Major causes of water shortage on the earth surface
Answers
Explanation:
What is Water Scarcity?
Water scarcity involves water crisis, water shortage, water deficit or water stress. Water scarcity can be due to physical water scarcity and economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity refers to a situation where natural water resources are unable to meet a region’s demand while economic water scarcity is a result of poor water management resources.
There are millions of people all over the world who don’t have access to water, or, if they do, that water is unable to be used. About 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered with water, and 3% of it is actually freshwater that is fit for human consumption. Around two-thirds of that is tucked in frozen glaciers and unavailable for our use.
Clean drinking water is scarce, and there are millions of people across this globe who spend their entire day searching for it. Yet, people who have access to safe, clean drinking water take it for granted and don’t use it wisely.
According to WWF, some 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to water, and a total of 2.7 billion find water scarcity for at least one month of the year.Causes of Water Scarcity
1. Overuse of Water
Water overuse is a huge issue that a lot of people are dealing with. It may be overused on people, animals, land, or any other number of things. It may also be used for recreational activities without any care about the effects that it may have on the world around them.
2. Pollution of Water
Water pollution is a huge problem, especially when you’re looking at areas that don’t necessarily have a good sewage system. Pollution can be anything from oil, to carcasses, to chemicals, and fecal matter. No matter what it is, it makes a lot of issues for the people who may need to use it.
3. Conflict
If there is conflict over an area of land, it may be difficult to access the water that is located there. It may lead to the destruction of important local infrastructure that may cause disruptions of the water supply for many people.
4. Advance Technology Related to Water Conservation
There has been a lot of work in the world of water conservation, but there is also a lot that needs to be done to ensure that the rest of the world can conserve water. Putting money and effort into conservation could be life-saving.
5. Improve Practices Related to Farming
Farming and irrigation are often a huge culprit when it comes to water scarcity. Because of that, we need to improve practices so that we don’t use as much water and those who are using water are using it to its fullest potential. Technology also needs to advance in this manner.
6. Less Use of Chemicals in Farming
At present, excessive levels of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used to maximize crop yields. However, it leads to serious soil pollution, which in turn translates into groundwater pollution and contributes to the water scarcity issue. It is crucial that farmers reduce the use of chemicals for farming to ensure clean water and reduced water shortage problem.
7. Improve Sewage Systems
Clean drinking water starts with a good sewage system. Without proper sanitation, the water in an area becomes ridden with disease and any number of other problems. By improving the sewage systems in these areas, we can prevent water scarcity from becoming any worse.
8. Better Water Distribution Infrastructure
Many people worldwide, especially in poor developing countries, are still not connected to the public water infrastructure. These people often solely rely on fountains to meet their water demand, which may not work in droughts. These people are at high risk to suffer from severe water shortages. By connecting these people to the public water supply, water scarcity risk could be greatly reduced.
9. Support Clean Water Initiatives
There are organizations located all over the world that are looking to bring clean water to areas that don’t have it. Consider donating to these organizations, either with your time, your skills, or your finances (whichever you can afford to give to them).
So, as you can see, there are a lot of things that we need to consider when we’re looking at water scarcity and how we can deal with it. If we start to look at this issue as a whole, and we work hard to make sure that we can make a difference when it comes to this widespread issue, we’re going to be in a much better place to help people all over the world in preventing this issue from getting worse.
Major causes of water shortage on the earth surface:
✔ Increasing Population: The world population crossed 7 billion mark in 2011.Out of these, more than 26 billion population lives in only two countries, India and China. Therefore, rising population consumes more water.
✔ Rising demands for food and cash crops: With increasing population, there is a huge demand of food. For the production of food, water is needed. In some parts of the world, farmers irrigate the field from underground water, resulting in the shortage of fresh water on the earth surface.
✔ Increasing urbanization: Urbanization and industrialization often go hand - in - hand. Both industrialization and urbanization are growing at faster pace. Both of them depend on water supply.
✔ Rising Standards of Living: Many people wash their cars with fresh water, some people wash clothes on the river banks and use drinking water for watering plants. As a result, many areas have gone dry.
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