Global Water Crisis - Essay Example

The Global Water Crisis The global water crisis, denoted in the context of inaccessibility to safe drinking water, water pollution, and depletion, has indeed been an issue of concern over the recent past. Human beings, animals, and plants depend on water for survival. In this respect, any activity that contributes to its unsustainable use puts the survival of all living things at risk of extinction. This paper explicates the causes behind the global water crisis, the impacts of the crisis on individuals, society, and businesses, and also solutions being proposed or complemented to address the crisis. In a global perspective, only a small proportion of water can be regarded as fresh. It is worth noting that much of the fresh water is not physically accessible by human beings. In fact, UNEP (2010) estimates that two-thirds of fresh water is tucked in frozen glaciers, meaning, it is not readily available for human and animals consumption, as well as for agriculture. In terms of accessibility, UNEP (2010) posits that approximately 1.1 billion people lack access to water, and a further 2.7 billion experience water scarcity at least a month annually. The World Bank estimates that 80 countries experience water shortages, translating to 2 billion people lacking access to clean water. One of the factors that has contributed to the global water crisis include population expansion. Figures from the World Health Organization (2012) points that population has undeniably doubled over the recent past. Consequently, this has led to transformation of water ecosystems, coupled with loss of biodiversity. Rapid population growth has contributed to overpopulation in many parts of the world and thus many people have been forced to inhabit or encroach on water basins and other water catchment areas. Consequently, increased human population, which increased from 1.7 billion to 6.6 billion people in the last century according, has also been linked with unsustainable use of water (World Health Organization, 2012). Population growth has been accompanied by economic development in the last fifty years, and has also been supported by subterranean water resources which are non-renewable. The second factor that has contributed to the global water crisis is wastage. According to Wilkins (2009), ground water aquifers supply 95 percent of water used for agriculture in developed countries, while rivers, rain and lakes supply the remaining 5 percent. Wilkins (2009) further goes ahead to point out that most of this water is wasted through leaky irrigation systems, cultivation of crops with high water absorption rates, and inefficient water application methods. The wasteful use of water has led to drying out of rivers, aquifers and other water sources. Thirdly, the global water crisis has been linked with climate change. Many places in the world lack adequate access to water , experience frequent droughts, and floods (UNDP, 2006). Warming of the environment, attributed to climate change, forces glaciers and snow to melt and subsequently disappear. This affects freshwater supplies particularly in rivers hence lessening the overall quantity of accessible water. Fourthly, as noted by Wilkins (2009), water pollution is a major problem that has contributed to the water crisis especially in developing countries. In essence, developing countries are characterized by rapid industrialization. Rivers passing through or near major cities in these countries are highly polluted (United Nations Environmental Programme, 2010). In some instances, pollutants may also find their way into aquifers. Water pollution, as further asserted by United Nations Environmental Programme (2010), is also caused by nitrogenous fertilizers commonly used in farming. Runoff water carries the excess nitrates to water sources and consequently affect plant and animal life. To validate the notion of water pollution as a contributing factor to the global water crisis, United Nations Environmental Programme (2010) observed that approximately15 million children die annually as a result of consuming unclean water. In essence, international conflicts also contributes to the global water crisis. In other words, countries at times engage in conflicts in cases where rivers and other water bodies are situated along international boundaries. A good example is the case of Indus River. In a Harvard International Review article, Dunn (2013) posits that "The Indus River, a key source of water for Pakistan, has headwaters and tributaries in both Pakistan and India. When the partition between India and Pakistan occurred, there was great animosity between the two nations, which eventually led to a series of wars". In 1964, there was an Arab-Israel war caused by Syria's attempt to divert the river Jordan (Shlaim and Louis, 2012). Individuals, and the society in general, are impacted by the global water crisis. For instance, insufficient access to water translates to poor hygiene and diseases (UN-Habitat, 2007). Unsafe drinking water, a component that embodies the global water crisis, is attributed to high prevalence of waterborne diseases particularly in developing countries (UN-Habitat, 2007). The global disease burden can be addressed through the provision of safe water, sanitation and practicing good hygiene. As accented by the UN-Habitat (2007), in Africa, people spend 40 billion hours annually walking to fetch water. Women and children are the most affected as they bear the burden of water collection and have to walk for long distances to locate or access water sources. The UN-Habitat (2007) argues that time lost while walking to fetch water, and diseases caused by contaminated water keeps children away from school and expose women to sexual harassment due to insecurity. Without water, industries