Water scarcity is the lack of water resources in a region. It already affects every continent and around 2.8 billion people around the world at least once a month in a year. Over 1.2 billion people are deprived of access to clean water to drink. Water scarcity involves water stress: when the demand for water exceeds the amount that there is in stock, water shortage: which is a shortage or lack of water. While the concept of water stress is recently new, it is the difficulty of obtaining fresh water for use during an amount of time and it can cause depletion and deterioration of the available water sources. Water shortages are caused by: climate change, altered weather patterns, increased pollution, and overuse of water.
Water scarcity is definitely a problem, it is the cause of 289 000 deaths of kids under five (from diarrheal diseases) because the lack of clean water means that there is only disgusting water from them to drink causing them to get sick. In the first image, the cycle to the side is the cycle of water scarcity. The lack of clean water means to start with, disease, no education, meaning they can’t get a job, then they have no money and that means they are unable to support their families. Which keeps their families in the cycle too. The cycle will continue onward until someone can manage to bring their out.
Water covers 70% of our planet, so it is easy to think that it will always be there. However fresh water, the stuff we drink, bathe in, and irrigate farms with is incredibly rare. Only 3% of the world’s water is fresh water and two-thirds of that is safely tucked in frozen glaciers or otherwise unavailable for our use. In the first image, that is what SOME PEOPLE HAVE FOR DRINKING, BATHING, WASHING clothes and dishes. In the second image it shows people have nothing, they are searching for water they probably won’t end up finding. And the last is what many people have, these people often don’t realise that there are others who have worse and much less than them they often take what they have for granted. When people take what they have for granted they don’t realise people have less, making those who don’t have much in a worse situation because nobody is recognising that they are in trouble. At the current consumption levels, they are only going to get worse, if it continues to go forward like this, by 2025 two-thirds of the world will have trouble getting access to water.
The map above shows the water scarcity around the world. The dark blue means that there is little to no water scarcity, this is the most common colour and is present in most continents. Grey means that no one knows if there is any water scarcity or they just don’t know the situations of those places. The grey areas are also very common. The dark yellow means that they are approaching having the lack of water, but they are not quite there yet. The dark yellow areas are currently making themselves more and more known. The red areas are where they have physical water scarcity and those areas are appearing quite frequently for something so horrific. Last of all there is the light yellow which is economic water scarcity and is quite prominent towards the centre/equator of the earth.
In the satellite image above it shows what is light green (meaning they probably have good access to water because of the climate/weather conditions). What is a darker green means dense forest and a cooler climate, so they most likely have a better chance of getting fresh rain water. The places that are light, sand like colours are deserts. These places are the least likely to have flowing, fresh water.
In Libya there is a growing awareness of increasing demand for fresh water while fossil groundwater supply is limited. Despite the strenuous efforts made by the country, it still faces serious water deficits due to continuously increasing water demands beyond the limits of it’s available water resources.
Libya’s troubles are twofold in that it is undergoing a period of political upheaval while also suffering from lack of water and other necessary resources. Libya’s local water resources have never been reliable, but the added stresses of regime change have acted to cut off water for much of the country’s population, including the capital of Tripoli. Violence and unrest typically rule the news about Libya, but the broader fact is that the country goes through frequent and severe stretches without fuel, food and water.
Libya is currently the fifth most water scarce country in the world due to its barren land, 93% of Libya receives less than 100ml of rain each year. 50% of Libya’s population doesn't have access to clean water. They use stagnant fossil water which has bacteria and can cause water born diseases.
Often described as the ”disputed territory of western Sahara,” the colony is home to thousands of Sahrawi refugees who suffer constant food and water shortages due to over a decade long of struggle between Morocco and the Sahrawi tribal group known as the polisario front. The conflict is unlikely to end due to natural resources in the area and the possibility of offshore oil, which means the people will continue to go thirsty. Since 1, May, 2015, temperatures have been exceptionally high in Western Sahara and water shortage problems began in the cities and towns occupied by Morocco. The frequent cuts in tap water supply without prior warning, the national drinking water agency in some of the cities, force the local residents to purchase pumps to store this water in tanks on their own roofs and they have to buy it from private vendors making it even more expensive. For those who can afford it, the drinking water delivered by a tanker vehicle is purchased at prices at least ten times higher than tap water.
Yemen is a hotbed of conflict and a way point for terrorists traveling through the middle east, and as such it is always in a weaken
Yemen is a hotbed of conflict and a waypoint for terrorists traveling through the Middle East, and as such it is often in a weakened position to receive aid that includes fresh water.
