Fresh_Water_Crisis

Fresh water is emerging as the most critical resource issue facing humanity. Is it imagined that Over 1 billion people can not have access to clean drinking water and more than 2 billion lack access to adequate sanitation' In addition, millions die every year due to preventable water-related diseases. While the supply of fresh water is limited, both the world’s population and demand for the resource continues to expand rapidly. Therefore, wise use of water and solution will become increasingly important as the years go by because the world’s demand for freshwater is currently overtaking its ready supply in many place. This essay will describe the growing global freshwater crisis, including cause and effects. Also it will evaluate the proposed solutions, and argue that what is the best the solution which can improve the freshwater supply in the future. More than a billion people in developing centuries lack access to safe drinking water, and more than 2 billion lack proper sanitation.(Nature publishing group,2008).Lack of access to water may cause starvation, disease, political instability and even armed conflict.(Roger, 2008) In addition, Polluted water, water shortages, and unsanitary living conditions kill over 12 million people a year. Scientists expect water scarcity to become more common in large part because the word’s population is rising, many people are getting wealthier and global climate change. .(Nature publishing group,2008). Firstly, there is a close relationship between population and freshwater resources. The world’s rapid population growth over the last century has been a major factor in increasing global water usage. The world’s population is 6.6 billion and still growing (Mccarthy, 2008). On average, each person on the earth needs a minimum of 1000 cubic meters of water per year for drinking,hygiene and growing food for sustenance (Rogers, 2008). By 2050, the 12,000 cubic kilometer of water will be needed to feed the world’s growing population.( Nature Publishing Group, 2008). In other words, Population growth increases demand for water for food production, household consumption, and industrial uses.(Nature publishing Group 2008). However, the availability of fresh water limits how many people an area can support, while population growth, urbanization, and migration all affect the availability and quality of water resources (Mccarthy, 2008). Over 50countries could face serious water shortages, affecting more than 3.3 billion people (Nature publishing Group 2008). The climate change is one of the problems to cause the world freshwater crisis. Climate change is already happening and represents one of the greatest environmental, social and economic threats facing the planet. The warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level (Nature publishing Group, 2008). There are many impacts caused by the climate change. Planning and design criteria based on historic records may no longer be applicable in a world. (Mccarthy ,2008). Furthermore, Global climate change lead to exacerbating aridity and reducing supply in many regions and it resulted in agriculture in all regions at risk of water scarcity. (Nature Publishing Group, 2008) One of the main causes of freshwater crisis is the economic development. The world is getting richer and the economic is growing and the nations are shifting their energy consumption toward intensities common in the development. (Nature Publishing Group, 2008) In addition, The urban population exceeded the rural population for the first time in history (Mccarthy ,2008). According to some researchers, Richer groups generally consume more water, especially in urban and industrial areas. (Rogers, 2008). Desalination is the one of the possible solution to overcome the freshwater crisis. Desalination is the process of removing salt from seawater or groundwater. (Mccarthy, 2008).The earth is consisted of 97% of salty water. New lower cost desalination plants could expand freshwater supplies for coastal population centres. Essentially, pressure is applied to salty water so that water molecules within it pass through a selective membrane, yielding freshwater on the other side. Although the filter process tends to be power hungry, next generation membranes, energy-recovery techniques and other innovations could help save energy.(Roger 2008) Setting higher prices for water in large cities and industrial areas is the one of possible solution.Higher price for water can encourage water agencies to build recycling and reclamation systems. It also convinces municipalities and other to reduce water losses by improving maintenance of water delivery system. (Nature Publishing Group, 2008) Reference Rogers P,2008,’Facing the Freshwater Crisis’ ,Scientific American Nature Publishing Group,2008,’A fresh approach to water’, nature, vol. 452, no. 7185. Mccarthy D, 2008, Water Sustainability: A Looming Global Challenge’, Pollution Engineering.pp44-47