, there has been a steady increase of people moving out of rural areas and into cities. As a result, the domestic self-supplied population has greatly decreased and the need for public-water supply systems has intensified. These factors, in conjunction with certain economic trends, precipitation, and global climate changes, pose difficult challenges in the years to come.
Although water is all around, very little is drinkable. Six billion people live on earth and 1.1 billion in 31 countries are unable to access safe, clean drinking water. California has only 20 years of water supply left. Ironically, even the wettest place on earth, Cherrapunji, India, has often water shortages. After years of millions of people dying of thirst and disease, a corporate movement to find a solution to the water crisis has now swept the world. Water, a fleeting resource vital to every life, every single day of the year, is now being taken out of the governments control and becoming a commodity bought and sold by big business, a.k.a privatization.
“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.
High carbon monoxide, ocean heating, glacial melt, acid rain, ocean acidification, and coral bleaching are just a small number of the adverse effects that we as humans are having on the planet. The earth’s waters are an excellent source to find out the adverse effects of climate change. The surface of the earth is covered in more water than land and knowing how our waters are affected is a key element to understanding the true dangers of climate change.
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...
The temperatures rise and the amount of rainfall decreases which disturbs the natural system of the Earth, causing ice caps to melt, sea levels to rise, plants and animal food sources to deplete which in turn affects humans food sources and agriculture, and natural disasters to occur more often. Similarly, climate change seems to have the greatest impact on the oceans and ecosystems along the coast. Many countries center themselves on their water supply; for instance, throughout history, population has always been the densest along rivers and lakes, but mostly along the coasts. People need water to survive, not only for drinking and their homes, but they also use water to import and export goods, and for transportation. “Many areas of the United States, especially the West, currently face water supply issues. The amount of water available in these areas is already limited, and demand will continue to rise as population grows. The West has experienced less rain over the past 50 years, as well as increases in the severity and length of droughts; this has been especially of concern in the Southwest” (“Climate Change Impacts”). Another concern of climate change is the rising of sea levels, which is caused by ice melting or the shifting of the land and the plates. When the sea level rises, it affects not only all of the human activities, but the quality of their water, as well as the plants
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.
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.
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 pollution has affected many people and animals. Water pollution is the disposal of garbage into a water stream. Some of the water pollution is from littering, some water pollution is done by chemical leaks, and others by ships. Also, There is much information about water pollution.
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.
Although systems have been looked at, South Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change because, amongst other things, a large proportion of the population live in abundance to poverty and have low resilience to extreme weather. With already a low and variable rainfall pattern, predictions testify that by 2050 areas will be experiencing extremely high temperatures in Spring, Summer and some parts of Autumn with Winter experiencing rapidly decreasing temperatures below -65 degrees Fahrenheit. It will also become drier and hotter affecting agricultural production and biodiversity distribution. Saving and conserving fresh water now will ensure that in times of drought and extreme weather, people will have other alternatives to turn to especially with the amount of rainfall to be expected in the adjoining future.
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.