When it comes to water, there is often too little or too much. Climate change and growing demand for the fresh water might magnify the chances of very little fresh water in the future which can have extreme effects on the mankind.
More than 3 billion people, that sums one in seven people on the planet now lack access to safe drinking water.
Water stress- the demand relative to supply in a given place will likely increase rapidly across the globe in next few decades, as more people compete for ever more limited surface water supplies. Water is the driving force of all nature, unfortunately for our planet; supplies are now running dry at an alarming rate. Reports reveal huge areas in crisis today as reservoirs and aquifers dry up.
In California, officials have revealed that the state has entered its sixth year of drought with each coming year becoming the driest. In the Middle East, swaths of the countryside have been reduced to the desert because of overuse of water. Iran is the most affected country in the Middle East with a severe crisis of fresh water for the population. UAE is now investing in desalination plants and waste water treatment plants and waste water treatment units because it lacks fresh water. The country needs to focus on generating more fresh water than oil. The global nature of the crisis is underlined in similar reports from other regions. In South Asia, there has been massive loss of ground water.
Changing precipitation and melting snow and ice are already altering hydrological systems in many regions. According to Geological Survey, the total amount of fresh water on earth comes to about 10.6 m cubic km. combined into a single droplet this would produce a sphere with a diameter of about 272 km. however, 99 per cent of the sphere would be made up of groundwater, much of which is not accessible. By contrast, the total volume from lakes and rivers which are the major source of fresh water produces a sphere that is a mere 56 km in diameter.
The fraction of global population experience water scarcity is defined to increase throughout the 21st century. More and more people and nation will compete for the resources and this might not create a good scenario. In coming days the world will focus a water crisis that will touch every part of the globe. The future impact of water scarcity may be devastating.
With the world focusing on improved technology, we have to remember that a high-tech smartphone won’t pour us fresh water in the future. Population growth and climate change are creating a new, more challenging world. Let’s be ready for a severe crisis in the coming decades.
