Sustainable Development: Water Resource Sustainability - Term Paper Example

Sustainable Development: Water Resource Sustainability Name: Student No.: Date: Name of Supervisor: Introduction The twenty first century presents a uniquely complex group of problems to mankind. These include climate change, energy security, sustainable use of land and fair progress. There are approximately nine billion human beings living, and to ensure they live decent lives, the priority must be a sustainable supply of fresh water, as well as foodstuffs, fibre and energy – these are natural assets that form a foundation for the production of capital. The attainment of global sustainability hinges on the ability to acquaint all areas of society with the importance of being mindful of the earth. This essay seeks to shed light on one of the major challenges facing the world today; the sustainability of water resources. Water is life, and without it, nothing could survive. About 70% of the human body is composed of water according to water.org (2011). Without water, our blood cannot circulate around the body, delivering oxygen and food to every cell. This scenario is the same for any animal life; plant life requires water for the same purpose – circulation of food. That means, without water, plants cannot grow, animals would not be able to feed; no food, no water, means death. There is only one other resource as important as water in the universe, and that is air. Background Whether or not there will be sufficient water for future generations is difficult to predict due to the versatile and complex nature of the geography of water supply and utilisation. Various numerical experiments have been done that mingle climate model outputs, water budgets and social and economic data gleaned from digitized river networks and these show that: A significant portion of global population is presently in a situation of water stress and The increasing demand for water massively overshadows greenhouse warming in defining the status of worldwide water systems through to 2025. The examination of human influence on the status of universal water supply is not well defined yet may be a crucial factor in the broader global change issue (Vorosmarty, Green, Salisbury and Lammers, 2000). According to water.org (2011), the earth’s surface is composed of somewhere between 70-75 percent water. Underground aquifers store more fresh water than is found on the surface. The earth, being a closed system, neither loses nor gains extra matter therefore it is the same water that has been present for millennia that is present today. This amount is estimated at 326 million cubic miles of water. Human beings are able to utilise about three tenths of a percent of this water i.e. that found in ground water aquifers, rivers and fresh water lakes. Scientific Implications The UN Comprehensive Assessment of the Freshwater Resources of the World (WMO 1997) estimated that about thirty percent of global population was residing in areas that were believed to be water stressed. What is meant by this is that they were taking out in excess of 20% of accessible water. This document went further to broad cast that 67% of the world would be living in a similar condition by 2025. The rising concentration of greenhouse gases that is leading to climate change is liable to impact on the capacity and scheduling of river flows and ground water recharge which would in turn have a domino effect on numbers and distribution of populations hit by scarcity of water. These projections on the effect of climate change must factor in not only alleged emanation scenarios and the climate model adopted to transform these emissions into regional climates but must also factor in projected population change rates. Arnell (1999b; 2003) describes the macros scale hydrological model that is utilised to simulate runoff worldwide with a spatial resolution of 0.5_0.5_. This calculates the daily cell water balance which generates stream flow from rain falling on the saturated part of the cell and by drainage from soil water. The parameters of the model are uncalibrated and are approximated from spatial databases, as well as a validation exercise Arnell, (2003) demonstrated that the model replicates the typical yearly runoff tolerably. The model however, has two failures; it does not replicate the loss of transmission experienced along the river channel that is widespread in arid areas and it does not integrate water evaporation that runs across the catchment surface and then either penetrates down the slope or goes into tarns or wetlands. There is therefore an overestimation of river flows in arid areas; of up to a factor of three. Secondly, the glacier component is not factored in; therefore figures from river flows in a cell exclude net melt from upstream glaciers. Climate change is viewed within the parameters of multi-decadal changeability, which results in varying volumes of available water at any given time, even should climate change not be a