some reasons why fresh water is scarce
Firstly what is water scarcity?
Water scarcity is the lack of sufficient available water resources to meet the demands of water usage within a region. In both Australia and china fresh water is becoming scarcer every day. Fresh water scarcity in both China and Australia is mostly due to the ever-growing population in the world which therefore elevates the consumption and demand levels of the fresh water. This creates a problem for both of these countries as their populace continues to demand more and more fresh water which is running out. The worlds population is growing tremendously at an estimated rate of 1.13% of growth per year. this means that so much more water is needed in the world. The population of the world In the above diagram shows that both Australia and china are facing high stress due to water scarcity. Another reason why there is water scarcity is drought. This is experienced in the deserts of Australia and the north western parts of China where there is little rainfall. Rainfall accounts to most of the fresh water in the world and where there is drought the strain for fresh water is particularly hard. As seen in the diagram approximately one third of Australia has below average rainfall. China has very diverse weather and rainfall patterns which causes many droughts in many areas throughout the country. As seen in the diagram there are cases of extreme drought, some in which cause other natural phenomenon’s such as dust and sand storms. Besides causing stress on the people because there is not enough water this scarcity costs the government much money because they have to import and transport water from other areas to aid the places in need. Water scarcity can also lead to a strain on the agriculture which means less food and less exports costing the government and populace even more money. Water pollution is also a major contributor to water scarcity. About one third of the industrial waste water and more than 90% of household sewage in China is released into rivers and lakes without being treated. Nearly 80% of China's cities have no sewage treatment facilities and few have plans to build any. Underground water supplies in 90% of these cities are contaminated. In Australia waste often gets washed into the rivers and coasts without any treatment. This waste includes plastic bags, dead animals, and cigarette butts. These things make our limited fresh water dirty and unusable. If this water is drunk it can make humans and animals alike sick. Another major reason there is water scarcity is agriculture. Agriculture uses 70% of the worlds accessible water. Due to the rapidly growing population the human race continues to require more and more food every year. To grow the food that we eat a lot of water is required for irrigation. If irrigation is not done in a sustainable way lots of water is lost. Australia and China are both very agriculture based. Lots of money is made from exporting their goods and both countries do it frequently using up much of their fresh water in the process. |