...Describe and explain the global distribution of water scarcity Fresh water is a finite resource. 80% of global fresh water is trapped in ice, snow or permafrost. The remaining 20% is mainly groundwater, only 1% of this is easily accessible. Around 1.4 billion people lack clean drinking water, 2.4 million people have inadequate sanitation and 0.5 billion face water shortages every day. The distribution of fresh water is uneven, leading to a ‘water gap’. Water stress is when demand for water exceeds supply, and is quickly becoming a global issue. Water scarcity is a more extreme version of water stress. Physical water scarcity is when a country is utilising more than 75% of the water available to them. Some countries suffer from economic water scarcity. This is when a country is using less than 25% of the water available to them. Greater demand for water than supply of water can cause physical water scarcity because there simply isn’t enough water in specific locations such as North Africa, middle east, California and south east Australia. Places which don’t suffer from physical water scarcity are places such as western Europe, Scandinavia and Canada. Physical water scarcity is caused by a variety of factors. Demand is outstripping supply because there is a higher population now than 100 years ago. In the last 100 years population has almost quadrupled in size. Increased population growth also means a larger supply for food and agriculture. Californias population is at 37...
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...Water Wars There can be no life on Earth without water. It is indispensable for human health and well-being, for food production, and economic activities. But despite its importance, water is rarely considered as a resource in the same way as others, for example oil. Water covers more than two thirds of our planet, so to many it may seem like there is more than enough, and in most parts of the world its availability is taken for granted. However, freshwater, what we drink, bath in, and irrigate our land with, is extremely scarce. Only around 3% of the world’s water is fresh water, and about two-thirds of that is contained by glaciers, rendering it not readily available for human use. Agriculture uses more water than any other source and wastes much of it due to inefficiencies. Today more than a billion people around the globe lack access to fresh water and many of the world’s water systems have become stressed. In addition, rivers, lakes, and aquifers are becoming too polluted to use, climate change is altering weather patterns, resulting in shortages, droughts and floods. The world’s population is rapidly increasing, and at the current consumption rate the situation will only get worse. So without improved and more effective management, the availability of fresh water will more than likely not keep up with demand. It is estimated that by 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages. Issues related to water scarcity can obstruct the ability of nations...
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...Water, The Finite Resources Outline I. Introduction A. Opener: What is water scarcity? B. Thesis statement: One of the crises that our environment is facing is fresh water scarcity which is a very serious issue and it affects our global environmental. II. Water shortage effects on environment and human beings. A. Causes disease B. Agricultural fields C. Poverty group D. Aquatic Ecosystems III. Water scarcity is causes by different factors. A. Global warming B. Changes of climate C. Decreasing ground water level D. Population growth and the increased consumption of water IV. Solution for water scarcity is a necessity. A. Water Sharing Treaty B. Environmentalists Oppose Desalination Solution C. Government’s rules, regulations and plan V. Conclusion: People should use water wisely to prepare a better future for our next generation. Water, Our Finite Resources One of the crises that our environment is facing is fresh water scarcity which is a very serious issue and it affects our global environment. In the boundless black desert of space, the Earth which is always a blue-green oasis has a finite stock of fresh water (Lean, 2009). Water is the principal element for all socio-economic growth and for sustaining healthy ecosystems (“Water scarcity: The”, n.d.). Water scarcity is the product of an inequity between the supply of and demand for water supplies in a geographical area. Plainly put, water...
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...of Social Studies P.O. Box 29776 2502 LT The Hague The Netherlands Location: Kortenaerkade 12 2518 AX The Hague The Netherlands Telephone: +31 70 426 0460 Fax: +31 70 426 0799 Contents List of Maps v List of Acronyms vi Abstract vii Chapter 1: Research Context and Setting 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Theoretical Framework 6 1.2.1 Understanding Water Scarcity 6 1.2.2 The Political Ecology Approach 7 1.3 Research Methodology: Data Collection, Analysis and Fieldwork 10 Chapter 2: Changing water regimes and livelihoods in South-Western Bangladesh 14 2.1 Introduction 14 2.2 Changing Water System in Coastal Region in Bangladesh 14 2.2.1 Impact of Poldering and Water Control 14 2.2.2 Reduced Flow of Water and Shrimp Cultivation 16 2.3 Interlinking Changes in Water System and Livelihood 16 2.4 Description of the Study Area 17 2.4.1 Features of Livelihood And Categorization of Farmers 19 Chapter 3: Conflicting Livelihoods, Contested Waters and Contradictions in Institutional Arrangements 21 3.1 Introduction 21 3.2 Expansion of Shrimp Cultivation: From Green Revolution to Blue Revolution 21 3.3 “From...
