Will there be sufficient water to meet global demands for food in 2050? Critically discuss the challenges and suggest potential solutions.
K1212718
Water and food security are closely linked together. It is an important resource for the maintenance of food production and agriculture. And with the effects of climate change becoming more apparent the natural recharge of aquifers are being affected thus straining the availability of water supply which turn affects food production process and energy needed to extract and distribute the water. And as global population levels increase past the planets ability to support it there will be food shortages in the future. But that’s only if the same business as usual trend is continued. Agriculture
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However there are solutions ranging from decentralised forms of water management such as water reuse via rainwater harvesting at a local level (municipalities), using green water sources more efficiently, desalinisation and the transference of water via pipelines to other areas and virtual water trading.
Water supply and population growth rate
The planets population growth rate is increasing beyond its ability to support it and is predicted to reach 9 billion Charles and Goldfray (2010). As a result many areas of the world are experiencing water scarcity. This is due to a notion that “the fast increase in crop productivity worldwide between 1960 and 1990, science policy makers became convinced that the capacity of the Earth to produce food was sufficiently large to meet any future demand” Fereres, Orgaz, and Dugo (2011). As a result this notion has likely led to the underestimation on how fast a population can grow. According to literature developing nations in Africa and Asia are likely to be the worst affected when it comes to water supply (refer to figure 1). According to Mancosu et al (2015) the accumulative amount of fresh water resources for the entire planet lies at around 43,700 km3 year -1. However if we look at percentages in which these resources are distributed around the world there are massive
Without water, the lives of millions of children, and adults, are at risk. For children under five, water-and-sanitation diseases are one of the leading causes of death [4], along with malnutrition. [5] Unfortunately, studies show that in 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population will be water stressed. [6] If this proves to be correct, then will two-thirds of the world’s population be hungry? We use so much water to produce even the simplest of agriculture. It takes 2,000 to 5,000 liters of water to make food for just one person, not to mention that humans need to drink 2.5 liters of water daily. [7]
Some areas of the world are already considered water stressed. In areas that are water stressed, the amount of sustainable water is running low. The people in these regions are in need of new and clean water to start being present. According to Roberts, “By 2050 more than half the world’s
Water is one of the most precious resources, which support the life of almost everything in the world. Indeed, the world is covered by 75% water, but most of this water is not suitable for human consumption or use. On the same note, the world has been increasing its consumption of water due to the increasing population, leading to increased demands. The increased water consumption, which has been a result of high population, is worrying because the matter may lead to massive water shortages in the future.
In comparison to some parts of the Western world, both the United States and Canada relies more heavily on its roads both for commercial and personal transit.[citation needed] Car ownership is nearly universal except in the largest cities where extensive mass transit and railroad systems have been built.[citation needed]
People often think that water will never be used up. There is plenty of water, such as rain, water from the rivers and wells. It seems as if water is always available around us and we never have to worry about water shortage. In fact water is rather limited on the earth. With the rapid increase of population and fast development of industries, water is more needed than before. At the same time, a large amount of water has been polluted and wasted every day. Some big cities in China are facing the problem of water shortage already. There, water supply is controlled and industry has been restrained.
The fourth reason for why we may run out of food by 2050 is due to Salinity. Salinity is the main reason as to why lesser crops are being grown. Salinity is caused by trees being cleared. When the trees are in the ground, their long roots keep the salt water further below the surface of the earth. When they are cleared the salt water rises to the top. This salt water kills crops causing production to slow as the farmers then have to find a new place to produce their crops. This problem can be fixed slowly by both not clearing trees from the land and planting more trees to push the salt water down further.
The world’s supply of water is in steep decline as more and more is being used each year by more and more people around the globe. Currently, 800 million people do not have access to a drinking source. At the current rate, 1.8 billion people could be living in areas of absolute water scarcity by 2025.