cannot function in both local and global perspective. Poor access to water translates to increased production costs for all businesses (UN-Habitat, 2007). Additionally, it is arguable that unavailability of water, as well as accessibility of poor quality water, risks the long term viability of a community and negatively impacts its competitiveness. In other words, without proper water management, the ability of individuals and societies to grow and create employment will be impacted negatively. It is for this reason that businesses must consider water resources when making decisions in regards to where to locate their businesses. In developing nations, lack of proper water and sanitation infrastructure restricts economic growth, thus affecting the ability of individuals and other members of the society to earn a living (Shlaim and Louis, 2012). Ultimately, restrictions in economic growth contributes to poverty. The UN-Habitat (2007) calls for leveraging of water resources as it is a shared responsibility of businesses, factories and farms. A wide array of solutions have been proposed and complemented in a bid to address the global water crisis. For instance, ENESCO (2012) proposed the use of solar powered purifiers in hot climates to purify water and consequently make it safe for drinking. An example of a solar powered machine posited by UNESCO (2012) include an invention that uses zinc tetra-oxide and titanium oxide created by Deepika Kuro. This machines works by exposing contaminated water to ultraviolent radiation to kill germs. As argued by UNESCO (2012), this invention has the capacity to purify water and as a result increase the number of people with access to clean water by 1.1 billion worldwide. A solution to reduce water wastefulness posited by UNEP (2010) is the use of carbon dioxide as a cleaning agent as a replacement to water. According to them, a great proportion of water is wasted in industries as coolants. In other words, the use of water for those purposes should be replaced by the technological use of CO2 as a coolant. The carbon dioxide required for this purpose may be recycled from industrial gases. As a matter of fact, use of carbon dioxide as a replacement to water as a cleaning agent and as a coolant is not only a solution to the global water crisis, but also helps manage climate change. According to James (2003), Israel has in the past successfully desalinated ocean water in a bid to curb its clean water shortage. This process was conducted by the Sorek plant that produces approximately 165 million gallons of fresh water. In this respect, desalination of ocean water is arguably one of the best approaches that can be used to address the global water crisis, owing to its successful implementation by Israel. It is also worth noting that desalinated ocean water may transform arid lands into viable lands economically and hence boost agricultural productivity. The use of desalination has also being adopted in California to solve water crisis issues (James, 2003). However, desalination can only be adopted by wealthy countries with serious water shortages as it an expensive process. Wilkins (2009) points out that long lasting water projects like dams, wells, and rain catchment systems should be formulated and implemented as a means of addressing the global water crisis. Wilkins (2009) argues that water projects are not expensive to establish and have the potential to increase agricultural productivity within communities, and provide clean drinking water that eliminates or mitigates the prevalence of waterborne diseases. These water projects, as Wilkins (2009) notes, has the capacity to reduce the time wasted searching for water and a consequence allow school children in developing countries time to attend school. Other solutions to the global water crisis proposed by Wilkins (2009) include imposing water tariffs to industries that consume huge amounts of water in order to encourage its sustainable use, pricing of ground water and also imposing fines on industries which pollute water. In farms, adoption of farming techniques that promote efficient use of water such as drip irrigation should be encouraged (Wilkins, 2009). In conclusion, the global water crisis is contributed by factors such as rapid population growth, wastages rampant in industries and agricultural lands, pollution, and climate change. Individuals, businesses, and the society in general are impacted negatively by this crisis. Water pollution adds onto the global disease burden as a result of waterborne diseases. Inaccessibility of water also increase production costs on industries. To combat this crisis, a number of solutions have been proposed: Desalination of ocean water; Replacing water as a coolant and cleaning agent with carbon dioxide in industries to reduce wastage; Use of solar power to cleanse water through radiation; And construction of dams, wells, and other water catchment bodies. References Dunn, G. (2013). Water Wars: A surprisingly rare source of conflict. Retrieved from http://hir.harvard.edu/archives/10414 James, F. (2003). Solutions for global water crisis. London, UK: Longhorn Publishers. Shlaim, A., & Louis, R. (2012). The 1967 Arab-Israeli War: Origins and Consequences. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. UNDP. (2006). UNDP Human Development Report. New York, NY: Universal Press. UNEP. (2010). World Water Atlas: Africa Water Chapter 23-45. New York, NY: United Nations. UNESCO. (2012). Millennium Development Goals 2012. London, UK: UNESCO Press. UN-Habitat. (2007). What are slums and why they exist. Nairobi, Kenya: Nation Press. Wilkins, M. (2009). Assessing the water challenge in Africa. Nairobi, Kenya: Pacific Press. World Health Organization. (2012). 10 Facts on Sanitation. Washington, DC: Adventure Press. . Read More