Water Crisis is a Global Issue
Abstract
This research investigates the water crisis in the world. Hydrological variations and economic policies, which are the major causes of water shortages across the world, are discussed. Human actions have been identified as the key drawback to the efforts set by governments and non-governmental organizations in curbing the water crisis. The relationship between water crisis and economic growth in developing countries has also been discussed in depth. Besides, various recommendations on how water crisis can be curbed are highlighted and well presented in this research. Collective investment from all the individuals across the globe, through proper education and awareness, has been identified as a critical way of reducing water shortages in the world.
Introduction
Approximately water occupies seventy-one percent of the Earth’s surfaces, according to Perlman (2016). Water is an essential thing for supporting life, yet around ten percent of the world’s population is struggling to access clean and enough water. In some African rural areas, an average woman is estimated to walk for around six kilometers daily in search of freshwater. Women and girls are believed in most communities to be responsible for accessing water in their homesteads. According to Troeger et al. (2018), diarrhea is the leading cause of death among children below five years across the world.
Eight hundred children are estimated to die from diarrhea daily across the globe. It is also forecasted that by the year 2050, one of every four individuals across the world will be affected by chronic or recurring clean water shortages. 22nd March was officially made the World’s Water Day as per United Nations in the year 1993, to address this global problem. Despite many efforts that governments and non-governmental organizations have put in place, the water crisis continues to be a global issue. This research provides a clear view of the water crisis across the world. The causes of the water crisis, its effects on the economy, and the ways in which this crisis can be eradicated are elaborated in this research.
Water Crisis is a Global Issue
Developing countries should focus on channeling clean water to its people since this is the leading cause of weak economic growth, which many people don’t realize it. Cleaning, cooking, cooking, animal production, and crop production are activities that cannot be done without clean water. Reid (2018) also argued that access to clean water is a stepping stone forever nation’s economic development. He estimated that around eight hundred million people across the world lack clean water, which locks them in poverty for generations. When people are provided with fresh water, they can practice good hygiene and sanitization.
Children are more likely to be healthy, which makes it easy for them to attend school and get a formal education. Safe water makes children grow taller, smarter, and more reliable. Water-related diseases such as diarrhea are also reduced, which saves medical expenditure among people. Parents are able to grow crops and carry out livestock rearing, which boosts their incomes. The scarcity of water threatens wildlife and flora. Malnutrition among children is also reduced. Recommendable progress in most of the developed countries to provide quality and quantity water needs by their citizens has been seen. Hygiene education and sanitation have seen to be providing many opportunities around the globe. Countries such as Australia have proved to the world that decoupling water use from economic growth is possible Yu, X. (2016, April).
The amount of annual water in the globe is enough for all activities that need water. Scarcity for this essential commodity in most areas is seasonal. Unlike a few regions in that globe that hardly receive enough rainfall, most part lack water on specific times of the year. The scarcity of water, in this case, is brought about by the lack of sufficient quality water to peoples’ demand during the times of water shortage. The need for water in the world has been increasing due to an increase in population, expansion of irrigation methods of farming, improved living standards, and integration of hygiene education informal education. On the other wasteful use of water and human interference on the water, the cycle has been the main cause of shortage in the water supply.
Activities such as deforestation as people clear forest for cultivation, the release of green gases to the atmosphere, and increased industrial emissions, which cause pollution, are the leading causes of global warming. Climatic changes across the world have been experienced for years. Weather patterns such as prolonged droughts and floods are being experienced a day in day out. According to Zhou et al. (2020), gradual depletion of the ozone layer, which prevents Ultra-Violet rays from reaching the Earth’s surface is experienced primarily in Antarctica regions, as a result of atmospheric pollution. These rays are the major causes of global warming, which in turn brings about the weather patterns.
Economic policies, planning, and management cause more variations in water scarcity compared to hydrological variations. As discussed earlier, adequate water supply is a great boost to a country’s economy. The major cause of poor economic growth in many developing countries is the lack of enough clean water to the citizens of those countries. Most leaders who are mandated with formulating economic policies do not realize that this is the major cause of poor economic growth in their countries.
