Water Essay ⋆ Environment Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Without water, life would not be possible on earth: Water is an essential part of any ecosystem and is indispensable for human development, health, and well-being. In December 2003, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly proclaimed the years 2005-15 as the International Decade for Action, Water for Life. Water’s molecular arrangement is very simple: Two hydrogen atoms attached to an oxygen atom. The elements are the two most common in the universe. This special substance has many properties, including the ability to change state. Water can be found in nature in three different forms: Solid, liquid, and gas. Solid water is found in glaciers and snow, vapor in the atmosphere, and liquid water in the oceans and seas, rivers and lakes, and underground water. Water on the surface of earth is constantly changing between these three states. These continuous changes create a cycle of repeating events called the water cycle.

This cycle starts when the sun’s heat provides energy to water on the earth’s surface, causing evaporation into the atmosphere. By this process, water changes from a liquid to a gas. Plants also contribute water to the air by transpiration. Water vapor condenses in the atmosphere to form clouds, and when the weather conditions are adequate, precipitation occurs in the form of rain or snow and water returns to the land and oceans and the cycle can start all over again. In this process, water vapor turns into liquid water (rain) or solid water (snow). Snow stays on the top of mountains for a long time until it finally melts and runs into the streams and rivers. Sometimes, snow turns into ice, and ice becomes a glacier. Most of the rain falls in the oceans and rivers, but some of the precipitation soaks into the ground, forming aquifers that store much drinking water. The water cycle never ends, and it is the only way that earth can be continually supplied with freshwater.

Although 70 percent of the earth is covered with water, only a small part is freshwater. Unfortunately, 98 percent of surface water is in the oceans-the remaining two percent accounts for the freshwater supplies of the world. Ninety percent of this freshwater supply is either in the poles or remains underground. Therefore, humans actually have access to only 0.000006 percent of the water available on the planet. Only 0.26 percent of freshwater resources are available for human consumption. There are also factors that contribute to the diminution of freshwater resources supply and to the rise of demand, all of them reducing water quantity and water quality.

Demand-Increasing Factors

The world demand for water increased six-fold between 1900 and 1995. Apart from the water needed for maintaining natural ecosystems, both world population growth and urbanization contribute to this increase by pressing for domestic supply and economic use. Industrial and agricultural use is concurrently increased, which leads to a greater intersectorial competition for this resource.

One of the most worrying factors of this century is world population growth. The population living on the planet increased from 1.5 billion in 1900 to 6.0 billion at present. As a consequence, there has been a worldwide increase in water demand. Within the next 25 years the world’s population could face severe water shortages. Greater demand for water for domestic purposes creates conditions in which some sectors do not receive water at all, and some receive it in lower quality and at a high cost. Moreover, this growth produces an increase in water use for industrial operations and for food production worldwide, but especially in poor countries that record the highest agricultural population growth rates. At the same time, excessive water use leads to surface and groundwater resource exhaustion, which produces a chronic shortage.

Water is used for household consumption, agriculture, industry, communication, as an energy source, and for recreation. It also contributes to environmental sustenance. Water used for household purposes represents 10 percent, just a small part of its total consumption. Approximately 90 percent returns to rivers and aquifers as wastewater. Most water is used in agricultural and industrial operations; industry uses between 20 and 25 percent of world freshwater reserves. Increases are expected to occur mostly in countries facing fast industrial growth. Industry only consumes approximately five percent of the total water extracted-the rest becomes wastewater that may contribute to the pollution of water reserves.

For the most part, freshwater is used for agricultural purposes. During the last half of the 20th century, food production increased 25 percent, slowly increasing world nutrition. On the other hand, agricultural irrigation uses at present between 60 and 75 percent of the water consumed on the planet. Irrigation systems are crucial but inefficient as they use and waste large amounts of water. Moreover, most irrigation is done by pumping subsurface water at a rhythm that makes it difficult for aquifers to recharge and depletes the amount of water available. According to the World Bank, the world’s population will need an increase of 55 percent in food production by 2030 in order to survive. Most of this increase will derive from irrigation, and three-fourths of irrigated surfaces will be in developing countries.

Supply-Decreasing Factors

Human beings modify the environment and misuse water resources that are also constantly threatened by pollution. At the same time, one-third of world population lacks adequate water supply. All these factors affect the quality and quantity of world freshwater supply. According to the Water Pollution Control Federation, more than 90 percent of drinkable water in the world is groundwater. Human beings extract water to develop domestic, industrial, and agricultural activities. But most of the water extracted from surface or underground sources is wasted or used inefficiently. The Second UN Report on the Development of World Water Resources states that 25 to 40 percent of potable water consumed in the world comes from under the ground. Groundwater is important where surface water is scarce. However, the rhythm of water extraction from aquifers is so fast that it prevents them from being recharged, which leads consequently to their depletion.