We usually associate water shortages with a lack of drinking water, but global water scarcity has a critical impact on food security. Agriculture consumes more water than any other source. Climate change is altering patterns of weather around the world, causing shortages and droughts in some areas and floods in others. Water is key to food security. Crops and livestock need water to grow. Agriculture requires large quantities of water for irrigation and various production processes. Water scarcity may limit food production and supply, putting pressure on food prices and increasing countries’ dependence on food imports
India’s agricultural sector currently uses about 90% of total water resources.[12] Irrigated agriculture has been fundamental to economic development, but unfortunately caused groundwater depletion. Due to water pollution in rivers, India draws 80% of its irrigation water from groundwater.[13] As water scarcity becomes a bigger and bigger problem, rural and farming areas will most likely be hit the hardest. Thus far, food security has been one of the highest priorities for politicians, and the
Water is the main source of life on the Earth. It is vital for normal existence and functioning of organisms. Earth is sometimes called “water planet.” But, in fact, the number of freshwater is limited. “Only about 2 percent of the planet's water is fresh.” (How much water is there on Earth?) This water is not enough even to meet daily needs of mankind. According to World Health Organization, “a lack of water to meet daily needs is a reality today for one in three people around the world.” (2009) In the Middle East the situation is especially hard. This region is thought to be one of the droughtiest places in the world, most of it’s territory is deserted. Freshwater accounts to 1 percent of the world’s supplies, while the population comes
Many centuries prior to the nineteenth one there has been numerous indications of the severity in horrible treatment of women, men and children. As one would look into any decent history book, their would be pages on chapters of the treatment of the civilization in them. Depending on what century one was looking into determined the good or bad treatment. However some of the most documented treatment would have to be in the nineteenth century. Thus far in the semester we have discussed numerous cases of men, women and children being treated with little to no fairness within the Northern Hemisphere. Even though this showed the people that the world did not owe them anything and they should work hard
It is an essential resource for sustaining life as well as central to agriculture and rural development, and is intrinsically linked to global challenges of food insecurity and poverty, climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as degradation and depletion of natural resources that affect the livelihoods of millions of people across the world. According to the World Bank, (2010) report, water is a scarce resource with multiple interwoven uses that range from drinking water, energy, irrigation, manufacturing things, transport of people and goods among others. The report further states that, more than one-sixth of the Worlds’ population does not have access to safe drinking water, with 80% living in rural areas thus access to water cannot not be guaranteed globally.
By the year 2050, the world’s population is expected to reach 9.8 billion people. To sustain this enormous population, it is absolutely critical to optimize production of food and water usage. Furthermore, as extreme weather such as droughts and floods become more and more frequent due to climate change, conserving water and increasing food production will become invaluable to sustaining human life.
The focus of this essay is how water shortages in the future can produce worldwide food shortages. “Only if we act to improve water use in agriculture will we meet the acute freshwater challenges facing humankind over the coming 50 years” [4]. As the world changes over the next fifty years, the water struggles that we endure will be seen in the food production around the world. There are many factors that contribute to this occurring, including global climate change, the increase in water security vulnerability, and the phenomenon that the world has hit peak water. The world’s population has also changed their average diet over the past 50 years, to consuming more meat and more calories in general [4]. This dietary change means that each person requires more water to produce their food than in previous generations.
According to UN-Water, 75% of planet Earth is covered in water. 97.5% of that is ocean and 2.5% is freshwater. 70% of freshwater is divided into glaciers and ice caps and the remaining 30% into land surface water, such as rivers, lakes, ponds and groundwater. Most of the freshwater resources are either unreachable or too polluted, leaving less than 1% of the world's freshwater, or about 0.003% of all water on Earth, readily accessible for direct human use. According to the Global Outlook for Water Resources to the Year 2025, it is estimated that by 2025, more than half of the world population will be facing water-based vulnerability and human demand for water will account for 70% of all available freshwater. Furthermore, a report in November 2009 by the 2030 Water Resources Group suggests that by 2030, in some developing regions in the world, water demand will exceed supply by 50% and a report jointly produced by more than two dozen U.N. bodies states that, "By 2030, nearly half of the world's