WATER RESOURCES
WHAT AND HOW DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES AFFECT THE QUALITY AND
AVAILABILITY OF WATER FOR HUMAN USE AND HOW IN YOUR OWN WAYS
YOU CAN PRESERVE WATER AS WELL AS HOW WOULD YOU PROTECT THE
WATER RESOURCES.
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Climate Change & Human Activities: Preserving & Conserving Water Resources, Summaries of Earth science
The effects of climate change and human activities on the quality and availability of water resources for human use. It explores how climate change is impacting water resources through global warming and extreme weather events, and how excessive water withdrawal and pollution are threatening water supplies. The document also provides suggestions for preserving and conserving water resources through individual actions and policy changes.
Typology: Summaries
2019/2020
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WATER RESOURCES
WHAT AND HOW DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES AFFECT THE QUALITY AND
AVAILABILITY OF WATER FOR HUMAN USE AND HOW IN YOUR OWN WAYS
YOU CAN PRESERVE WATER AS WELL AS HOW WOULD YOU PROTECT THE
WATER RESOURCES.
DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES AFFECT THE QUALITY AND AVAILABILITY OF WATER FOR HUMAN USE
- (^) HOW IS CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTING WATER RESOURCES?
- (^) EXACTLY HOW GLOBAL WARMING IS AFFECTING WATER RESOURCES IS NOT ALTOGETHER CLEAR. NEW RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS INCREASING EXISTING STRESS, FOR EXAMPLE BY REDUCING RUNOFF IN AREAS ALREADY SUFFERING FROM WATER SHORTAGES. SCIENTISTS AGREE THAT EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS STEMMING FROM GLOBAL WARMING, SUCH AS STORMS AND FLOODS, ARE LIKELY TO BE MORE FREQUENT IN THE FUTURE. HOWEVER, BASED ON CURRENT KNOWLEDGE, SCIENTISTS CAN ONLY MAKE GENERAL PREDICTIONS ABOUT THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON WATER RESOURCES. MORE INFORMATION IS NEEDED, FOR INSTANCE, ABOUT IMPACTS ON WATER RESOURCES IN SPECIFIC REGIONS AND UNDER DIFFERENT POLICY SCENARIOS.
- (^) ONE TYPE OF WATER RESOURCE THAT HAS BEEN CLEARLY AFFECTED BY CLIMATE CHANGE IS GLACIERS. SCIENTISTS HAVE LONG OBSERVED THAT LAND AND MOUNTAIN GLACIERS ARE SHRINKING, AND THIS TREND HAS ACCELERATED CONSIDERABLY IN RECENT YEARS. FOR EXAMPLE, IT HAS BEEN PREDICTED THAT MOST GLACIERS IN TIBET COULD MELT BY 2100. AND WHILE IT WAS INITIALLY THOUGHT THAT THE WATER RELEASED COULD BENEFIT CHINA’S ARID NORTH AND WEST, IT NOW APPEARS THAT THE ADDITIONAL RUNOFF EVAPORATES LONG BEFORE IT REACHES DROUGHT-STRICKEN FARMERS DOWNSTREAM.
- (^) WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF EXCESSIVE WATER WITHDRAWAL?
- (^) AROUND THE WORLD CERTAIN LAKES, RIVERS AND INLAND SEAS ARE IN THE PROCESS OF DRYING UP BECAUSE TOO MUCH WATER IS BEING DRAWN FROM THEM OR FROM THEIR TRIBUTARIES. GROUNDWATER, TOO, IS USED FASTER THAN IT IS REPLENISHED, AS IS CLEAR FROM A GROWING NUMBER OF REPORTS DOCUMENTING SHARP DROPS IN AQUIFER LEVELS. IN MANY CASES, DROUGHT PERIODS HAVE COMPOUNDED THIS WELL-DOCUMENTED TREND.
- (^) THE NIGER, THE NILE, THE GANGES, THE TIGRIS, THE EUPHRATES, THE YANGTZE, THE COLORADO, AND THE RIO GRANDE ARE JUST SOME OF THE MAJOR RIVERS SUFFERING SUBSTANTIAL REDUCTIONS IN FLOW. NUMEROUS LAKES AND INLANDS SEAS ARE SHRINKING DRAMATICALLY IN MANY GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS. THE ARAL SEA AND LAKE CHAD HAVE DECREASED DRAMATICALLY IN SIZE OVER THE LAST FEW DECADES.
- (^) THESE PROBLEMS PERSIST THOUGH THEIR CAUSES HAVE BEEN EVIDENT FOR QUITE SOME TIME. FOREMOST ARE THE VERY INEFFICIENT WAYS IN WHICH WATER IS SUPPLIED TO FARMS AND CITIES, DEFORESTATION, AND THE FAILURE TO PROPERLY MANAGE AND CONTROL THE WITHDRAWAL OF WATER, AND TO THINK OF MORE ECONOMIC WAYS TO USE WATER.
- NOT ENOUGH CONSIDERATION HAS BEEN GIVEN TO MINIMIZING USE AND CONSERVING WATER RESOURCES. INSTEAD THE SUPPLY HAS BEEN FURTHER STRAINED BY THE CONSTRUCTION OF NEW RESERVOIRS AND INAPPROPRIATE DIVERSIONS. WHILE SOME TOWNS AND CITIES ARE TAKING ACTION, ONLY BROAD-BASED AND FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE IN NATIONAL AND REGIONAL PRACTICES CAN REVERSE THE IMPACT.