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...GUJARAT NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY International Relations Water Conflicts in the Middle East Submitted to: Dr. Aruna Kumar Malik Faculty (International Relations) Submitted by: Himanshu Sharma 10A048 (Sem – V) 1|Page GUJARAT NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY Acknowledgement I express my gratitude and sincere thanks to Mr. Aruna Kumar Malik, for his support throughout the making of this project. He has provided valuable guidance as and when required without which this project would not have been in this shape. I would like to thank Gujarat National Law University for giving us this opportunity to work on this project, especially the staff at the library for providing excellent research facilities. Lastly, I thank my friends for their support, for their help in the research and for critically going through the project and correcting the mistakes. 2|Page GUJARAT NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction…….………………………………………………………..4 Chapter 2: Causes of water Conflicts…………..………………………………….5 Chapter 3: Some Major Conflicts in the Middle East……………………………..6 Chapter 4: Remedial Measures…………..……………………………………….11 Chapter 5: Conclusion………………………………………………………..….....13 References..……………………………………………………………14 3|Page GUJARAT NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY I. Introduction The Middle-east is a region encompassing Western Asia and all or parts of North Africa, depending on the context in which the term is used. The history of the Middle-east dates far back...
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...by water scarcity? Water scarcity can be defined as the lack of sufficient available water resources, lack access to fresh water, potable water for drinking and sanitation to meet the demands of water usage within a region. Water scarcity occurs because the population is increasing around the world coupled with urbanization and industrialization so the demand for water is increasing and this will lead to serious consequences on the environment. Water scarcity divided into two types that are physical water scarcity and economic water scarcity. Physical (absolute) water scarcity occurs when there is not sufficient water to meet demand. This could be the result of dry or arid local conditions. Physical water scarcity occurs because of abundant source of water being overused and over managed. There is another equally challenging source of water scarcity: economic factors. Economic water scarcity is predominant lack of infrastructure investments are political and ethnic problems. Over 1.2 billion are basically living in areas of physical water scarcity. And almost 1.6 billion face economic water shortage. Water scarcity involves water stress, water shortage or deficits, and water crisis. Water stress is the difficulty of obtaining sources of fresh water. Water shortages caused by climate change for example droughts or root impairment, pollution, increased human demand and overuse of water. Water crisis is a situation where the available potable, unpolluted water within...
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...Class notes from April 14, 2011 This presents three different sample outlines for the Preliminary Research Report, using different research topics. I have edited the outlines somewhat, mostly by re-arranging ideas into the appropriate section (for example, moving some questions out of III and moving them into III or vice versa). After the examples I present a brief review of style/voice—in other words, how to write up your information in each section, by demonstrating how you might begin each section. In these examples section I and II present questions that the Preliminary Report would answer. For example, the first paper would explain who was affected by Katrina, what Katrina was, and so on. Section III presents questions that the Preliminary Report would not answer but would describe. For example, the first paper would point out that experts are still debating whether the Army Corps of Engineers was negligent. You don’t have to answer these questions in your report, just mention what a few such questions are. In these examples section IV looks at possible answers to the research question. In your actual paper you’ll present one answer—the one you think is best—and a very brief (1-2 sentences) explanation of why you think that answer is best. Topic: Hurricane Katrina Subtopic: Government response and public reaction Research Question: Why was the public unhappy with the government’s response to Katrina? I. Introduce the overall topic, explain basic...
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...Three Effects of Climate Change By: Nehanda Spencer Contents Introduction 2-4 Public Health 4-5 Water Crisis 6-7 Human Migration 7-8 Summary 9 Works Cited 10 Work Cited Pages 11-30 Introduction Well before the term climate change was used to describe the weather effects on the earth, I was informed about global warming. During high school when I was instructed to learn about global warming it was just a mere discussion based on the potential effects humans had on the climate. Approximately eight years later the suspected effects, of careless exertion of the earths resources among other influences, have drastically impacted the world and scientist have agreed that it is the cause of climate change. I was aware of climate change and I’ve witness many natural disasters over the years due to news broadcastings; such as hurricane Katrina, Washington’s mudslide and most recently Arkansas deadly tornado. However, I never truly grasp the importance of the earth’s current situation until I furthered my research in college. According to the ShowTime docu-series “Years of living dangerously” climate change is inevitable due to the amount of earth’s resources used verses those that are replenished. The documentary opened my eyes to the high tempatures that are spreading across the country and one of the biggest causes of climate change, which are green house gases. The tragic causes of these gases develop from the burning of fossil fuels...
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...Abstract: Availability of drinking water began to hit the people hard more specially in the urban areas due to rapid increase of population and unplanned development of urban areas. After India’s independence in 1947, the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) was established in 1956 by the government of Assam to fulfill the requirement of drinking water. This department was entrusted with the responsibility of providing safe drinking water unreliable nature of public water supply in most cities including Guwahati, people have to depend either on their own sources, or on some commercial agencies which is in fact not possible for all the dwellers on a regular basis. Therefore, the present study focuses on the sources of drinking water and...
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...Major Water Scarcity in California And it’s Effect on the American South West This essay explains the lack of precipitation in South West America and its effects on California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. It also explores the numerous alternatives that could be used in order to solve this water crisis. The cause of the drought in California is the lack of snowfall in the Rocky Mountains, which caused the river to evaporate. As temperatures are rising, it causes water to evaporate and dry out soil that we need to plant crops. Authorities are reducing the flow from Colorado’s two reservoirs, Lake Powell, which supplies the upper Colorado Basin, and Lake Mead, which supplies Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Evidence suggests “For the...
