If you are reading this blog post, you probably have access to technology and some form of access to safe, drinking, freshwater. However, not everyone in the world is as fortunate…
What does this actually mean?
Water scarcity refers to a lack of availability of freshwater due to a physical shortage, or due to inadequate infrastructure to access water supplies. This means that places all over the world can face water scarcity due to a lack of regular supply, but also due to a lack of funding and technology. This is referred to as either physical or economic water scarcity. Climate change will strain and impact sources of freshwater, but human actions like over-abstraction will exacerbate this and further increase the risks of water scarcity.
Bluewater scarcity refers to a lack of availability of freshwater on the earth’s surface and in groundwater reservoirs. The map shows that patterns of water scarcity are uneven. North Africa, India and parts of the Middle East face severe water scarcity, with annual averages of more than 5 units. However, areas in Central Africa, Amazonia and Russia face very little water scarcity. This is due to climate patterns, where temperatures and levels of precipitation differ, but it is also due to geographic differences in sources of freshwater and population levels.
So, how much of the world’s freshwater can we actually access?
Only 3% of the planet’s water is freshwater.
Two-thirds of the freshwater, is frozen in ice or glaciers – inaccessible.
Hence, we only have access to roughly 1% of the world’s freshwater to accommodate 7.8 billion people in the world.
Sources of freshwater vary geographically – glaciers and ice sheets are found in polar regions, and levels of precipitation differ.
Population levels vary geographically – most of the world’s population live in India, China and the USA, but very few live in the polar regions.
There is a MISMATCH between the supply and demand of water, where demand exceeds supply.
Climate change will change global patterns of precipitation. Precipitation will occur less frequently, but more intensely as the planet warms, meaning that the frequency of droughts will increase. As temperatures rise, ice caps will melt reducing the availability of freshwater as it is contaminated by saline ocean water. An example is how polar ice caps are melting 6 times faster compared to the 1990s, meaning that lots of freshwater is being lost! A warmer atmosphere is also able to hold more moisture, meaning that a certain saturation pressure has to be reached for rainfall to occur. This is felt more in the tropics, where climate change will increase already high temperatures, increasing moisture levels and saturation pressures, but reducing rainfall. Hence, water scarcity will increase as the climate changes.
Hopefully, you understand the importance of water scarcity and climate change. The next post will focus on India’s water scarcity crisis and its societal relevance.
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