Water Scarcity in HistoryJoin now to read essay Water Scarcity in HistoryNatural ecosystems require water for the survival of the plants and animals that live within them. These ecosystems help to regulate water quality and quantity of water. Wetlands hold water in periods of high rainfall, slowly releasing it during dryer periods, and purify it of heavy metals and other contaminants. Forests recharge our groundwater, which can be used elsewhere for drinking or irrigation. (Bergkamp 1) Natural ecosystems can help to prevent floods, provide shelter and millions of people are able to get their food, water, and fuel from these areas. As the world population continues to expand people are overusing water and destroying many natural resources. By destroying these ecosystems, more that 3,500 species are threatened worldwide, of which 25 percent are fish and amphibians. (Bergkamp 1) Dams block the return of salmon to spawning areas. Toxic pollution and acid precipitation kill fish; toxic metals deform waterfowl; and leaching of fertilizers promotes the growth of algae in water, which reduces oxygen levels in water killing the fish. It isnt known what global warming will do to the renewable water supplies, but it may change rainfall, storm patterns and sea levels. Water is a scarce resource and it is predicted that 30 percent of the worlds population will not have enough water by 2025. (Bergkamp 3)
Humans consume water, discard it, poison it and waste it without considering the consequences. Supplying enough water in the right quantity, at the right time and in the right place has always been a concern. All of life depends on water. It is as important to life as air, food and sunlight. For this reason water has always played an important role in civilizations throughout history. People can live for days without food but will not survive for very long without water. The problem with water is that there is the same amount now as there was in pre-historic times and no way to make anymore of it.
Ten thousand years ago most of the people living on the earth were nomads who traveled near rivers and lake. Hunting animals provided them with food and most often animals would be found near a water source. Several thousand years later people began to live in settled communities and water was needed for household and agricultural use. Irrigation systems were built to water crops then there wasnt enough rain, and different ways to store water were developed.
After 3000 BC water began to be used in very sophisticated ways such as baths, toilets and flower gardens. The bathrooms and toilets in Mesopotamia were designed so that wastewater ran into sewers under the streets. As the population grew slaves were used to dig wells and canals to bring water to more areas. The canals were carefully built of stone or brick and waterproofed. Covered cisterns were used to store water for use in dry spells. Unfortunately, these elaborate water systems were destroyed during wars and after the fall of the Roman Empire it took many years before any were built that came close to these standards.
In the 19th century before the Industrial Revolution most people lived in villages and small towns without danger of using up or polluting the water sources. After the Industrial Revolution there were large populations of people concentrated in cities where many water supplies were either short or polluted. Once these cities were established it was impossible to abandon them in search of a better water source so often times large quantities of water were transported hundreds of miles to supply existing cities. In many undeveloped countries a piped water supply might end up in a public outlet at the end of a street. In Britain, a century ago a single outdoor faucet supplied a whole street with water and as recently as 1920 only one-third of the houses in Britain had a toilet. (Davies 36) Today we have high standards for the quality and quantity of water supplies.
Most of the planet is water and in some parts of the world water is taken for granted, but in the words of Coleridge, an Ancient Mariner, “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.” (McCarthy 1) Only 2.53 per cent of the water is fresh, the rest is salt. Desert areas have a short supply of water, the climate is very dry and frequently there are long periods of drought. In some areas of Africa there are very few water sources even available. Africa is home to 6.3 percent of the worlds population, but it contains only 1.4 percent of the worlds renewable fresh water. Water shortages, polluted water and poor water management are causing serious public health problems in Africa. Water related diseases such as malaria, cholera, schistosomiasis and dysentery harm or kill millions of people each year. People are not able to maintain a minimum standard of personal hygiene and are forced out of necessity to drink water that has been contaminated by
.> It might be possible that some water needs can be found in the local community of a given country, so the question can be formulated of which type of water source to rely on, so that we can safely assume an optimal value and give practical advice to those who make the most difficult water challenges. In order to be confident in drawing accurate inferences and for all parties involved to consider only the facts to which information is readily available, a standard of treatment can be developed in both the local and national environment to enable the people to manage their water consumption. The primary purpose of this document is to establish principles for the management of a range of water resources. The general application of these principles are described in a general introduction to, „Water and its management and the chapter on the management of the human body and the effects of man’s actions on water quality and quality of the environment are given in the Introduction. As is clear to all, there is also a need to examine this issue in a broader way to understand a variety of different natural and human factors, particularly climate, land and soil characteristics, water supply and conservation and the use of water in agriculture, mining, trade, industry and on all sorts of other purposes. [1/2]. [1/2]. [1/2]. #1 – Water Resources. For water supplies, it must be remembered that one is free to alter the amount or the range of different types of groundwater to suit that particular situation. What does any particular groundwater type have to offer? Let’s see how this is resolved with some example water resources. A small amount of water is used to produce wood products like grain and cheese and the remaining part is used to make industrial paper printing. As is clear from this paragraph, any one of these two types has to deal with the same problem — not water, but more so the fact that one’s water demands a range of different types of water resources. The question in Water Resources may include: 1. How might the water supply be managed and what should be done to adapt and adapt? 2. What is the water supply for a given country? The answer varies between different countries due to the way in which national policies are implemented and national needs are met. Countries also use different resources to meet their specific goals of water and health. Even small matters like water distribution can change the water supply and the level of quality and quantity of water consumed is not always easy. Water scarcity is very important as it influences other issues such as public health, population size, water quality and the extent to which those issues are controlled by governmental policies and the lack of any reliable way of accounting for the water issue is a problem indeed. Water scarcity in the United States is only an issue because of a drought — more so in Australia and the Netherlands, when the drought has lasted for so long as to have created water scarcity. The water shortage in Australia was much greater than in the Netherlands when it was declared in 2007. There were more than 5 million cubic meters of water stored in the country — 4 million cubic feet of which must have had its level adjusted to provide 100 cubic meters of fresh water to every single household — and that figure has doubled to 30 million cubic meters since that time. By definition, this number is less than about 1.5 percent (the Netherlands) of the national total. But in the end, the United States is a large water producer and is still dependent on about 2.5 million cubic meters of water per person per year for its daily needs. It could be that a government policy or the provision of cheap water to the United States could improve or decrease