Literature Review
The Issue
Climate change is a major threat to global fresh water resources and presents new challenges to water conservation. Climate change, along with urbanization and population growth, affect not only water availability but also water quality. Traditional approaches to water resource conservation have focused more on ensuring an adequate water supply and also wastewater management. However, these traditional approaches do not take into consideration the effect of climate change on water resource sustainability. Therefore, a new approach must be implemented to ensure sufficient water resources to future populations (Dean, Fielding, & Newton, 2016).
Research shows that there is a lack of education, awareness, and appreciation for water issues and the importance of protecting Ohio’s water resources. Water is a most essential and basic need and how Ohio chooses to protect and use these resources will have a profound effect on citizens, businesses, agriculture, and wildlife (Healthy Water Ohio,
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An engaged society consists of individuals who understand, value, and actively support the changes in government and business policy and procedures that will lead to proper water conservation. Community actions have a profound impact on water demand, water quality, and political will to enact new policy initiatives to improve not only water quality but also water system infrastructure populations. Identifying community knowledge of water related issues is important to make changes for several reasons. New policy initiatives tend to do better when aligned with information the community already knows. Also, identifying community knowledge will assist in pinpointing the strengths and weaknesses in community water conservation knowledge will provide a starting point for an education campaign to target to increase knowledge (Dean, Fielding, & Newton,
Humans need water. In a world that is overpopulated, we use a lot of water and other natural resources. Currently, in our world, clean water is getting scarce. Recently, for example, Flint, Michigan, had a water crisis. In early 2016, the water was discovered to be tainted with lead and other toxins. Long before that, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and Governor Rick Snyder along with his council, knew about the lead, but to save money for the city of Flint in early 2014 Snyder had changed the city’s water source to the Flint River which had corroded pipes, causing people of all ages to be sick from the high amounts of lead
Water has long been a controversy in countless places worldwide and Colorado is no exception. The water rights in Colorado involve different stages within the Prior Appropriation Law; the senior and junior water rights. Senior water rights are privileges that were the first to be issued on unappropriated streams in Colorado and are to be filled before the junior water right holders. Junior water rights are similar to senior water rights, but are filled after the senior water holders take their allotted amount (Wolfe Prior Appropriation Law). The water in Colorado is just that; Colorado’s water, owned by the people and restricted by the state. However, Colorado is required by law to send over 30 million acre – feet of water to seven western states (“Missouri River”). An acre – foot is “The quantity of water required to fill one acre with one foot of water and is equivalent to 43,560 cubic feet or 325,850 gallons” (“Missouri River”). The State enforces all water laws in Colorado even though they are not straightforward and are riddled with loopholes. These water laws came into effect “As early as 1879” (Hundley, Jr. 53). In the laws, there are even more constraints and idiosyncrasies including; owning ground water, owning surface water, senior rights and junior rights, and the use and reuse of rainwater or graywater. Water users in Colorado need to familiarize themselves with the laws and regulations involving water in order to receive the allotted water and the reasoning behind that number.
Texas, with its abundances of natural resources, is facing a new demon, one that doesn’t even seem possible, a shortage of water. Water, without it nothing can survive. Texas is the second largest state for landmass in the nation and ninth for water square miles. Within the borders of Texas are more than 100 lakes, 14 major rivers, and 23 aquifers, so why has water become such an important issue for the state? Politicians and conservationists all agree that without a new working water plan, the state could be facing one of the most damaging environmental disasters they have ever seen. The issues that shape the states positions are population growth, current drought conditions, and who actually owns the water.
although having water available for economic development is important, the growth of industry cannot be allowed to take precedent over protecting the most valuable resource of all, the individuals of each nation.
The Colorado River resides in North America at 1,450 miles long it spans from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado flowing southwest through six other states into Mexico. During the 19th century, settlement within this region was limited to merely accessing the Colorado River. Back then adjacent water was strictly used to support life. Today, with our advanced water treatment and transportation methods, water is known for its more loose sense of sustaining “life” and that is of an economic sense. Now, we utilize water for more than just drinking. We apply water to trigger industry, mass produce agriculture, generate power and even recreationally. With our new thirsts we encounter dizzying demands for water. As we use this water for economic gains we take increasing amounts from the river. The water that is returned is then of severely lower quality causing detrimental effects to biologic life. To complicate the problem at hand the Colorado River has experienced drought since 1999. Currently, according to The Bureau of Reclamation, most areas of the river are experiencing extreme drought conditions. The Colorado River is not only degrading, but also drying up due to climate change and poor water management, consequently modern human development is impeded and the environment permanently scarred, therefore to prevent further damage local and state authorities should plan to alter wasteful methods of water management.
