Environmental Justice: Water Scarcity Across The World

"Water For All" is a mission statement of an MIT project claims that clean water is paramount to a successful society and that there are consequences to inaction toward this problem. The article first provides a description of why water is important and who it affects next, it explains where water is and how it is used and lastly, it analyzes a solution and the consequences if a successful solution is not provided. The author gives data on the people who are affected by the lack of drinkable water in order to convince the reader that this is a large problem. The language in this article is simple yet informative widening the audience to anyone who can help aid the program or anyone who can spread the word about the program.

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.

Clean water is essential to our basic needs as human beings and has been acknowledged as a basic human right according to the UN as of July 28, 2010. Still, 1 in 9 (782 million) people don’t have access to clean water, 1 in 3 (2.5 billion) don’t have access to adequate sanitation which results in the spread of often fatal and preventable disease. In a world where 2 in 5 people own a smartphone, it’s easy to forget that for some people even the most basic necessities are hard to come by. Approximately 3.5 million people die every year due to inadequate water supplies. Access to sanitation and safe drinking water could save the lives of 1.5 million children each year.

There is a water crisis which faces many parts of the world and it is a threat to survival of human beings since humans are primarily dependent on water. Shortage in drinking water is beginning to show its effects in first world countries, but is a current major problem facing lesser developed countries which have not taken drastic steps to harvest water and purify it to make it safe for human consumption. In developed countries the population growth has strained available water resources and stretched the ability of governments and private firms to provide safe drinking water to the vast majority of the population. Seventy one percent of

According to “Implications of Growth”, in many parts of the world natural water sources are already pushed to and past their limits. The human population greatly relies on water, therefore, it is essential and necessary to the future population growth in the entire world.

Water, like food, is a necessity for human life that is used for many purposes such as agricultural, industrial, and domestic systems. While water is a common element around the world not all of it is clean and able to be consumed or used by humans. With only a percentage of the world’s water being clean and the use of water increasing, the availability of water around the world has become a common issue in the developing and even the developed world. This may be a smaller problem in areas close to clean water sources compared to areas far from a clean water source but, the availability of water is not strictly based on location, it also depends on the specific political and social needs and issues of the area as well. These all become issues that must be accounted for when deciphering whether water is a basic human right or a commodity and what action must be taken to aid the developing water systems in community’s that lack them.

The earth’s population is over 7 billion and growing. This has caused many people to question the provisions that will be provided in the future for the coming generations because of the overconsumption of individuals. The earth is already struggling to sustain its natural resources for the vast majority of people living here, so bringing more children will cause extra strain on trying to preserve them. Water is an example of a

Water is becoming a limited natural resource in the world. In an article published on National Geographic website about “Fresh Water Crisis” [1] it has mentioned that out of the 70% of water which is covering the earth, only 2.5% is suitable for drinking and just 1% of fresh water is easily accessible. In the same article the author talks about how people are wasting this limited resource. The growing scarcity of water is due to the rapid growth of population, rising demand for food and cash crops, increasing urbanization and rising standard of living. On the other hand people are writing articles and papers about how to solve this scarcity issue and all the resources presented about

Water is considered as an essential for human existence. We all can survive without food for some day but no one can live without water at least two days. Human body consists of 70% percent of water and our globe is covered by 69.9% percent of water. But unfortunately the useable fresh water is just 2.5% out of it. Water is a social good, water is an economic good, water has ecological value and water has religious, moral and cultural value.

Water covers 70% of our planet, and it is easy to think that it will always be plentiful. However, freshwater, what we drink, bathe in, irrigate our farm fields with makes up only 3% of the world’s water, and two-thirds of that is stored in frozen glaciers or unavailable for our use. Many of the water systems that keep ecosystems thriving and feed a growing human population have become stressed. Rivers, lakes and aquifers are drying up or becoming too polluted to use. Already, 80 countries suffer from water shortages that threaten health and economies while 40 percent of the world—more than 2 billion people—does not have access to clean water or sanitation

Fresh water sustains human life and is vital for human health. There is - or at least, was - enough fresh water on Planet Earth for everyone to survive, but due to bad economics, poor infrastructure and a lot of pollution, 844 million people no longer have access to safe water - and that's a growing 844 million. Lakes and rivers are filling with run-off, cow excretions and other forms of pollution, while the oceans become even more contaminated with oil, litter and other human waste. Countries around the world are struggling more and more, to get access clean, hygienic water. Women and children in countries such as Uganda and Ethiopia are forced to devote up to four hours each day, to collect dirty, contaminated water. The walk isn't pleasant and enjoyable - but arduous and dangerous - carrying eighteen kilograms of water, many get hurt; some, are even attacked. The number of people and countries beginning to face this daily struggle is growing rapidly, and it isn't going to stop growing unless we make a change.

One of the most important natural resources we have on this planet is water. Water covers roughly 70 percent of our planet and is the very foundation for every single species on earth. We as humans, rely on water more than any other resource on the planet and we simply can’t live without it. Although water is abundant around the world, clean water for millions of people is inaccessible. Around the world, there are people struggling to get water yet along clean water and it greatly affects our health. Improving clean water supply and sanitation, and better access to clean water resources, can increase countries’ economic development and can contribute greatly to poverty reduction and overall people’s health.

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.

There are a few facts about water that compels great concern and these should be noted. The cosmos holds an average of 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water and of this, the fresh water resources constitute on average 35 million cubic kilometers, say 2.5% of the entire volume. Shifting attention to the fresh water resources, 24 million km3 or say 70% is preserved by nature in the form of ice or permanent snow covers on mountain tops as well as the arctic region. The other almost 30% is stored underground in the form of ground water leaving only 0.3% fresh and usable water in the rivers and fresh water lakes, a paltry 200,000 km3 of fresh and usable water (UN Water, 2013).

Earth is often called the “Blue Planet”, and rightfully so, since nearly 75 percent of the planet is covered with water. The fact that most of Earth’s surface is comprised of water may lead some to believe that conservation is not concerning or an important issue. What many do not realize is that only 3 percent of that 75 percent is freshwater, and less than one-third of the fresh water is in a form or location that is accessible for human consumption (Water: H2O=Life). Water conservation is an urgent social issue because our waters are being continuously polluted, our supply is becoming rapidly depleted, and without water, life on Earth would cease to exist. According to experts, the most