An overview of looming worldwide fresh water shortages. Facts and figures that tell the story of the causes, impacts, and challenges we will all face in our future as populations grow and water resources change and shift.
An overview of looming worldwide fresh water shortages. Facts and figures that tell the story of the causes, impacts, and challenges we will all face in our future as populations grow and water resources change and shift.
Water Resources and Water PollutionLife on planet Earth would be.docxmelbruce90096
Water Resources and Water Pollution
Life on planet Earth would be impossible without water. All life forms, from unicellular bacteria to multicellular plants and animals, contain water. Humans are composed of approximately 60 percent water by body weight and we depend on water, not only for our survival, but for our convenience: We drink it, cook with it, wash in it, travel on it, and use an enormous amount of it for agriculture, manufacturing, mining, energy, production, and waste disposal. Though 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered in water, only 0.024% of the overall water supply is available as liquid freshwater that is easily accessible. It is one of the most poorly managed resources, easily wasted and often polluted. The available freshwater is collected, purified and distributed in the hydrologic cycle, but this cycle is easily interrupted by overloading with pollution, reducing wetlands, and reducing forests.
We get water from groundwater and surface water. Groundwateris water that seeps into the ground between spaces in soil and gravel until it reaches impenetrable bedrock. One of the most important sources of freshwater. The top of the groundwater zone that moves up and down based on weather is the water table. The water table drops in level when humans remove water at a faster rate than it is replenished. Surface wateris freshwater from precipitation and melted snow that flows into lakes, wetlands, rivers, and eventually into the oceans.
Water shortages are caused by many factors including dry climate and drought. In some places, the human population uses water at a faster rate than the water is replenished. 30% of the Earth’s land mass now experiences severe or extreme drought and 1 billion people lacked regular access to clean water for drinking, cooking, and washing.
Water Supplies
Aquifers, underground water supplies, are renewable as long as the groundwater doesn’t become contaminated and withdrawn too quickly. Most aquifers around the world, and in the largest food producing countries, are being used up quicker than their rate of replenishment. Dam and reservoir systems are used to capture and hold runoff water. The collected water can be released at need to control flooding, supply water for farming and cities, and to produce electricity. The use of dams and reservoirs has increased the amount of reliable surface runoff by one-third. Unfortunately, these systems also displace people, flood productive lands, and disrupt the ecological services rivers provide.
Tunnels, aqueducts, and underground pipes transfer runoff from dams and reservoirs to water-poor areas. These transfer systems can be wasteful and environmentally harmful by shrinking the water source as more is transferred to water-poor areas. Another option for freshwater is desalinization which involves removing salts from ocean or brackish water. Usually desalinization costs a lot because of the energy required; it also kills many marine organisms and creates salty.
Argent Associates: Empowering Public Community Water Systems for Sustainable ...Argent Associates
Since access to clean drinking water is necessary for human survival, it is estimated that over 2 billion people worldwide do not have it. These services offer the vital support systems that give us access to clean, safe drinking water. This involves sewage treatment, the creation of public community water systems, and the preservation and management of watersheds. Our health and wellness would be in danger without access to clean water. For professional guidance in these services, you can contact Argent Associates!
Professional Water Environment Services from Argent AssociatesArgent Associates
Water is a vital resource that sustains life on earth, making water environment services critical to our survival. Water environment services refer to the range of benefits that we derive from our natural water resources, including drinking water, food production, energy generation, recreation, and wildlife habitat. In this blog, we will explore the importance of water environment services in sustaining life on earth. water environment services are critical to our survival and the wellbeing of our planet. From providing clean drinking water to supporting food production and energy generation, water is at the heart of many of the activities that sustain life on earth. We must prioritize the protection and management of our water resources to ensure that they continue to provide the services we need to thrive. For professional guidance in these services, you can contact Argent Associates.
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Water ppt
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10. Water is life. It’s vital. It supports the immense
diversity of life on Earth. It’s a source of food,
health and energy.
Fresh water makes civilization possible.
But fresh water, in turn, isn’t possible without
a healthy planet — and human actions are
putting a healthy planet at risk.
11. ENERGY TO FUEL GROWTH
If you’re reading this on an electronic device,
water made it possible. That’s because energy
extraction and production requires the use of
water. It’s the driver for hydropower, the
cooling mechanism for power plants and the
reason biofuels can grow. Water powers our
lives.
FOOD WE EAT
A huge amount of humanity’s available fresh
water — 70% of it — is used for agriculture.
What’s more, freshwater fish and other species
are an important part of many people’s diets.
The lesson is simple. Without water, we’d
starve — and so would the fish.
12. JOY AND INSPIRATION
Fresh water helps renew us — culturally,
spiritually, physically. We swim in it, we catch
its fish, we gaze admiringly at its wildlife and
we place it at the center of some of our most
ancient spiritual rituals. Anyone who’s ever
woken up early to fish or splashed through a
waterfall knows: Water can make us happy.
13. WATER WE DRINK
The average person can go for three weeks
without food, but only three days without
water. Yet less than 1% of the fresh water on
Earth is readily accessible for human use. We
have to use what we have responsibly. And we
must protect the natural places, like forests
and wetlands, that store, filter and supply
clean water for everyone on the planet.
14. What are the issues?
1 billionpeople facing water scarcityClimate
change
As our climate changes, so does our planet’s
supply and flow of fresh water. Droughts and
floods intensify and last longer. Crops die.
Homes are destroyed. People must walk miles
to access water. According to one estimate, as
the Mediterranean region and southern Africa
face reduced rainfall, 1 billion people who live
in these already dry regions will face increased
water scarcity.
> ⅓of large cities get water from
forestsDeforestation
Forests are nature’s “water factories” —
capturing, storing, purifying and gradually
releasing clean water to towns and cities
located downstream. More than one-third of
the world’s largest cities obtain a significant
portion of their drinking water directly from
forested protected areas. But every single day,
we lose 75,000 football fields’ worth of forests.
When they disappear, nature’s water factories
stop humming.
15. 40%more demand than supplyLimits to water supplies
As the global population continues to grow, so does our demand for fresh water. Many
water systems around the world are currently overtaxed, and some have already
collapsed. According to one estimate, by 2030 our planet’s need for water will outstrip
its reliable supply by 40%. We must find ways to improve the ways we manage and use
water — or we’re risking hunger, thirst and lost livelihoods.
60%U.S. lakes too polluted for fishingPollution
Pollution from human activities, especially agriculture, washes into streams, lakes,
estuaries and oceans. There, it wreaks ecological havoc. The nitrogen and phosphorous
used in agriculture, for example, promote the growth of algae that draw oxygen from the
water and create “dead zones” where nothing can live. Already, nearly 60% of U.S. lakes
are too polluted for fishing and swimming — and lakes such as Lake Erie have massive
dead zones that put commercial activity like fishing at risk.
$7 trillionin benefits from natureLack of understanding
The dollar value of the benefits that healthy ecosystems provide has been estimated to
be more than US$ 7 trillion a year. This value — plus the additional costs involved if we
lose these benefits — is rarely understood or factored into our decision-making about
land and water use. We must make it a priority to maintain large-scale ecosystems if
governments and societies are to have lasting social and economic welfare.
16. WASTE LESS FOOD
Wasted food also means wasted water —
about 25% of all fresh water consumed
annually in the United States is associated with
discarded food.