The economic policies, planning and management procedure that these leaders put in place, end up not bearing fruits due to lack of enough knowledge. Countries whose leaders are focusing more on provision of clean water are experiencing improved economic development. Proper knowledge on this issue can help economic planners in predicting weather changes and developing proper strategies to avoid deterioration of the economy. Proper mitigation policies can also implemented to help its citizens especially during drought seasons and floods.
Education according to Olsson et al (2016) can be defined as impacting knowledge and skills that are essential for change of a certain culture, attitudes and behavior towards achieving a sustainable lifestyle. This is achieved by addressing the causes of climate change and developing skills that support sustainable development. Education creates awareness among people. Enhancing education and awareness is vital for the eradications of water crisis across the globe.
This helps people in understanding the role they play in the water crisis issue. As discussed earlier, human actions are the major causes of global ecological changes. Human beings are therefore able to reduce this crisis by having fewer showers, working towards eradicating water leakages in pipes, use of low floor toilets, and fetching rain water to help in watering crops and feeding livestock during the rainy seasons. Desalinating sea water technologies are currently being employed in several parts of the world to reduce water shortages. In this process the salty water from the seas and oceans is converted in to fresh water that can be used for domestic and industrial purposes. Increasing the water desalination plants across the world can curd water shortage by a considerable percentage.
There are other several solutions to water scarcity crisis around the world. Governments should work towards creating holistic water management plans. Conservation of water is big step in reducing water scarcity. Water reservoirs such as dams, when created, can store large amounts of water during the rainy seasons, which can be used to provide water during the drought seasons. Efficiency in irrigation and better soil management practices such as mulching, need to be considered to ensure that available water is put in proper use. Water recycling especially in urban areas is important. Treatment of sewage can used to recycle water which helps in increasing water supply.
Water filtration systems should be installed in any city to help carry out this process. Pressure on water sources such as rivers and dams is reduced if proper water recycling is done. There is for governments and every one working in the industrial zone to work towards reducing pollution of the environment. This will help in curbing global warming which is a major contributor to water crisis in the world. If all wetlands are protected, a great achievement in reduction of water crisis across the world can be realized. As people create land for cultivation in order to feed the growing world’s population, water catchment areas, forests and wetlands which include swampy areas should be avoided. This is a major cause of floods which destroy property and contribute to water shortages.
Conclusion
In conclusion, water shortage is a major source of many challenges across the world. Food shortages, loss of biodiversity, increase in prices of essential goods and services, poor sanitization, increased levels of poverty, water related diseases, conflicts among others are caused by water shortages across the world. Water scarcity is classified into physical water scarcity and financial water scarcity. Physical water scarcity results in situations whereby people are unable to access clean and adequate water sources in their regions.
This kind of water scarcity is commonly found in rural areas where people are unable to access water near them and hence, they are force to travel for long distances searching for it. Economical water shortage on the other hand refers to the inability of people to access water facilities due to insufficient financial resources. This water shortage is mainly found in urban areas where the price of water increases due to increase in demand. It’s essential for people to understand the causes of water shortages in their areas. This will enable the plan properly for their water usage and employ efficient water management strategies.
Collective investments in solving water shortage crisis can help solve this problem. People need to understand the effects of this crisis on other sectors of economy for proper decision making. Integration water management knowledge in formal and unofficial education is important in all parts of the globe. The milestones achieved so far by the United Nations in solving water crisis across the world are recommendable. The World Vision is the leading non-governmental organization in the world that has helped in providing clean water to marginalized groups across the world. Combination of these organizations’ efforts and the governments’ efforts across the world can be of great help in eradicating this crisis.
References
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Troeger, C., Blacker, B. F., Khalil, I. A., Rao, P. C., Cao, S., Zimsen, S. R., … & Alvis-Guzman, N. (2018). Estimates of the global, regional, and national morbidity, mortality, and etiologies of diarrhoea in 195 countries: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 18(11), 1211-1228.
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Zhou, J., Cao, L., & Li, S. (2020). Influence of the Background Nitrogen Oxides on the Tropospheric Ozone Depletion Events in the Arctic during Springtime. Atmosphere, 11(4), 344.