On a global scale
When looking on a global scale, one will always identify the environment as an issue. Specifically in this are the water challenges. The United States view on the problem is both similar and different to elsewhere in the world. Over 500 million people now live in countries where the choices about water use are difficult if not crucial. This number is expected to rise to over 3 billion within the next 50 years. The factors affecting the challenge are population growth, production inefficiencies, changing diet preferences, and cross-border conflicts. Climate change is also considered as it will only further endanger the least advantaged. Another main concern is not just the quantity of water but the quality of it. Unsafe water can be a huge threat to health and could be deadly.
Conserving freshwater is of utmost importance. Freshwater is imperative for out survival. According to the United Nations, water use has grown at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century. By 2025, and estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas plagued by water scarcity.
Conserving freshwater is of utmost importance. Freshwater is imperative for out survival. According to the United Nations, water use has grown at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century. By 2025, and estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas plagued by water scarcity.
no substitute, No balance
Water has no true substitutes. We need it for living and nothing else can give us the nourishment that it does. Due to this fact, it can serve as a natural limit on the size of populations. If there isn't enough water for people to be nourished, than there is no way they could add more people to that population. With resources like electricity, you can produce more to meet demand of a growing population. Water does not function this way. The balance between the number of people and the amount of available freshwater is dangerous. The amounts of rainfall vary all through out the world as you can see to the right. The nations in the darkest red are those that are suffering through the water crisis the most. Consequently, those countries are also the least developed. The countries that are developed are able to get investments that allow them to build reservoirs, dams, and establish other technologies to capture freshwater run-off and available ground water.
Where is the freshwater?
The image to the right was obtained from the United States Geological Survey. It shows a breakdown of where the Earth's water lies. Anyone can see from this graph that there is little freshwater on Earth, only 2.5%, which is the water that we need to survive. The middle bar shows the breakdown on that 2.5% which is freshwater. Almost all of it is locked up in ice and in the ground. Only 1.3% of all freshwater (which was only 2.5% of all water) is surface water, which serves most of life's needs. This is an incredibly small amount when compared with the exponential population growth the Earth is facing. The
problem that arises is converting the saline ocean water into freshwater that
can be processed by our bodies. This is costly, even for a developed country. Therefore, it is out of the realm of possibility for the under-developed countries.
Influential processes
There are physical characteristics and process that are leading to water scarcity (Santos, et. al). Some of these physical characteristics are low average rainfall, droughts, large dry season, low infiltration, flash floods, and high erosion and sedimentation. These characteristics are the worse in the arid and dry sub-humid regions. Those are all climatic and hydrological processes. Things that are almost impossible to control. On the other side are human-induced processes. These can be split into climate change and water management. Under climate change are processes such as temperature rise, decreased rainfall, and increased flood risks. The water management side includes uncontrolled demand, inappropriate irrigation practices, and land misuse & abuse. A breakdown of addition process can be found here. Water scarcity is intensified as a result of mismanagement of the available limited water resources.