Question

Discuss why in the world economy today we are experiencing an increasing issue of water crisis. What role has climate change and industrial agriculture contributed to this crisis.

Answer 1

There are many reasons that the world today are experiencing a water crisis:

1) Due to rapid industrialization, overuse of groundwater, and scanty rainfall, groundwater rechargeability is taking place at a lower level. The water table has gone very low.

2) Climate change - Making Dry Areas Drier and Precipitation More Variable and Extreme

The clouds are moving away from the equator toward the poles, due to a climate-change driven phenomenon called Hadley Cell expansion. This deprives equatorial regions like sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and Central America of life-giving rainwater.

3) The rapid increase of population - More people and increased level of income results in excessive demand for water and water usage. The water on repeated use has become unfit for further recycling.

4) Absence of water infrastructure for water storage and water conservation - Around the world, water infrastructure―treatment plants, pipes, and sewer systems―is in a state of disrepair. In the United States, 6 billion gallons of treated water is lost per day from leaky pipes alone.

5) Government's less attention on natural infrastructure - Loss of vegetation from deforestation, overgrazing, and urbanization is limiting the natural infrastructure and the benefits that it provides. Thus, the available water drains out rapidly.

6) Water wastage - About 80 percent of the world's wastewater is discharged back into nature without further treatment or reuse.

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Climate change and water crisis -

A) Extreme weather events and changes in water cycle patterns are making it more difficult to access safe drinking water, especially for the most vulnerable children.

B) Over the last 25 years, floods, droughts, and other weather-related events have caused more than 90 percent of major weather-related disasters. The frequency and intensity of such events are only expected to increase with climate change.

C) Around 500 million children now live in areas at extremely high risk of flooding due to weather events such as cyclones, hurricanes, and storms, as well as rising sea levels.  

D) When disasters hit, they can destroy or contaminate entire water supplies, increasing the risk of diseases like cholera and typhoid to which children are particularly vulnerable.

E) Rising temperatures can lead to deadly pathogens in freshwater sources, making the water dangerous for people to drink.

F) Contaminated water poses a huge threat to children’s lives. Water and sanitation-related diseases are one of the leading causes of death in children under 5 years old.

G) Every day, over 700 children under 5 die from diarrhoea linked to inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene.  

H) Climate change exacerbates water stress – areas of extremely limited water resources – leading to increased competition for water, even conflict.

I) By 2040, almost 1 in 4 children will live in areas of extremely high water stress.

J) Rising sea levels are causing freshwater to become salty, compromising the water resources millions of people rely on.

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Industrial agriculture and water crisis:

1) Industrial agriculture is one of the leading causes of water pollution in the United States.

2) It results in the poor biological condition of waters in rivers, ponds, lakes, aquifers

3) Resulted in an increase in phosphorus and nitrogen contents in the water thereby making it unfit for supporting biological lives and lives of the people living in coastal areas and on the bank of the river.

4) Concentrated animal feeding operations produce billions of gallons of animal waste per year. Surface and groundwater contamination occurs as a result of this.

5) Animal waste can also include pharmaceutical residues, heavy metals (like copper and zinc) and harmful bacteria, which can leach into water supplies.

6) Synthetic fertilizers containing both nitrogen and phosphorus leech into surface and groundwater, causing algal blooms and nitrate contamination, adversely impacting drinking water availability, recreational activities (such as swimming and boating), fishing/shellfishing and marine and aquatic ecology.

Thus, water pollution results in water scarcity and thus, water crisis.