Perhaps one of the most important flows of civilization would be water. Without water you cannot sustain life, grow crops, and in that case what's the point? Yes, you could bring in bottled water as they do in some places in the middle of nowhere, for instance some towns in the Middle East, but is that really sustainable? Since water is life, at least for humans, we need to take our freshwater supplies more serious. It seems there is always some sort of freshwater crisis somewhere in the world, yes, you can quote me on that. In fact, let's discuss this for a moment if we might.
This tiny fraction of freshwater is unevenly distributed throughout the world. So, some people have much, while others have almost none. In some countries like Nigeria and Mali, quantity is not a problem, but distribution and quality are. This is commonly so in developing nations. Each year, about 3.575 million people die from water-related disease. Million of people die globally from poor sanitation and contaminated water. Ninety per cent of the victims are children. Over a third of the world's population is seriously affected by water and sanitation crisis.
Before retirement, I was in the car wash business, and obviously water is quite important for work, and as cities hit Level II Droughts, generally the local municipalities, or county governments make car washes them severely ration the amount of water they get, and at Level III Drought, they are most often required to shut down. Imagine having your business shut down because there was no water, and you needed it to clean the cars? Indeed, that would be considered business disaster 101 crisis mode.
People Lacking Water More than one out of six people lack access to safe drinking water, namely 1.1 billion people, and more than two out of six lack adequate sanitation, namely 2.6 billion people 3900 children die every day from water borne diseases. One must know that these figures represent only people with very poor conditions. In reality, these figures should be much higher. As the resource is becoming scarce, tensions among different users may intensify, both at the national and international level. Over 260 river basins are shared by two or more countries. In the absence of strong institutions and agreements, changes within a basin can lead to trans-boundary tensions. When major projects proceed without regional collaboration, they can become a point of conflicts, heightening regional instability. The Parana La Plata, the Aral Sea, the Jordan and the Danube may serve as examples. Due to the pressure on the Aral Sea, a good proportion of the water has disappeared
Therefore, we must take considerable care, and we are going to have to be a little more diligent even here in the United States, a wealthy country, and create desalination infrastructure, lest we end up with one major crisis after another just like the rest of the world which struggles daily with freshwater supplies.
Whatever the use of freshwater (agriculture, industry, domestic use), huge saving of water and improving of water management is possible. Almost everywhere, water is wasted, and as long as people are not facing water scarcity, they believe access to water is an obvious and natural thing. With urbanization and changes in lifestyle and attitude, water consumption is bound to increase. However, changes in food habits, for example, may reduce the problem, knowing that growing 1kg of potatoes requires only 100 litres of water, whereas 1kg of beef requires 13 000 litres.
Trans-boundary Cooperation As far as trans-boundary conflicts are concerned, regional economic development and cultural preservation can all be strengthened by states cooperating on water-related issues. Instead of a trend towards war, water management can be viewed as a trend towards cooperation and peace. Many initiatives are launched to avoid crises. Institutional commitments like in the Senegal River are created.
This tiny fraction of freshwater is unevenly distributed throughout the world. So, some people have much, while others have almost none. In some countries like Nigeria and Mali, quantity is not a problem, but distribution and quality are. This is commonly so in developing nations. Each year, about 3.575 million people die from water-related disease. Million of people die globally from poor sanitation and contaminated water. Ninety per cent of the victims are children. Over a third of the world's population is seriously affected by water and sanitation crisis.
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Before retirement, I was in the car wash business, and obviously water is quite important for work, and as cities hit Level II Droughts, generally the local municipalities, or county governments make car washes them severely ration the amount of water they get, and at Level III Drought, they are most often required to shut down. Imagine having your business shut down because there was no water, and you needed it to clean the cars? Indeed, that would be considered business disaster 101 crisis mode.
People Lacking Water More than one out of six people lack access to safe drinking water, namely 1.1 billion people, and more than two out of six lack adequate sanitation, namely 2.6 billion people 3900 children die every day from water borne diseases. One must know that these figures represent only people with very poor conditions. In reality, these figures should be much higher. As the resource is becoming scarce, tensions among different users may intensify, both at the national and international level. Over 260 river basins are shared by two or more countries. In the absence of strong institutions and agreements, changes within a basin can lead to trans-boundary tensions. When major projects proceed without regional collaboration, they can become a point of conflicts, heightening regional instability. The Parana La Plata, the Aral Sea, the Jordan and the Danube may serve as examples. Due to the pressure on the Aral Sea, a good proportion of the water has disappeared
Therefore, we must take considerable care, and we are going to have to be a little more diligent even here in the United States, a wealthy country, and create desalination infrastructure, lest we end up with one major crisis after another just like the rest of the world which struggles daily with freshwater supplies.
Whatever the use of freshwater (agriculture, industry, domestic use), huge saving of water and improving of water management is possible. Almost everywhere, water is wasted, and as long as people are not facing water scarcity, they believe access to water is an obvious and natural thing. With urbanization and changes in lifestyle and attitude, water consumption is bound to increase. However, changes in food habits, for example, may reduce the problem, knowing that growing 1kg of potatoes requires only 100 litres of water, whereas 1kg of beef requires 13 000 litres.
Trans-boundary Cooperation As far as trans-boundary conflicts are concerned, regional economic development and cultural preservation can all be strengthened by states cooperating on water-related issues. Instead of a trend towards war, water management can be viewed as a trend towards cooperation and peace. Many initiatives are launched to avoid crises. Institutional commitments like in the Senegal River are created.
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