Many people know that water is essential for human-being and it is not only valuable for health and life, but water is also important for industry and agriculture. Furthermore, use of water has a spiritual, cultural and recreational dimension. However, water resources are not infinite. Wide and inefficient use of water resources can lead to irreversible consequences, such as water shortage. This essay will firstly discuss the problem of water shortage on examples of developed and developing countries and include the diversification of the same issue in the different parts of the world. It will also identify causes and effects of this environmental problem on society and other spheres of life. Moreover, in this essay I am going to propose and select possible solutions for tackling problems caused by water shortage in specific world region as the North and the North-West China. To begin with, water shortage has become a global problem in recent years. According to Molden (2010), “one-third of the world’s population has to contend with water scarcity, and there are ominous signs that this proportion could quickly increase”. This means that the current rate of development has both positive and negative effect on society and, of course, the environment. However, the problem of water shortage is rather different in both developed and developing countries. While it reduces the economic growth and damages the life quality in developed countries, already low rate of development and faint state of life are under the greatest threat in poor countries. As a result, the problem of water shortage can cause catastrophic consequences for future generations of those countries. This problem also includes difficulties with organized water regulatio... ... middle of paper ... ...na’s Water Shortage Could Shake Water Food Security. World Watch 11(4) :10-21.http://www.ualberta.ca/~mdzahidu/brhamaputra_diversion/lester_brian.pdf (accessed November 18, 2010). McHarg, A. et al. eds. 2010. Property and the Law in Energy and Natural Resources. Oxford Scholarship Online. http://www.oxfordscholarship.com (accessed November 21, 2010). Molden, D. 2010. Solutions for the world’s water woes. BBC News website (accessed September 14, 2010). Wang, J. 1989. Water Pollution and Water Shortage Problems in China. Journal of Applied Ecology 26 : 851-857 http://www.jstor.org/pss/2403696 (accessed November 20, 2010). Xie, J. 2008. Addressing China’s Water Scarcity: A Synthesis of Recommendations for Selected Water Resource Management Issues. Herndon: World Bank Publications. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/astana/Doc?id=10273763&ppg=48 (accessed October 25, 2010).
One reason for China’s water shortage is the climate change. In the past years many parts of China haven’t have enough rainfall and the sun is absorbing the sun (doc A) . Rivers are drying up according to Doc. A1. According to a 2006 report that
It is true that there are factors contributing to China’s water scarcity, such as a bad government policy. However, the three biggest causes of China’s water-scarcity crisis are population growth, global warming, and especially industry. It is important because
Due to industrial waste ,domestic wastes and agriculture wastes entering into water source, Chinese government reporting that nearly 60 percent of China’s groundwater is polluted. It also leads the decrease in water quality. A large amount of water cannot be used and thus foster the water scarcity problem in China.
Most of water consumed in China is not rationally used. The cause which intensifies the water shortage in China is water inefficient use. For instance, 65%-70% of Chinese water usage is spent on agricultural needs, but more than half of this amount evaporates percolates and loses (Roberts 2009). Besides, majority of another 20%-25% which is occupied by China’s industry is not recycled (Brown 2008a, 16; Roberts 2009). Obviously, improving water distribution technologies and management quality can be one of the options to reduce the water scarcity in China. There are many different methods of improving the water distribution efficiency. Firstly, irrigation technologies should be improved. Farmers in China may use drip and shrink irrigation methods instead of traditional “surface” ones such as furrow and flood irrigation. Drip irrigation method is used mostly in arid and semi-arid zones and it increases the efficiency of irrigation by transporting the water directly to the roots of irrigated plant. The emitters sprinkle the soil under the roots with water which is introduced to the plant by pipes, diminishing water evaporation, deep percolation and leak. In contrast, fur...
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.
According to the United States EPA, only one percent of all water on Earth is deemed suitable for human consumption. In a world with a continually-growing population in need of an ample water supply, the world's sources of fresh water are showing increased signs of overuse as they are emptied faster than they can be naturally refilled. In fact, over the past half-decade the demand for water has more than tripled as the watersheds across the globe have been devastated (EPA).
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.
There are 80 countries that have been suffering from a lack of clean water, and two billion people lack access to freshwater, especially South Africa (Alois). This area of countries is the driest in the world - Sudan, Ethiopia, Egypt and so on. Like in the book A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, Nya, who lives in Sudan, has been lacking clean water. She has to find water every day for her family. Luckily, Nya got help from Salva who used to live in Sudan and came back from America to build the water system for her village. However, there are still many people around the world that have been suffering to find clean water for basic use. There are many factors that cause a lack of clean water around the world: geography of countries, deforestation,
4. United Nations Development Programme, U.N. Human Development Report 2006, Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty, and the Global Water Crisis, web. 6 Dec. 2009 http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr2006_english_summary.pdf
"Water Crisis." World Water Council. 7th World Water Council, 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2013. http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/library/archives/water-crisis/
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. 70% of this demand derives from agriculture which shows the influence of water on food supply globally as well not just drinking water (Sawin “Water Scarcity could overwhelm the Next Generation”). But increasing water use is not just a matter of the greater number of people needing it to drink and eat; it also comes from pollution and misuse of water supplies, by either dumping or runoff of bacteria or chemicals into water. This also “causes other pollutions as well such as soil and air pollution, accelerating wetland damage and human caused global warming” (Smith and Thomassey 25). According to UN report, recent estimates suggest that climate change will account for about 20 percent of the increase in global water scarcity in coming decades.
With the growing population water and energy have become two of the most important resources on the earth. Both water shortages and energy crises are big concern around the world. It is reported that more than 1.2 billion people in the world lack access to clean and safe drinking water which is about the population of India. Although most of the planet is surrounded by oceans i.e. about 71%, only approximately 2.5% is freshwater, much of which is not available to us.
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
There is a global shortage of drinking water. A person might wonder how this can be if seventy percent of the earth’s surface is covered by water. Most of the Earth’s water is unsuitable for human consuption. Ocean water is salt water, which makes up 97.5% of all water on the planet. Freshwater is only 3.5% of all the water on Earth. Drinking water is sourced from bodies of freshwater.
Cherain, T., Unni, K., and Sophie, L. 2010. China – India water shortage. Bloomberg News. http://www.grailresearch.com/pdf/ContenPodsPdf/Water-The_India_Story.pdf (accessed November 1, 2010).