factor. Figure 1: Percentage change in average annual runoff: "2050s" (2040-2069) compared with 1961-1990. HadCM3. Source: Arnell (2004) Social and Economic Factors Water scarcity has varied causes, both natural and manmade. It is argued that these causes are mainly deterministic meaning that the causes and effect of water scarcity are identifiable. Yet, if we are to define water scarcity as the juncture at which water stress happens as in the case of conflict, failed harvests, etc, then that means that less definable socio-political scenarios are also to blame. The brunt of water scarcity can be blamed on rise in population specifically, the demand for more food. Change in use of land has an effect on sources of water. Decreased plant cover leads to more run off, but also diminishes groundwater penetration and storage capability of dams and lakes, because of siltation. When there is massive wetland drainage or deforestation, the micro-climate of a region may be altered. There is a need to make agricultural methods more efficient and increase knowledge on the soil-water interface. Poor land management and farming methods lead communities to ever greater vulnerability so that a slight shift in conditions can result in disaster. The development of ‘thirsty’ crops such as forestry development especially in susceptible places such as mountain catchments is another issue. They are a source of livelihood and fuel and other advantages, but the runoff from such areas tends to be significantly lowered leading to water scarcity lower down. The pollution of water naturally reduces the usability of available water; a situation exacerbated during deficiency of water. When the volume of water is high, the pollution load can be absorbed and the impact lowered due to a higher dilution rate. As scarcity of water increases, the effects of pollution have a greater impact on rivers, streams as well as humans and other forms of life that rely on the water. This contamination of water is as a result of a variety of phenomena including return flows from agricultural sources, industrial waste and domestic effluvium. Pollution can manifest at the point source and/or diffuse contamination. It will affect surface and ground water. When the river environment is destroyed this diminishes the river’s natural capacity to deal with pollution. This is further exacerbated by increased and mismanaged demand for water (Water Rhapsody, 2010). Figure 2: world water scarcity. Source: The Water Page. Another major factor in water scarcity is poverty. In times of stress, those communities with resource advantages and access to credit are better able to weather the storm. This means that when a water scarcity situation arises, it can have dire consequences for the poor in a community but only be an inconvenience for the resource rich. Thus the effectiveness of a country’s macro-economic policy in addressing poverty is crucial to the determination of situations that constitute water stress. The way in which a country deals with climatic conditions depends on its access to wealth – what could cause famine in a poor nation might only result in a short-term financial depression in a richer country. Figure 3: water scarcity in Africa. Source: Water Rhapsody Interrelationships between Water and Other Major Sustainability Challenges There has been recognition that metropolises and the increasing worldwide urbanisation have shaped the topography of the earth at this point in history; Concomitantly with the dynamics of modernism, cycles of boom and bust, the rat race that seems inevitable, and the image of a globe filled with slums, disease, pollution and conflict. There has been increased attention paid to the challenges produced by this situation vis a vis climate change and food, water and energy sustainability. Concern over these looming crises has led to both national and international programmes aimed at curbing the depletion of these resources. The problem with these programmes is their focus on just one aspect of the problem. This approach has been unsuccessful in harnessing a strategy to promote long term sustainability in the all-encompassing interconnectedness and interdependency of energy, capital, ecological, natural, fiscal, societal and political systems. There have been attempts to come up with this grand unified theory of sustainability known as the Club of Rome report in 1972, Meadows, Meadows, Randers and Behrens (1972) and later, the Stern Report to the government of United Kingdom, Stern (2007). Ethical Questions There is a hope that as technology progresses, it will overtake growth such that the development of clean, green ecologically friendly technology will become possible without hindering financial and material progress. This paradigm is very popular in global change and sustainable development circles. Another attitude to the problem of transition is personified in the discussions on standards, fairness, and basic rights of the natural world. This viewpoint is of