Most of the world’s water available for human consumption is polluted, mainly by human activity. Industrial and agricultural development affect water quantity and quality as they return bad quality water to the hydrographic system. On one hand, fertilizers and pesticides often pollute the water returned to surface water and groundwater through irrigation. Industry and urban areas also return polluted water to surface water and groundwater. Thousands of effluents are emitted into lakes and rivers without previous treatment, and others form leachate, which is mixed with groundwater. Industries, including mining operations that emit toxic, sulfide, and metallic elements, and the food sector, which uses organic raw material that produces organic pollutants, contribute to water pollution with millions of tons of discharge per year. Moreover, household wastewater, which carries organic matter, pollutants, and bacteria of fecal origin, is discharged without previous treatment.

Although at present, people live more healthily than the previous generation, more than 20 percent of world population do not have access to good quality water. There are more than one billion people who lack access to potable water, and more than two billion do not have access to sanitary sewer systems. Most of these people live in developing countries and have medium to low income-the poorest and most vulnerable population. Developing countries have also historically lacked territorial planning that helps them distribute their populations in a more balanced way. This concentration of millions of persons in large metropolises causes great pressure on the environment with a lessening of water quality. Especially in Latin America, most people live in huge cities where the water is usually contaminated, which becomes a permanent threat to their health.

At the same time, these countries use fewer resources, while developed countries consume resources in excess. For instance, in Canada the average use of water for a typical family is 91 gallons a day and in Europe the average is around 42.9 gallons a day, while in Africa it is 5.2 gallons a day. The UN estimates that around 50 percent of the freshwater supply systems in developing countries are being lost due to inadequate maintenance and the lack of investments. Water, sanitation, and hygiene have important impacts on health and disease. More than five million people per year are estimated to die from diseases caused by bad quality water use. Diarrhea, schistosomiasis, filariasis, trachoma, malaria, cholera, typhoid fever, and other water-transmitted diseases cause deaths that could be prevented if the population were provided with potable water and adequate sanitary facilities.

One of the consequences of population growth is the simultaneous increase in the demand for forest goods and services. These include the forestry industry, which also produces fuel, wood, and paper, as well as farming operations. When trees are bulldozed or burned, apart from the huge biodiversity loss implied, the lack of vegetal cover exposes the ground to weather erosion, making the ground less fertile. Another consequence of deforestation is the loss of water sources. The forest cover acts as a sponge, retaining water from precipitation in order to gradually release it later, thus minimizing downstream floods and drought conditions. If the vegetal cover is removed, the leaking is superficial since water never reaches the deep tree roots. It precipitates rapidly and can cause floods. It also causes water quantity and water quality reduction, especially in urban areas.

Floods and droughts are two sides of the same coin affecting the poorest the most. On one hand, bulldozers, road building, and intensive soil use for agricultural purposes often increase erosion and sedimentation. This may cause floods in the intermediate zones of river valleys and a reduction of downstream flow. On the other hand, in arid and semiarid areas, the transformation of habitats for human use, mostly agricultural, and the increase of over-exploitation including overfarming, have led to the degradation of more than 20 percent of the ecosystems with severe results: Desertification, drought, and biodiversity loss. It is necessary to highlight that one-sixth of world population lives in arid and semiarid basins, constituting about threefourths of the poorest population.

Water resources are inextricably linked with climate, so the prospect of global climate change has serious implications for water resources and regional development. The major cause of global warming is the excessive emission of greenhouse gases in industrialized countries caused mostly by fossil fuel burning. The annual emission is estimated at about six billion tons of carbon, mostly in the form of carbon dioxide. An additional two billion tons, or about 25 percent of total emissions of carbon dioxide, are thought to be a consequence of deforestation and forest fires. These excessive emissions accumulate more heat near the planet, leading to a more unpredictable climate coupled with sea level rise and over warming. The negative consequences of global warming are catastrophic: Desertification and drought increase, bad harvests, melting of polar ice cover, coastal floods, and replacement of the principal vegetation regimes.

Uneven Distribution

The small fraction of freshwater accessible to humans is extremely unevenly distributed. Some researchers refer to regions with water “scarcity” and water “stress,” usually defined as regions with less than 1,000 and 1,667 cubic meters per person per year, respectively. Quantities depend on precipitation that is scarce and light in arid regions. In many countries like Australia the availability of water is seasonal. In absolute values, the largest volumes of water resources are those of Asia and South America. They do not fully reflect water availability within the continents, as they differ so much in area and population number. Also, groundwater resources may play an important role in contributing to the total volume of renewable water sources.

However, these resources are unevenly distributed, both among countries and within them. On the continental scale, Europe appears to have abundant water resources. But there are many water resources in the Nordic countries and central and eastern Europe, while in western/central Europe they are scarce. In Africa, there are deserts in the northern and southern sub-regions of the continent where almost no rain falls. But in tropical humid areas in the eastern, western, and central sub-regions there is too much water. The UN declared in its World Water Development Report that by the middle of this century, at worst, seven billion people in 60 countries will be water-scarce, at best, two billion people in 48 countries.

Scarcity and Conflict

At the national or local level, water conflicts are related to access to and use of water among different users and sectors. On one hand, the way water supply is distributed among industry, agriculture, and urban activities has an impact on those sectors’ development. On the other hand, the way sanitation facilities and protected water supplies are allocated and distributed affects people’s health and livelihoods. At the international level, conflicts are related to countries sharing water resources. Almost 40 percent of the world population lives in countries that share river basins or aquifers. According to Aaron Wolf, water resources have played a role in shaping political forces and national boundaries. Westing has suggested that “competition for limited…freshwater…leads to severe political tensions and even to war,” and Michel Klare and other authors give many examples of water conflicts.

The most important cases are related to the Nile, Jordan, Euphrates, Tigris, and Indus Rivers. At 4,184 miles long, the Nile River is the longest river in the world. It has three mayor tributaries and flows from east Africa to the Mediterranean through nine countries: Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, the Sudan, and Egypt. The Nile serves as a constant source of water for these countries. It has a vital role in agriculture and it also plays a major role in transportation. Access to and control of the Nile’s waters has already been defined as a vital national priority by these countries, so conflicts among neighbors cause tension and instability in the region. Though the conflict still remains among the main actors: Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia, it is probable that all the countries in the Nile basin will be affected while the population continues growing and water needs increase. There were some agreements and treaties to share the use of river water, but these were only bilateral, without including all of the countries of the Nile Basin.

The Jordan River flows through Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan and ends in the Dead Sea. In the Ghawr Valley, it defines the border between Jordan and Israel, and Jordan and Palestine, a region with plenty of ideological, religious, and geopolitical differences and historical rivalries. Israel was created in 1948 although surrounding Arab states did not recognize its claim to the land. The region is extremely arid. The rainy season is short, and rains are insufficient for basic agriculture, so these countries rely on the Jordan River-especially Israel, because it is the only natural and clean river it has access to. According to the Arab States, Israel is using the river illegally.

Turkey, Syria, and Iraq share the Euphrates-Tigris water basin. The Euphrates and Tigris Rivers begin in Turkey, but then the Euphrates River goes southwest to Syria, and the Tigris River enters Iraq. Both rivers flow through the Mesopotamian region and join up again near Qurna, in Iraq, to form the Shatt al-Arab and end in the Persian Gulf. These nations suffer from serious water scarcity; therefore the Euphrates-Tigris Basin plays an important role in economic development and freshwater supply. The three countries have built dams in order to produce electricity, stop water from flowing, and for irrigation purposes. But the completion of these dams caused serious tensions among Turkey and the downstream countries, Iraq and Syria.

The Indus River is the longest in South Asia. Originating in Tibet, it runs through Kashmir in India, and then flows through Pakistan. The Indus is a strategically vital resource for agricultural production, industries, and water supply in Pakistan and India. The river is also sacred for Hindus who live in both countries. In 1947 India was divided into two separate states, India and Pakistan, and the basin was also divided, creating a conflict over the use of the river’s resources. The Treaty of Indus Water signed by both countries is considered an example of water conflict resolution, although territorial disputes for Kashmir remain.

In all these cases, river systems are situated in arid regions with severe water scarcity, and the only source of water supply for economic and social development has to be shared, so access to the river’s waters has already been defined as a vital national priority. Also, these basin systems are situated in the middle of historically tension-filled regions. Water’s uneven distribution and scarcity exacerbates the existing crisis over transboundary water resources. There are presently 261 international river basins, and 145 nations have territory in shared basins. While conflict can be dangerous, it also carries the possibility of producing creative cooperation. The need for integrated and cooperative solutions with special emphasis on the economic, environmental, and security dimensions of integrated water management is necessary to find a nonconfrontational way to resolve water disputes.

Sustainable Water Use

Sustainable water resource management has involved several groups. Industrial and agricultural sectors have to improve water use strategies, use clean technologies, re-use water, reduce contamination in their operations, and take care of groundwater storage. Reform in the economic sector alone is not sufficient-water institutions and policies also need reform. The water crisis is related to a crisis of governance because weaknesses in governance systems have greatly impeded progress toward sustainable development and the balancing of socioeconomic needs with ecological sustainability.

The International Conference on Water and the Environment in Dublin in 1992 declared that popular participation should be a cornerstone of government policies in order to achieve sustainable water planning. Citizens have to reclaim the chance to participate in decision-making; ensuring sustainable use of water will require changes in both the economic-political approach and in societal attitudes.

Bibliography:

M. Barlow and T. Clarke, Blue Gold (Stoddart Publishing, 2002);
O. Collins, The Waters of the Nile (Clarendon Press, 1990);
P.M. Kennedy, Preparing for the Twenty-First Century (Random House, 1993);
T. Klare, Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict (Henry Holt and Company, 2001);
United Nations (UN) World Water Assessment Program, First United Nations World Water Development Report: Water for People, Water for Life (UNESCO and Berghahn Books, 2003);
UN World Water Assessment Program), Second United Nations World Water Development Report: Water, a Shared Responsibility (UNESCO, 2006);
H. Westing, Global Resources and International Conflict: Environmental Factors in Strategic Policy and Action (Oxford University Press, 1986);
Wolf, “Conflict and Cooperation along International Waterways,” Water Policy (v.1/2, 1998).