As demand for freshwater soars, planetary supplies are becoming unpredictable. Existing technologies could avert a global water crisis, but they must be implemented soon. Global freshwater resources are threatened by rising demands from many quarters. Growing populations need more water for drinking, hygiene, sanitation, food production and industry. Climate change, meanwhile, is expected to contribute to droughts. Policymakers need to figure out how to supply water without degrading the natural ecosystems that provide it. Existing low-tech approaches can help prevent scarcity, as can ways to boost supplies, such as improve methods to desalinate water. Governments at all levels need to start setting policies and making investments in infrastructure for water conservation NOW! Policymakers worldwide wield great power over how water resources are managed. Wise use of such power will become increasingly important as the years go by because the world's demand for freshwater is presently overtaking its ready supply in many places, and this situation shows no sign of abating. Scientist expect water scarcity to become more common in large part because the world population is rising and global climate change is exacerbating aridity and reducing supply in many regions. What is worst, many water sources are threatened by faulty waste disposal, releases of industrial pollutants, fertilizer runoff and coastal influxes of saltwater into aquifers as groundwater is depleted. Because lack of access to water can lead to starvation, disease, political instability and even armed conflict, failure to take action can have broad and grave consequences. Fortunately, the technologies and policy tools required to conserve existing freshwater and to secure more of it are known, but immediate action must be taken. Governments and authorities have to formulate and execute plans for implementing the measure that can ensure water security now and in the coming decades. Experts estimate that the minimum water each person requires for drinking, hygiene and growing food is 1,000 cubic meters per year-equivalent to two fifths of the volume of an Olympic-size swimming pool. Water demand rises with population size and growth rate, it also tends to go up with income level: richer groups generally consume more water, especially in urban and industrial areas. Setting higher prices for water is a way to limit waste, because it will spur the adoption of measures and reduce water losses convincing municipalities and others. The largest consumers are the irrigated agriculture businesses who eat up a huge quantity of water and even a modest 10 percent rise in irrigation efficiency would improve production. Another goal is to stop leaks in the water-delivery infrastructure. Creative conservation efforts must be everyone goal: channeling water in underground storage, accumulation off snow and rainfall, drip-irrigation systems, transfer water from the high-supply season to the high-demand season, technology to decouple water supplies from sanitation systems, recycled waste, exploit advanced desalination technology with reverse osmosis and many other efforts.
Analysis:
This selected article included various colorful charts, maps, data, statistics which indicates highly relevant research and knowledge scientific discovery, but the author repeatedly uses the word "expected" which I wonder if this article also includes hypothesis based science.
The importance of this article is that it offers us valuable data to help us understand the devastating consequences we are facing if we do not globally unite in efforts to fight against water waste. I learned about the consequences of starvation, diseases, political instability, and even armed conflicts.
Bibliographic Citation:
Rogers, Peter. "Facing the Freshwater Crisis." Scientific American. August 2008: Pages 46 - 53.
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