the opinion that the solution is not principally found in technology but in the intellectual power of people: to order their lives via cultural characteristic creation and collective mission, founded upon political and ethical constructs, religious tolerance and spiritual interaction in the universe. At the nucleus of this attitude is the issue of our identity as humans, our aspirations and place in the world (Lucht, 2010). Strategies Adopted to Address these Issues In the process of reducing our carbon footprint, it is important to seek solutions to the earth’s bio capacity. This can hypothetically be increased by augmenting availability of land and water or increasing output of that which is available. The main bottleneck in preserving bio capacity is the continuous damage to ecosystems. However, the world community is off schedule in attaining the most basic goal of the Convention on Biological Diversity, that is, to decrease the rate of loss of global biodiversity by 2010. Practical steps taken to build a bulwark include incepting protected area systems, incorporated in the milieu surrounding, as well as the input of local communities. This is however, not a comprehensive solution. It is necessary to manage and restore damaged ecosystems and institute instruments to decrease stresses on the environment (Leape and Humphrey, 2010). Alternate Strategies There are many systems that have human beings in charge of the moral, religious, divine, ethnic or state foundation of environmental requisitions. Alternately, there are cultures that insist on respect for life generally, regard for the universe and its legacy, and lastly, self-respect as the superlative route to a prosperous future. This viewpoint limits growth according to how it encroaches upon the native rights of others, presently or in the future – regardless of geographical proximity, and whether human, animal or plant life. This limit is placed where the projected growth would alter the quality of life. The solution, according to this point of view is an overhaul in way of life, morals and priorities which are motivated by a culture of self construction. The nucleus of the strategy is natural justice (Lucht, 2010). Other strategies include natural gas utilisation as a temporary instrument that would produce a gas bubble that extends from 2010-2040 (Leape and Humphrey, 2010). Conclusion Undoubtedly, an investment in science universally would broaden the horizons of the peoples in both developed and developing worlds and increase the possibility of attaining sustainable global resources. This will entail greater discourse amongst stakeholders that is governments, NGOs, and the press on one hand and the scientific community on the other. The calibre of socio-economic change that is necessary to set us on the right path may be intimidating but the world has already come a long way in achieving these goals. Climate change provides the spur to motivate us to accelerate efforts to achieve global sustainability. With the intellect and ingenuity of humankind, the challenge of ensuring that we as a species survive into the next millennium, can be overcome. References Arnell, Nigel. W. (1999). A simple water balance model for the simulation of stream flow Over a large geographic domain. Journal of Hydrology 217, 314–335. Arnell, Nigel. W. (2003). Effect of IPCC SRES emissions scenarios on river runoff: a global Perspective. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, submitted for publication. Arnell, Nigel. W. (2004). Climate change and global water resources: SRES emissions and Socio-economic scenarios. School of Geography, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK Article in Press. Elsevier. Leape, James P. and Humphrey, Sarah. (2010). towards a sustainable future in. Global Sustainability a Nobel Cause. Cambridge University Press. New York. Lucht, Wolfgang. (2010). Earth System Analysis and Taking A Crude Look At The Whole In. Global Sustainability A Nobel Cause. Cambridge University Press. New York. Meadows, D. H., Meadows, D. L., Randers, J. and Behrens, W. W. (1972). The Limits to Growth: A Report for the Club of Rome’s Project on the Predicament of Mankind. New York. Stern, N. (2007). The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review. Cambridge. Vorosmarty, Charles, J. Green, Pamela, Salisbury, Joseph, and Lammers, Richard, B. (2000). Global Water Resources: Vulnerability from Climate; Change and Population Growth Science 289, 284 World Meteorological Organisation. (1997). A comprehensive assessment of the freshwater Resources of the world. WMO: Geneva. Water. (2011). 20 Interesting and Useful Water Facts. Retrieved 25th May 2011 from http://www.allaboutwater.org/water-facts.html Water Rhapsody. (2010). The Physical Causes of Water Scarcity (southern Africa). Retrieved 25th May 2011 from http://www.rainharvest.co.za Water Rhapsody. (2010). Socio-Political Causes of Water Scarcity. May 21st. Retrieved 25thMay 2011 from http://www.rainharvest.co.za Read More