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...Outline future options for Melbourne’s water resource Abstract Melbourne’s water reserves in the past 10 years have been exhausted; meanwhile climate change predictions indicate the pressure of water lack will be increasingly serious (Howe et.al 2005). This problem is not just for Melbourne, Australia and many other parts of the world also face to the water shortage problem. Since there is a grave water shortage in Melbourne, the policy of sustainable water management is becoming very important. In order to prevent further deterioration of water shortage in the future, the Victorian Government made a series of countermeasures. There are several projects to solve the scarcity of water problem in the future and work out Melbourne’s future water supply needs, such as water restriction in Melbourne; spending nearly 2 billion dollars to build one of the world’s biggest water desalination plants at South Melbourne; building catchment to collect and feed rain into eight of Melbourne’s reservoirs and protecting the water catchment area; establishing two large sewage treatment plants in east and west Melbourne. The other countries also did a lot to protect water resource such as Singapore used nearly half of the national area to build water reservoir; Moscow had developed high technology for Sewage treatment system. The Victorian Government dedicated in long-term water management to protect water security and in responding to Victoria's...
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...informative tool in explaining the causes and consequences resulting from the dire crisis of water insecurity. My argument strives to show that water-borne infectious diseases can be prevented and controlled through proper management, supply, and provision of safe drinking water. I will acknowledge members of government and NGOs who have recognized the importance of alleviating water scarcity. However, I will illustrate why, despite that the action has been taken in various forms of projects, initiatives, and setting goals, many constraints against success remain in poverty ridden and socioeconomic insecure regions, such as Madagascar. Madagascar, a large island lying off the coast of southeastern Africa in...
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...Water is the natural resource that man and all other living creatures cannot do without. In fact, it is one thing scientists look for in other planets to confirm possible sources of life. For us humans, it is so important that in 1995, World Bank Vice President Ismail Serageldin said that “the wars of the next century would be fought over water” and not oil. Unfortunately, water is also one resource that we always take for granted and end up wasting through inefficient use and pollution.To make matters worse, what precious supply we have in our reservoirs and aquifers is now threatened by less rainfall as a result of the occurrence of a strong El Niño phenomenon which is expected to hit the Philippines by October 2015 until the first quarter of 2016. To ensure that there is enough for everyone’s needs, water distribution is already being interrupted or rationed in several parts of Metro Manila and surrounding areas.A shortage in water supply not only leads to less water for us to use for our domestic needs, but also threatens food production and energy supply. Angat Dam in Bulacan, for example, provides almost 97% of Metro Manila’s domestic, municipal and industrial water requirements, as well as 27,000 hectares of rice farms in Bulacan and Pampanga. It is also utilized to generate 246 megawatts of electricity.It is therefore important for each of us to do what we can to ensure that we do not deplete this supply. By learning to use water prudently and efficiently, not only during...
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...A Clean Water Crisis The water you drink today has likely been around in one form or another sincedinosaurs roamed the Earth, hundreds of millions of years ago. While the amount of freshwater on the planet has remained fairly constant over time—continually recycled through the atmosphere and back into our cups—the population has exploded. This means that every year competition for a clean, copious supply of water for drinking, cooking, bathing, and sustaining life intensifies. Water scarcity is an abstract concept to many and a stark reality for others. It is the result of myriad environmental, political, economic, and social forces. Freshwater makes up a very small fraction of all water on the planet. While nearly 70 percent of the world is covered by water, only 2.5 percent of it is fresh. The rest is saline and ocean-based. Even then, just 1 percent of our freshwater is easily accessible, with much of it trapped in glaciers and snowfields. In essence, only 0.007 percent of the planet's water is available to fuel and feed its 6.8 billion people. Due to geography, climate, engineering, regulation, and competition for resources, some regions seem relatively flush with freshwater, while others face drought and debilitating pollution. In much of the developing world, clean water is either hard to come by or a commodity that requires laborious work or significant currency to obtain. Water Is Life Wherever they are, people need water to survive. Not only is the human body 60...
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...the most polluted area in China) The water now is very toxic because of pollution, hydropower, and intensive water extraction for people consumption, it becomes red and purple and can’t be use even for irrigation. Also this river affects other smaller rivers because it has a lot of them. More than 4 billion tons of wastewater are dumped into the Yellow River every year. Due to this fact about a third of the river's native fish species are in the extinction. The Yellow River has been drained dry in the main course of its lower reaches and the groundwater table has rapidly declined in the floodplains. What impacts do these problems have on people? First of all, the Yellow River was a mother river in China, it was famous in Chinese history and important for Chinese population because they started their live near this river many years ago. Now they have a shortage of water because of the factories, which consumed too much for producing but no water is available because such a big and important river is polluted and poisoned. As a part of fish is now poisoned and dying this means that they will may have problems in future with alimentation because they will not have enough of fish to eat. Their population is really huge and it will be difficult to have fish for every person. What states share the Jordan River? Water resources in the region of Jordan River are scarce, and the five political subdivisions Israel, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan locating...
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