- (^) THE THREAT TO GROUNDWATER IS NOT AS OBVIOUS AS THAT TO LAKES AND RIVERS. THERE IS LESS VISUAL EVIDENCE AND THE EFFECTS OF WITHDRAWING TOO MUCH GROUNDWATER TAKE LONGER TO RECOGNISE. IN THE LAST HALF-CENTURY, PUMPING FROM AQUIFERS INCREASED GLOBALLY. BUT OFTEN THE BENEFITS—BIGGER HARVESTS FOR EXAMPLE—WERE SHORT-LIVED, ULTIMATELY RESULTING IN LOWER WATER TABLES, DRILLING OF DEEPER WELLS, AND, SOMETIMES, EVEN THE DEPLETION OF THE GROUNDWATER SOURCE.
- CASES FROM ALL CLIMATIC REGIONS ILLUSTRATE THAT EXCESSIVE USE OF GROUNDWATER IS RELATIVELY COMMON PRACTICE. THE CONSEQUENCES CAN BE SEEN IN REDUCED SPRING YIELDS, DIMINISHED RIVER FLOW, POORER WATER QUALITY, DAMAGE TO NATURAL HABITATS SUCH AS WETLANDS, AND THE GRADUAL SINKING OF LAND, KNOWN AS SUBSIDENCE.
- (^) HOW ARE AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS THREATENED BY SEDIMENT IN WATER?
- (^) SEDIMENTS CAN OCCUR IN WATER BODIES NATURALLY, BUT THEY ARE ALSO PRODUCED IN LARGE AMOUNTS AS A RESULT OF LAND-USE CHANGE AND AGRICULTURE.
- (^) ACTIVITIES SUCH AS FARMING, CLEARING FORESTS, BUILDING ROADS, AND MINING CAN PUT TOO MUCH SOIL AND PARTICULATE MATTER IN RIVERS. THIS SEDIMENT CAN HARM PLANTS AND ANIMALS BY CARRYING TOXIC CHEMICALS INTO THE WATER, SMOTHERING FISH EGGS AND SMALL ORGANISMS USED BY FISH AS FOOD, RAISING WATER TEMPERATURE, AND REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF SUNLIGHT PENETRATING THE WATER.
- (^) SEDIMENT CAN ALSO REDUCE THE CAPACITY OF RESERVOIRS AND MAKE IT DIFFICULT FOR SHIPS TO NAVIGATE IN WATERWAYS. IT CAN ALSO DAMAGE EQUIPMENT USED IN WATER SUPPLY INSTALLATIONS AND HYDROELECTRIC PLANTS, THUS INCREASING THEIR MAINTENANCE COSTS.
- (^) COLLECTING AND STORING RAIN WATER
- (^) YOU CAN RECYCLE RAINWATER FOR YOUR HOME USE. YOU CAN MAKE USE OF IT FOR YOUR
GARDENING, LAUNDRY, FLUSHING THE TOILET, OR EVEN FOR THE WHOLE HOUSE USE IF
PROPERLY COLLECTED AND THROUGH A PROPERLY INSTALLED RAINWATER COLLECTION
SYSTEM OUT FROM YOUR HOUSE ROOF AND GUTTERS. SINCE THESE ARE A MUCH EXPENSIVE
WAY OF WATER CONSERVATION, YOU CAN USE THOSE RAINWATER BARRELS AVAILABLE IN
YOUR HOME.
- IF POSSIBLE, DURING LAUNDRY, ALWAYS WASH YOUR CLOTHES IN FULL LOADS AND EVEN ON
YOUR DISHWASHER. THESE COULD MINIMIZE THE USE OF TOO MUCH WATER. CHECK FOR
THOSE LEAKS ON YOUR PIPING OR IN YOUR TAP. A SMALL WATER LEAK COULD LEAD TO TOO
MUCH LOSS OR EVEN COULD ADD MORE TO YOUR BILLS. YOU CAN CHECK OUT THOSE
HIDDEN LEAKS FROM IT THROUGH YOUR WATER READINGS AND REPAIR POSSIBLE LEAKS.
- (^) DAILY WATER CONSERVATION
- (^) MAKE USE OF SHORTER SHOWERS - SHORTER ONES USE LESS WATER COMPARED TO LONGER SHOWERS. YOU CAN MAKE USE ALSO OF THOSE LOW- FLOW SHOWERHEADS. THERE ARE LOTS OF OTHER WAYS TO CONSERVE WATER AT HOME BUT SAVING WATER SHOULD NOT ONLY START AND END UP IN YOUR HOMES BUT IT SHOULD BE WIDELY PRACTICED AS A WHOLE FOR THE ENTIRE POPULATION AND FUTURE GENERATIONS. AS THEY SAY, ONLY 1% OF THE TOTAL GLOBAL WATER SUPPLY IS FRESHWATER.
- (^) THESE SHOULD MAKE UP FOR ALL OF THOSE HUMAN CONSUMPTIONS AND WATER DRINKING THAT NEEDS TO BE SAVED. IT CAN SAVE MONEY TOO AS WELL AS THE ENVIRONMENT AT THE SAME TIME. IF WE CANNOT CONTROL THE GLOBAL DEFICIT, WE CAN KEEP IT FROM USING EXCESSIVE WATER EVERY DAY OR BY CONTROLLING OUR DAILY USE OR HOW MUCH WE ARE SUPPOSED TO USE DAILY.