Essay’s topic: Water scarcity is one of the key environmental issue of our time. Identify some major causes of water scarcity and describe two solutions. Water plays an important role in developing and maintaining healthy ecosystems. However, water scarcity is an increasing and widespread phenomenon in many countries in the world. Water scarcity refers to either the lack of enough water or lack of access to safe water. The shortage of water is turning out to be more pressing than prediction.
This essay will identify some major causes of water scarcity and specifically focus on the solutions of enhancing water stewardship and protecting wetlands. The first major cause of water scarcity is overpopulation. The rapid growth of population has led to a massive demand of water. In the last 50 years, the human population has increased more than double. Moreover, accompanying with population growth are economic development and industrialization.
Population growth also results in the need of food, home and clothing, which has added more pressure on the availability of freshwater while water supplies are limited and insufficiently managed. If the consumption rate of water has continued at unsustainable levels, by 2025, two-third of the world population may face water shortage, and ecosystem around the world will suffer even more. Water pollution is the second major cause of water scarcity. It is the result of many reasons, including pesticides and fertilizers that wash away from farms, untreated household waste and effluent.
Even ground water can be polluted because pollution can leach into underground aquifers. Furthermore, harmful bacteria and pollutants may contaminate the freshwater sources and lead to numerous negative effects to health. Water which is wasted, polluted and unsustainably managed has already affected every continent in the world. People who consume inadequate sanitation water are likely exposed to illnesses such as cholera and diarrheal, especially children who die each year from diarrheal. One way to stop water scarcity is to enhance water stewardship.
Efficient and effective water management is necessary. Government and the authorities should be responsible for protecting freshwater sources. In addition to that, new laws and regulations about preserving water should be ratified by legislators and helpful methods for sustainable water use should be promoted. Moreover, it is important for countries to expand co-operation with some international organizations in order to take advantage of opportunities to improve water management systems. Protecting wetlands is another approach to halt the process of water shortage.
Wetlands are an important part of the national heritage. They provide human not only natural resources, but also water resources. Therefore, programs and projects need to be established and encouraged to be carried out in order to effectively protect wetlands. Besides that, all citizens can help protect wetlands by supporting wetlands conservation initiatives. Water scarcity has become a serious issue for the Earth. The rapidly increasing world population and water pollution have immensely contributed to the situation.
There is an urgent need to solve this problem by enhancing water management and preserving wetlands. If the solutions mentioned above are taken into consideration and appropriately applied, water scarcity may be halted. Reference: The Water Project, “Water scarcity: The importance of water & access” , <http://thewaterproject. org/water_scarcity. php#. UTQPJTdIOuA>. FAO Water, “Water and poverty, and issue for live and livelihood”, <http://www. fao. org/nr/water/issues/scarcity. html> United Nations, “Water for life Decade”, <http://www. un. org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity. html> World wild life, “Water scarcity”, <http://worldwildlife. org/threats/water-scarcity> United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “Wetlands protection”, <http://water. epa. gov/type/wetlands/protection. cfm> -------------------------------------------- [ 1 ]. http://www. fao. org/nr/water/issues/scarcity. html [ 2 ]. http://worldwildlife. org/threats/water-scarcity [ 3 ]. http://www. un. org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity. shtml [ 4 ]. http://www. un. org/waterforlifedecade/scarcity. shtml [ 5 ]. http://water. epa. gov/type/wetlands/protection. cfm