Water has become a very controversial issue in the United States and around the world. As populations increase and resources decrease, the way we use our resources and keep populations safe become more and more important. Throughout the world there are nearly 1.1 billion people who do not have access the clean drinking water. 5 Most of these 1.1 billion people are located in poor areas and do not have the financial means to build the infrastructures needed to provide water to the citizens of their country. 5 Drinking water is an essential part of our everyday life. People must have water to survive, but it must be clean and safe to consume.
Water is essential to life. By being so important it is crucial to keep it maintained and preserved. Our water supply is affected by environmental, economic, and legal issues. In Oklahoma water is very sacred to its people especially to Native Americans. Both Choctaw and Chickasaw nations are suing the state of Oklahoma for the regulatory authority over Sardis Lake and the water resources it holds. The Choctaw and Chickasaw nations deserve the rights over Sardis Lake because it is their main water supply and they own the rights through the treaty of the Dancing Rabbit Creek of 1830.
"Water Pollution." Current Issues: Macmillan Social Science Library. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 5 May 2014.
One of the most urgent environmental and social issue is climate change, its being talked about all over the world since its affecting billions of lives.The earth goes through a period of cool and warm period, which are called climate change. Climate change is when the earth gets warmer or cooler due to the amount of sunlight it receives from the sun. Climate changes isn't just affecting humans, its affecting the whole ecosystem. Coral reefs are turning white and polar ice caps are turning black. Animals are becoming extinct because their environment is being threatened. People all over the country and world are becoming aware that the climate is changing, especially after this year. It snowed in cities that usually do not get snow, it snowed in spring, and also flooding in some cities. The country is starting to realize the role human activities play on climate changes, and because humans are responsible for the rapid climate changes they must take actions to protect the environment. There has been periods of Global Warming in history that were mainly naturally caused but the most recent one which is happening now is influenced mostly by humans. Scientists have been debating on whether or not Global Warming is caused by humans. Both sides, however agree that as sunlight enters the earth's surface only a little bit is reflected back into space, most of it is absorbed into the earth which keep the earth warm, and the rest is absorbed into the atmosphere. As college students, we must work together to come up with a plan to help reduce greenhouse emission. Since in the book of Genesis 1 and 2 it says that God placed Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden as caretakers. Their job was to care for the everything in the garden, they weren't...
Climate Change is unique among international issues because of its global scale and impact, and the cooperative nature of the plausible solutions. If we are to build a sustainable environment for our species we must act as one world, as opposed to a loose collection of nation-states acting for our own self interest. Our political systems are not designed to meet such ends, so climate change holds an interesting position on the stage of international diplomacy.
Climate change has been happening for many years and it continues to do so. It is a significant change in regards to the distribution of weather patterns over a given time frame such as decades or millennia. In recent times, the climate change is called “global warming” and it has been linked to certain human activities (NRC 2010). This shows that climate change is not limited to biotic factors. In a general sense, these changes have the potential to impact populations and ecosystems due to alterations in the water cycle. Climate change impacts includes too little water in some regions while too much water in other regions. Changes in precipitation patterns can influence plant physiology and thereby affect the rates of photosynthesis. Such patterns include drought in which warmer temperatures increase evaporative stress on a plant and increased rain or frequency of storms can influence water uptake by plants. Under both conditions, there is a change in photosynthetic rates. Photosynthesis allows the plant to accumulate carbon, grow and produce biomass (Niu et al. 2008). Therefore, a change in photosynthetic rates can be either beneficial or harmful to a plant. The effects of altered precipitation patterns on photosynthetic rates is significant to the scientific field because it gives insight on the shifts in plant community composition and how it affects the water availability for human and ecosystem uses (Kray et al. 2012). In addition, understanding the connection between water relations and photosynthesis with respect to changes in precipitation patterns could help with management decisions of ecosystems, where climate change indicates alterations in species composition, in water availability for wildlife and in fire regimes (L...
Since water is becomes such a sought after resource, steps need to be taken on the sustainable/conservation front. The authors in “A Sustainable Decision Support Framework for Urban Water Management“(Pearson) say that three main ideals need to be the basis for sustainable decision making “1. Knowledge transfer for transformation; 2. Monitoring and evaluation of the decision process; and 3. Stakeholder engagement.” (Pearson). These ideals make sense because within each step the knowledge of sustainability is increasing. A sustainable water infrastructure will be much easier to accomplish if the public opinion supports sustainable practices. With overwhelming public support, bills and regulations can pass with less
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.
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.
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.