ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE: Water Scarcity Project 2
Week Two: 1. In some places around the world, water scarcity is a way of life. Why? In many parts of the world, there is a shortage of water to begin because the availability and demand doesn’t match. Many of the arid regions are affected by droughts and changes in climate which makes water scarce. Scarcity of water increase because of the overpopulation causes a greater need for it. Plus the contaminated groundwater and poor surface water quality limits clean, fresh water. Another key reason is that the wars and conflicts interferes with access to water.
2. Even in places where water scarcity isn’t a problem today, it might become a problem in the future. What might happen if a country’s human population increased? Describe two ways in which water availability may change for all organisms in that country. Water scarcity could become a problem for different reasons in areas where it is not currently a problem. If human population increases, the demand for water will increase. However, the water supply will not be increasing at the same rate so water scarcity could become a problem. If overpopulation became an issue in a country, there would not be enough drinking water for everyone. This may cause people to drink water that is not sanitary leading to illness and death in people. There would not be enough water for sanitation and waste disposal so that could lead to disease. People may start overusing groundwater which would limit agricultural products and may cause food shortages too. There may be wars over water.
March, 2012