Water is the most important resource on the planet.
It's also the most plentiful.
But it's also not as useable as you may think.
As the world grows in population, countries develop out of poverty, and weather patterns
change all over the globe, water resource issues arise.
Without a proper plan for fixing these issues, we could be in for a very tough future.
Here are ten of the biggest water resource issues facing the world.
Number 10: The 1% Rule.
Despite the incredible amount of water available on our planet, only one percent of it is actually
drinkable.
Luckily, that amount has been good enough to sustain human life for millennia, but,
as our world changes, we may need much more than that.
Even worse, this small percentage isn't as clean as it used to be.
Most of the water on Earth, 97 percent or so, is salty ocean water, so we can't really
use it for anything.
Another 2 percent is frozen solid in the ice caps at the North and South Pole, so it's
unreachable.
That leaves only 1 percent that we can use for everything we need.
On the plus side, this small percentage of fresh water is fairly accessible.
A lot of it is in lakes and ponds around the world, as well as underground wells throughout
the planet.
We can easily get to it and move it from place to place to take care of everybody, but many
challenges are rising, including the growth of our world population.
Number 9: More People.
The world population is exploding.
In the early 19th century, the entire planet had one billion people.
Today, estimates clock in at around 7.5 billion people worldwide.
Mankind has never grown by these numbers in history.
With the growth of population comes a natural need for more water.
Every person needs to drink, bathe, wash clothes, and do many other things, all involving fresh
water.
The supply is being stretched incredibly thin, and will only be getting thinner.
At the rate things are moving, experts believe we will have 11.2 billion people on Earth
by the year 2100.
The problem goes beyond drinking and bathing, too.
Water is needed for farming, taking care of animals, and all kinds of infrastructure as
villages grow into towns and towns grow into cities.
As the population increases, the need for clean water will increase just as much.
Number 8: Development.
As with population growth, cities are growing all over the planet.
People have to live somewhere, right?
So, a lot of infrastructure has to be put in place, such as houses, streets, buildings,
stores, and many other conveniences of daily life.
Most of all, more water needs to flow to these areas so people can live.
With a growing population comes the need for more products and services, too.
People will need transportation, food, services and tons of other things, all of which require
water to produce.
Unfortunately, if we don't figure out how to handle this added burden, we could be in
for a tough road ahead.
Many nations around the country are growing faster than ever before and seeing huge numbers
of new residents.
It can be hard to keep up with infrastructure, especially in rural nations where water is
already rare enough.
Sometimes the problem can be eased by rain, but quite often these areas are in drought,
which leads us to...
Number 7: Worldwide Droughts.
Worldwide droughts have been on the rise in recent years.
If that's not bad enough, some of these droughts have lasted longer and been more severe than
ever before.
Scientists studying climate change are worried that these problems will only get worse.
Before we get into the issues of drought, though, take a moment to like this video and
to subscribe to Zero2Hero!
It only takes a second of your time, but, it means a lot to us here!
When an area experiences a drought, it can be weeks, or even months before a single drop
of rain hits the ground.
The residents have to find water somewhere else and sometimes the government has to ship
it in.
All of this costs money, and for poorer nations this can be too heavy a burden.
Weather patterns have been drastically changing in recent decades, leading to stronger hurricanes,
tornadoes, droughts and other major weather events.
Many believe that global warming is causing many of these issues and that we may not even
be able to undo the damage.
Number 6: Many Uses.
As we know, water is an important element of nearly everything on Earth.
From start to finish, water is involved through many processes of creating all kinds of goods.
Without sufficient water, a lot of the goods we enjoy today will have to limit their supply
or stop production for good.
For example, a cup of coffee may seem small, but when considering the water necessary to
sustain the coffee bean plants, process the beans, create their packaging and everything
else involved from farm to cup, a single cup of coffee can use over 100 liters of water.
Clothing can cost hundreds of liters of water to create, and creating meat products can
take 1,000 liters or more.
Multiply this by so many meals per day for every person on the planet, plus all kinds
of products sitting on shelves at the store, and you get a ton of fresh water usage that
can't be sustained in the long run.
Number 5 : Leakage Since we already have a limited amount of
water, you would think that every ounce would be carefully protect.
Unfortunately, this isn't the case.
Quite a bit of water is lost to basic leakage whenever it is moved from one place to another.
