write a brief comment on the reserves of clean water in the world.(1×6=6)
Answers
Answer:
Fresh water (or freshwater) is any naturally occurring water except seawater and brackish water. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Though the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include mineral-rich waters such as chalybeate springs. Fresh water may include water in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, icebergs, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers, streams, and even underground water called groundwater.Water is critical to the survival of all living organisms. Some organisms can thrive on salt water, but the great majority of higher plants and most mammals need fresh water to live.
Fresh water is not always potable water, that is, water safe to drink. Much of the earth's fresh water (on the surface and groundwater) is to a substantial degree unsuitable for human consumption without some treatment. Fresh water can easily become polluted by human activities or due to naturally occurring processes, such as erosion.
Why is this important?
Clean water is critical to survival, and its absence can impact the health, food security, and livelihoods of families across the world. Although our planet has sufficient fresh water to achieve a regular and clean water supply for all, bad economics and poor infrastructure can skew supply unfavourably. Drought afflicts some of the world’s poorest countries, worsening hunger and malnutrition. Floods and other water-related disasters account for 70% of all deaths related to natural disasters. Global goals and national priorities on reliable energy, economic growth, resilient infrastructure, sustainable industrialisation, consumption and production, and food security, are all inextricably linked to a sustainable supply of clean water. Hydropower is one of the most crucial and widely-used renewable sources of energy and as of 2011, represented 16% of total electricity production worldwide.
Clean Water and Sanitation management in India, SDG 6 – UN India.India and Goal 6
The overall proportion of Indian households with access to improved water sources increased from 68% in 1992-93 to 89.9% in 2015-16. However, in 2015-16, 63.3% of rural households and 19.7% of urban households were not using improved sanitation facilities. According to the World Bank, more than 520 million in India were defecating in the open – the highest number in the world. This figure is expected to have reduced significantly given that improving sanitation is a key priority of the government which has introduced several flagship programmes including the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to clean India, the National Rural Drinking Water Programme, and Namami Gange, which aims at the conservation of the River Ganga