The country has little natural fresh water to use and relies heavily on water from other sources. Political strife in the region often prevents the people from receiving many necessities and water is chief among them. Some experts predict that the country’s capital of Sanaa will be the first major city in the world to run out of water.
Eastern Africa has long been the target of humanitarian aid from familiar acronyms like UNICEF and UNHCR, and Djibouti’s legacy as a refugee corridor and strategic military position has always made it a stress point for adequate water supply.
An arid climate that is prone to drought and poor infrastructure does not help, and frequently leaves millions without reliable access to fresh water.
Since 2007, Djibouti has been suffering from serious and continuous drought. According to a study performed in 2011 by the Department of Environmental Sciences and Management of the University if Leige in Belgium, “total precipitation has decreased by 17.4% per decade from 1980 to 2011 and recent mean yearly rainfall meets a 73% deficit compared to the 30 year average.” the study also found that the “average temperature increase is by +0.28 degrees Celsius per decade” and that extremely warm days that get up to over 45.0 degrees Celsius have become 15 times more frequent.
Jordan is in the uncomfortable position of being located in the arid ad politically divided Middle East while lacking valuable access to natural resources that its equally waterless neighbours enjoy. This means that it must heavily rely on its own natural resources, namely the Dead Sea and the Jordan river. Increased desertification and a growing population are acting together to destroy the water supply, and a plan for alternate sources has not been created.
The graph above types of consumed water in 1991, 2010 and they have predicted the water consumption for 2025. In 1991 majority of the graph was taken up by groundwater (The water found underground, under trees, rocks, soil, etc.) the smallest amount of the graph was taken up water recycling (reclaimed or recycled water is the water that has been taken away to be remade or reused, reuse can be irrigation, of grounds and agricultural areas or replenishing surface water and groundwater). In 2010 the largest amount of space taken up on the graph was local surface water (water that is collected on the surface). The smallest amount of space taken up was again from water recycling. The prediction of 2025 shows that the largest amount of space taken up was from local surface water. The smallest amount of space taken up is from water conservation (the conserving or keeping of water)
Education: there are plenty of opportunities out there that people can use in order to learn more about the world around them. By educating those who are not dealing with water scarcity, they can be in a position to help. Those who are dealing with it can get educated on how they can prevent the problem from getting worse in the future.
Recycle water: there are plenty of technologies out there that allow you to recycle rainwater and other water that you may be using in your home. Consider learning about how you can recycle water. Not only does it help prevent scarcity, but it can save you money from bills as well.
Advance technology related to water conservation: there has been a lot of work done in the world of water conservation, but there is still a lot that is required to be done in order to ensure that the rest of the world is able to conserve water. Putting money and effort into conservation could be life saving.
Advantages:
Fresh water is available to more people.
Quality of life is improved for many more people
Irrigation costs are 10% of desalination cost.
Disadvantages:
There are no restrictions on the amount of water taken from underground.
The water isn’t replenished easily.
Advantages:
Can change from occasional to continuous water supply.
Low price for consumers.
Disadvantages:
Expensive
Energy intensive
Environmental impacts (discharge of brine into the sea)
Advantages:
Expand farmlands from regular irrigation.
Controls floods.
Reliable water sources for growing population.
Disadvantages:
Increases the problem of water evaporation.
Silt is trapped and it increases the cost of irrigation by doing so.
Increase of unnatural fertilisers.
Changes the flow of the river and erosion of the riverbanks.
Stagnant water which increases insect population.
Advantages:
It reduces the cost of water.
Kinder to the environment.
It reduces the impact of water restrictions.
Disadvantages:
You may need to treat the water to make it safe. Making the cost increase.
It can be difficult to hold the right amount of water for the population of the area.
Life Straws: The life straw is a water filter designed to be used by one person for drinking. It filters a maximum of 1 000 litres of water, enough for one person for one year. It removes almost all of waterborne bacteria and parasites. Life straws are ideal for when a long term solution is being set in place. E.G. If a dam is being place it may take six months but in those six months people are going to die, so a life straw will keep people alive.
Hippo rollers: The hippo water roller or, or hippo roller, is a device used to carry clean water more easily and efficiently than traditional methods, particularly in the developing world and rural areas. This can be used to collect more water that can be carried.
Economic water scarcity: when the government does not have the money to afford fresh water for their people.
Physical water scarcity: Physical water scarcity is when there is actually no fresh water for the necessities.
Climate change: Also referred to as global warming, is the rapid rising of surface temperatures.
Hippo rollers
Life straw