When water travels from the treatment plant to your home tap, it travels through miles
of pipes.
A lot of these pipes around the world were installed many years ago and have broken down
and are prone to leaks.
A few drops here and there can quickly add up to millions of gallons worldwide being
lost.
In addition to all of this, there's the many ways we use water and throw it down the drain.
While we need water in order to flush a toilet, that uses a few gallons every flush.
Many people wash their driveways off with a hose, or wash their car more often than
needed, and water their lawns beyond what the grass can absorb.
All of this results in a continual loss of water.
Number 4 - Rising Prices One way of combating a lack of supply and
a higher demand is through raising the price.
And, unfortunately, this may need to be the case for water in the coming decades around
the world.
However, this idea has its own problems.
On the one hand, water is a basic need for every living thing.
Even the United Nations stated that water is a basic human right.
But on the other hand, it costs a lot of money to move water from its source to the people
and, as we know, production of every kind of product requires a ton of clean water.
Someone has to pay for it all.
Some people advocate for raising the price of water for those who can afford it.
The extra funds created by a rise in cost could also be used for desalination, or cleaning
up the salt water from the ocean.
This would actually create more fresh water around the world, but it will all take quite
a bit of time and money.
Number 3: Industrialization.
Big companies and organizations can often be seen as the bad guy, and that's certainly
the case when it comes to water usage.
However, they still need to use quite a bit of water to create all the goods we enjoy
on a daily basis.
One of the biggest ways they use water is to handle waste.
Every kind of production creates some form of waste.
Most companies find that the most efficient way to rid themselves of waste it to basically
flush it down the river and into the ocean.
The only problem is that this waste doesn't just mix into the unusable ocean water, but
also affects the freshwater in nearby lakes and ponds.
As the population increases and more cities are built, more goods will need to be produced.
This means more factories; more water usage and of course more waste being flushed into
the fresh water sources.
At some point we'll have to decide between creating the goods we want and having clean
water.
Number 2: Businesses vs. The People.
Building on the industrialization issue, businesses and people will have to fight with each other
for access to fresh water in the future.
Like we said before, every product takes a ton of water to create, so companies always
need a lot of fresh water in order to produce goods.
But we also know that people need water for their everyday lives and health, too.
There have already been legal battles around the world between people and companies that
move into their region.
Factories are built in towns, providing hundreds of good jobs, which is great...on the surface.
However, when the company needs millions of gallons of clean water in order to function,
suddenly it's not worth the jobs if the people need to live with limited water, or none at
all.
How do we keep producing goods and keep up the pace of modern life but also not dry up
entire towns?
Until we find some viable ways to handle the issue, the fights will continue.
Number 1: Lack of Conservation.
All of the water use problems we have covered so far come down to one common factor: us.
Human beings need water in order to live and we also need water to create the modern lives
we enjoy.
Worst of all, it's very easy to take it all for granted.
Conservation isn't seen as necessary until a problem arises.
Basically, if water is still flowing from the tap, it doesn't seem like there is a real
problem, even if the worldwide issue is bad.
Now that people are becoming more aware of water scarcity, though, conservation efforts
are on the rise.
One major example of conservation success was in Cape Town, South Africa.
The water supply there has been drained so much that the city planned to shut off all
water, requiring water to be brought in from other sources and being rationed to the people.
However, between a few timely rainstorms, and the people voluntarily conserving where
they could, the plans to shut off the water have been delayed for a few years, and could
possibly be cancelled altogether.
If efforts like Cape Town were performed worldwide, the water crisis could be solved!
Or...at least delayed.
What do you think about the water resource issues facing Earth?
Let us know in the comments below and...take care!
For more infomation >> What Due Diligence is Needed Before Investing in Property Crowdfunding? - Duration: 3:08. 
For more infomation >> What Is A BLACKKKLANSMAN? - Duration: 16:17. 
For more infomation >> Manifest - What If You Got a Second Chance? (Promo) - Duration: 1:11. 
For more infomation >> Take a look at what will soon be first linear park in Miami-Dade County - Duration: 2:14. 
For more infomation >> What is the role of a leader with Jack Welch The Manager of the Century translated to arabic - Duration: 5:05. 
For more infomation >> Editorial: The statues are gone, Now what? - Duration: 1:20. 
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét