Report - sustainability - compare the footprint of different countries - Coursework Example

? Report-Sustainability- Compare the Footprints of Different Countries No: Report-Sustainability- Compare the Footprints of Different Countries Abstract Water is one of the most vital components of our body and ecosystem. More than 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water but a major portion of this amount is sea water that is not drinkable. The utility of fresh water in doing various purposes is often considered as the water footprints. Different regions of the world have different water consumption that depends entirely on the availability of fresh water resources, income of the residents and efficient utilization of water. Considering the per capita utilization of water utilization, USA has the largest amount of water consumption while China has the lowest. However, India has the largest water consumption that is justified due to enormous population size of the country. Different food products consume different amount of water. In this way, the water consumption of a region also depends on what type of food is consumed and how the food is prepared. Another major factor that increases the water footprints is the utilization of water for bathing and cleaning utensils. Sometimes, technology increases the water efficiency and sometime, the consumption of water increase due to the technology. In this research both the qualitative and quantitative research approaches are utilized. The results remained almost the same by both the research methods. Introduction Like other resources that help life on the earth to sustain, water is also an important component that helps the life to sustain on earth. Most of living organisms have more amount of water in their bodies besides other components. A normal human body has about 60percent of water and the rest 40% is other essential components. Seas and oceans cover almost 70% of the earth but the seawater is undrinkable as the water is saline and can damage the vital organs like kidneys, etc. The process of desalination water is quite expensive and requires a large amount of energy. Out of total water resources including saline seawater, 2.5 percent of the water can be drinkable but a major amount of drinkable water is found in the form of glaciers and only 1 percent of the water is for the human utilization (Johnson 2012). Some countries have more water resources as compared to the others. As the number of lakes and rivers present in the country is responsible for making the country full of drinkable water resources. In the similar way, a country with less rivers and lakes makes the country having less water resources. Having less water resources directly influences the human life as less water resources would influence the corps; farms, etc thus influence the food production. To minimize the water losses and water footprints we should cut down the excessive use of water. Like little alteration in the way we utilize the water can make big difference like how we utilize water during bath, during washing clothes, etc. The main concern is how the water is utilized in different countries. What are the water footprints in different countries and how the water footprints influence the water in some other regions? In this report, I will analyze what are the main factors that increase the water foot prints and how the water footprints can be lowered. Methodology In this report, I will utilize the qualitative method as well as qualitative method for research. In qualitative research method, the secondary data collection method is utilized. In the secondary data collection, the data is collected from the previous research work associating with the topic of the research. The collected data is then analyzed and reviewed to extract the useful data from the raw data. In secondary data collection method, the previous work of other researchers and authors on the relevant topics is collected through various sources. The main source is the internet articles, journals and research works. Books on the other are also a good source to attain secondary data. Two research methods are utilized to conduct the research and draw the conclusions. One is the quantitative method that is sometimes referred as the scientific method. In this method, a scientific methodology is adopted to draw the conclusion. However, primary data collection method is also utilized through the interview questionnaire. The experimental approach is adopted to find the results while in the qualitative research method, results are drawn, which are based on the observation and the results are not experimented. Both the methodologies are quite different from each other (Hoekstra & Chapagain 2005). For the quantitative research, questionnaire is prepared and internet is utilized to determine the water foot prints and the utilization of water by the people of various countries. The questionnaire discussed the two significant factors of water foot prints, one is the utilization of water in the food and other is the utilization of water in daily household use like shower, dishwashing, etc. The results attained from the questionnaire are refined and thus The water footprints can be divided into two major factors; internal water footprints and external water footprints. The internal water footprints deal with the utilization of water internally or domestically to provide different products and services to the people of the locality. The external water footprint of a region is the utilization of the water to generate the products and services by some other country, which are imported and utilized by the region. The external as well as the internal water footprint include the utilization of the fresh water that is consumed by the inhabitants. The domestic water utilization includes the utilization of water to produce crops, vegetable, meat, industrial goods and services and other household use. While, the external water footprints may also include utilization of the water in the transportation of the goods and services. The water consumed by the persons that are involved in the transportation of the goods and services is also included in the water consumed in the transportation. The internal water footprint is the water utilized domestically minus the water that is exported from the country. However, the external water footprint of a country is equals to the water import into the country minus the water taken by the goods that are imported into the country and then exported to other countries. EWFP = VWI – VWE re?export Water Needs by the Products The largest amount of water is utilized to produce the crops worldwide. This amount reaches to about 6390Gm3 / year. As rice require a large amount of water (Hoekstra & Chapagain 2010), so rice contributes the most in making such a large amount, which is about 1359Gm3 / year. However, wheat consumes about 12% of the water consumed in the crops. The amount of water consumption in the corps significantly in rice may vary as the type of rice changes. Like the broken rice consume more water as compared to the paddy rice due to the water loss in the broken rice. The major reason in the increase in the water footprints in the utilization of a certain type of food as water footprints differ from one type of food product to other type (Hoekstra & Chapagain 2010). Like the normal sized apple of about 100 grams may consume about 70 liters of water that includes the utilization of the water in harvesting the apple and use of the persons that brought the apple to the market. Similarly, a coffee cup may consume about 140 liters of water while the water consumed in generating a kilogram of meat is about 15,500 liters of water which is a much higher amount of water. However, chicken has lower water footprints as compared to the beef (Rajan 2008). Sometimes the food products like the bread consume more water as that of wheat; a slice may have the water footprints of about 40 liters of water. In the similar manner, some crops are grown not to fulfill the food requirements but for other purposes like cotton. A shirt of cotton may have water footprints of about 2700 liters. Vegetable do have a water footprints but that are much lower than that of the beef, in this way eating vegetables instead of beef reduce the water footprints. Similarly utilizing tea instead of coffee reduces the water footprints (Rajan 2008). Water Footprints of Nations According to the research conducted in 2004, India had the highest water footprints with notable water consumption of 987.38 Trillion cubic meters in a year. While, China and United States of America had the total water footprints of 883.39 and 696.01 trillion cubic meters in a year respectively. However, Barbados and Iceland had the lowest water consumption of about 0.36 and 0.37 trillion cubic meters in a year. The total water footprints of the United Kingdom were about 73.07 trillion cubic meters yearly. A total of 140 countries were listed in that consume the water resources of the world. The amount of water consumption increases according to the serial number. Like the countries with lowest water footprints are at the top of the list while the countries with highest water footprints are at the bottom of the list. Barbados is the first country in the list that has the least water consumption yearly while the India is at the bottom of the list with the highest water footprints. If the water consumption is considered according to the size of population, United States has the highest amount of water consumption if per capita water consumption is calculated (Sab miller and WWF 2009). However, china with the world’s largest population has water consumption lesser as compared to the United States. The water consumption or the water footprints of the countries like the Italy, Mexico and Japan is also more than the size of population of the countries. Water Footprints of Nations in 2004 in the increasing order The values are in Gm3/yr = trillion cubic meters per year Total Renewable Internal External Total Water Water Water Water Rank Country Resources Footprint Footprint Footprint ------- ------------------------------------ ----------------- ---------- ---------- 1 Barbados 0.08 0.16 0.2 0.36 2 Iceland 170 0.14 0.23 0.37 3 Belize 18.56 0.35 0.04 0.39 4 Cape Verde 0.3 0.36 0.06 0.43 5 Suriname 122 0.48 0.03 0.51 6 Qatar 0.05 0.19 0.43 0.62 7 Malta 0.05 0.1 0.65 0.75 8 Bahrain 0.12 0.16 0.61 0.77 9 Bhutan 95 0.73 0.1 0.83 10 Fiji Islands 28.55 0.96 0.05 1.00 11 Botswana 14.4 0.56 0.47 1.03 12 Namibia 17.94 1.05 0.13 1.19 13 Swaziland 4.51 1.04 0.22 1.26 14 Trinidad & Tobago 3.84 0.73 0.61 1.35 15 Mauritius 2.21 0.65 0.95 1.59 16 Guyana 241 1.49 0.11 1.60 17 Latvia 35.45 0.93 0.7 1.63 18 Cyprus 0.78 0.59 1.08 1.67 19 Gabon 164 1.26 0.47 1.72 20 Gambia 8 1.28 0.47 1.75 21 Kuwait 0.02 0.28 1.9 2.18 22 Jamaica 9.4 1.78 0.83 2.61 23 Panama 147.98 2.11 0.66 2.77 24 Armenia 10.53 2.16 0.66 2.81 25 Mauritania 11.4 2.64 0.99 3.63 26 Oman 0.99 0.91 2.92 3.83 27 Albania 41.7 2.75 1.09 3.84 28 Lithuania 24.9 2.47 1.5 3.97 29 Central African Republic 144.4 3.95 0.05 4.00 30 Nicaragua 196.69 3.53 0.57 4.10 31 Georgia 63.33 3.92 0.25 4.17 32 Liberia 232 4.04 0.22 4.27 33 Costa Rica 112.4 3.44 0.89 4.33 34 Sierra Leone 160 4.31 0.15 4.46 35 Honduras 95.93 4.41 0.52 4.93 36 El Salvador 25.25 4.1 1.31 5.41 37 Togo 14.7 5.36 0.33 5.69 38 Somalia 13.5 5.07 0.72 5.79 39 Paraguay 336 5.76 0.14 5.90 40 Jordan 0.88 1.7 4.58 6.27 41 Moldova 11.65 6.15 0.16 6.31 42 Lebanon 4.41 2.14 4.3 6.44 43 Norway 382 2.57 3.99 6.56 44 Kyrgyzstan 20.58 6.62 0.02 6.64 45 Haiti 14.03 6.62 0.06 6.69 46 Burundi 3.6 7.02 0.13 7.16 47 Zambia 105.2 7.27 0.25 7.52 48 Laos 333.55 7.44 0.21 7.64 49 Denmark 6 3.04 4.64 7.68 50 Azerbaijan 30.28 6.51 1.32 7.83 51 Hungary 104 6.7 1.29 7.99 52 Dominican Republic 21 7.68 0.46 8.14 53 Rwanda 5.2 8.15 0.27 8.42 54 Guatemala 111.27 7.3 1.26 8.56 55 Israel 1.67 2.21 6.37 8.58 56 Finland 110 5.3 3.63 8.93 57 Turkmenistan 24.72 8.77 0.18 8.96 58 Bolivia 622.53 9.21 0.72 9.93 59 Papua New Guinea 801 5.09 5.07 10.16 60 Yemen 4.1 6.86 3.84 10.70 61 Libya 0.6 6.77 3.99 10.76 62 Benin 24.8 10.52 0.38 10.91 63 Bulgaria 21.3 9.91 1.42 11.33 64 Zimbabwe 20 11.77 0.12 11.90 65 Switzerland 53.5 2.48 9.57 12.05 66 Chile 922 7.34 4.79 12.13 67 Belarus 58 9.01 3.73 12.74 68 Angola 184 11.49 1.52 13.00 69 Malawi 17.28 12.87 0.13 13.00 70 Austria 77.7 4.81 8.21 13.02 71 Sweden 174 6.73 7.64 14.37 72 Chad 43 14.94 0.09 15.03 73 Tunisia 4.56 12.63 2.55 15.18 74 Ecuador 432 14.14 1.12 15.26 75 Cameroon 285.5 15.26 0.82 16.09 76 Czech Republic 13.15 11.44 4.7 16.15 77 Burkina Faso 12.5 16.69 0.34 17.03 78 Afghanistan 65 16.81 0.48 17.29 79 Senegal 39.4 15.14 3.02 18.16 80 Korea, DPR 77.14 16.7 2.07 18.78 81 Cuba 38.12 17.23 1.9 19.13 82 Belgium/Luxembourg 21.4 3.76 15.45 19.21 83 Nepal 210.2 18.66 0.68 19.33 84 Netherlands 91 3.5 15.91 19.40 85 Mozambique 216.11 19.43 0.05 19.49 86 Madagascar 337 19.51 0.3 19.81 87 Peru 1913 15.44 4.58 20.02 88 Cambodia 476.11 20.45 0.54 20.99 89 Venezuela 1233.17 15.58 5.56 21.14 90 Kenya 30.2 19.14 2.09 21.23 91 Mali 100 21.51 0.13 21.64 92 Portugal 68.7 10.5 12.13 22.63 93 Sri Lanka 50 22.13 1.56 23.69 94 Uzbekistan 50.41 22.76 1.29 24.04 95 Ghana 53.2 23.65 1.02 24.67 96 Greece 74.25 16.41 8.8 25.21 97 Saudi Arabia 2.4 12.21 13.69 25.90 98 Australia 492 21.77 4.8 26.56 99 Kazakhstan 109.61 26.6 0.35 26.96 100 Cote d'Ivoire 81 26.98 1.09 28.06 101 Syria 26.26 26.24 2.98 29.22 102 Iraq 75.42 27.23 3.68 30.92 103 Colombia 2132 28.75 5.3 34.05 104 Algeria 14.41 24.49 12.21 36.69 105 Congo DR 1283 36.42 0.47 36.89 106 Tanzania 91 36.53 0.99 37.51 107 Romania 211.93 34.6 4.33 38.92 108 South Africa 50 30.87 8.6 39.47 109 Poland 61.6 30.36 12.26 42.62 110 Ethiopia 110 42.46 0.42 42.88 111 Morocco 29 37.02 6.58 43.60 112 Argentina 814 48.32 3.34 51.66 113 Malaysia 580 38.87 15.01 53.89 114 Korea Republic of 69.7 21.02 34.18 55.20 115 Canada 2902 49.98 12.81 62.80 116 Ukraine 139.55 62.41 2.99 65.40 117 Sudan 64.5 67.7 0.55 68.25 118 Egypt 58.3 56.37 13.13 69.50 119 United Kingdom 147 21.67 51.4 73.07 120 Myanmar ("Burma") 1045.6 74.38 1.11 75.49 121 Spain 111.5 60.38 33.6 93.98 122 Iran 137.51 84.24 18.41 102.65 123 Viet Nam 891.21 100.21 3.12 103.33 124 Turkey 229.3 92.16 15.79 107.95 125 France 203.7 69.1 41.09 110.19 126 Bangladesh 1210.64 112.44 4.05 116.49 127 Philippines 479 104.4 12.45 116.85 128 Germany 154 59.86 67.09 126.95 129 Thailand 409.94 123.24 11.22 134.46 130 Italy 191.3 65.93 68.67 134.59 131 Mexico 457.22 98.02 42.14 140.16 132 Japan 430 51.87 94.22 146.09 133 Pakistan 222.69 157.34 8.88 166.22 134 Brazil 8233 215.72 17.87 233.59 135 Nigeria 286.2 242.17 5.9 248.07 136 Indonesia 2838 242.3 27.66 269.96 137 Russia 4507.25 228.85 42.13 270.98 138 USA 3069.4 565.82 130.19 696.01 139 China 2896.57 825.94 57.44 883.39 140 India 1896.66 971.39 15.99 987.38 (Photius.com 2008) According to the above table the water footprints of the country depends on the various factors like the total renewable water resources in the country, the level of ground water and how the water is utilized in the country that counters the behavior of the people regarding the water consumption. Internal and external water footprints also matters a lot in determining the country’s water footprints. It could be possible that the internal water footprints of the country are smaller but the external water footprints gives rise to the total water footprints of the country. Image Source: (Hoekstra & Chapagain 2005). In older times, when there were no mechanical or automatic systems for the utilization of the water like in the toilets and the electrical water pumping systems, the consumption of water was low for the household and other uses. However, as the automation and the electrical systems have made their place the, the consumption of the water raised (Johnson 2012). The excess food and the other products that are more than the demand of the local people were exported to the other regions to attain some money for the products. As United Kingdom have more renewable water resources as compared to the water footprints, there remains always more water in the country that the consumption of water. However, the idea still remains to reduce the water footprints even the water resources in the country are more than requirements of the country. In some regions the water resources are reducing like in the Israel, the major resource of water in the region is the ‘Sea of Galilee’ where the level of the water dropped to a level that is unable to be recovered. The reduction in the level of the lake is due to the pumping of the water for the irrigation purposes and for the household utilization. The renewable resources in the country are reducing due to the droughts in the region. While in the other regions, the renewable water resources are larger as compared to the total water consumption like in the Bangladesh, the renewable water resources are about 1210.64 trillion cubic meters yearly and the total water consumption is about 116.49 trillion cubic meters. In the similar way in some other regions including Russia, USA, Indonesia, Venezuela and Canada, the renewable water resources are much more than the total water consumption. However, most of the countries in the Arabian Peninsula have less renewable resources of water as compared to the water consumption. Some other countries like the Denmark, Venezuela, Barbados, Cape Verde, Malta, Cyprus, Egypt, Sudan, Morocco and Algeria have also the renewable water resources lesser than the demand. Besides oxygen, water is also an important component that helps sustain the life on the earth. Human’s body contains about 70 percent water besides other components. In the similar way, every living body including the plants has a major portion of water in their bodies. If the water footprints remain increasing the day is not so far, when majority of the people in the world are infected with the shortage of the water. This condition can be seen in some of the regions of world where water resources are reducing. United Kingdom has water resources more than the water consumption but it can be seen that the water consumption in the region increased due to several different reasons like increase in the population, migrations from other part of the world and mass production of food and food products. Industries other than the food industries also consume water. There is a need to cut down the water footprints and reduce the water footprints in a manageable manner. According to the research, the per capita water footprints of the USA are more than other countries however Chinese utilize the water most effectively (Johnson 2012). Conclusion The combination of the results showed that the most consumption of water is done by the USA, as the utilization of water by the people residing in the regions of USA, is done inefficiently. The major reason is the availability of the water and the eating habits of the residents. While Chinese utilize the water efficiently and take food that require less water. It is noticed that the water consumption increase in the Muslim countries due to higher consumption of beef or mutton. However, United Kingdom has also low water footprints due to the efficient utilization of water. References Hoekstra, A. Y. and Chapagain, A. K. 2005. Water Footprints of Nations: Water Use by People as a Function of Their Consumption Pattern. Springer Publications. Retrieved on 4th February 2012 from http://www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Hoekstra_and_Chapagain_2006.pdf Hoekstra, A. Y. and Chapagain, A. K. 2010. The Green, Blue and Grey Water Footprint of Rice from both a Production and Consumption Perspective. UNESCO- IHE, Institute of Water Education. Research Report no 40. United Kingdom. Retrieved on 4th February 2012 from http://www.waterfootprint.org/Reports/Report40-WaterFootprintRice.pdf Johnson, Scott.K. 2012. Humanity's Water Footprint: US Exports The Most, Uses The Most Per Capita. Arstechnica.com. Retrieved on 4th February 2012 from http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2012/02/humanitys-water-footprint-sasquatch-is-thirsty.ars Rajan, Amol. 2008. Forget Carbon: You Should Be Checking Your Water Footprint. Independent. Co.uk. Retrieved on 4th February 2012 from http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/forget-carbon-you-should-be-checking-your-water-footprint-812653.html Sab Miller and WWF. 2009. Water Footprinting: Identifying & Addressing Water Risks in the Value Chain. Water Footprint Report. Sab Miller and WWF. England. Can also be retrieved from http://www.sabmiller.com/files/reports/water_footprinting_report.pdf Photius.com. 2008. Water Footprints of Nations 2004 – Country Rankings: Water Footprints of Countries 2004 - Ranked Smallest To Largest. Retrieved on 4th February 2012 from http://www.photius.com/rankings/water_footprints_country_ranks_2004.html Read More