Human Ecology-Water Scarcity
Why is water scarcity a human ecology issue? Assess different points of view, assumptions, and/or arguments.
Water scarcity refers to the scarcity of freshwater resources that can adequately meet the water demands. This can be due to pollution, lack of rainfall, and droughts. The World Economic Forum (2017) listed water scarcity as one of the largest risks in the world in terms of the potential impact it can have in the next ten years (Mekonnen & Hoekstra, 2016). Water scarcity manifests from partial or no fulfillment of the demand expressed, water quality and quantity competition, disputes between entities, groundwater irreversible depletion, and negative environmental impacts. About 4 billion people live in conditions that experience severe water scarcity that lasts an average of a month or more per annum. Across the globe, half a billion people face severe scarcity, with half of the largest cities in the world facing the same predicament (Mekonnen & Hoekstra, 2016).
Close to 0.014% of all the water on the earth is easily accessible and fresh. The remaining waters comprise 97% saline, with less than 3% being inaccessible. Moss (2010) adds that there is technically sufficient fresh water to sustain the global populace. However, the unequal freshwater distribution that is aggravated by climate change results in geographical disparities where some areas are too dry and others are too wet. This has also resulted in a sharp increase in demand for freshwater globally driven by industry, and thus, a water crisis emerges. By the year 2030, it is expected that water demand will surpass supply by 40% at the current rate (Moss, 2010). The United Nations thus declared the right to water a basic human right and that all persons are entitled to water that is physically accessible, safe, sufficient, and affordable for domestic and personal use.
Physical water scarcity results when the available natural resources of water cannot supply a geographical area’s water demand, while economic water scarcity arises when poor management scourges the available sufficient water resources. The latter is the cause of regions, and nations’ water scarcity woes, as a majority of regions and countries have sufficient water to meet demand at the environmental, agricultural, industrial, and household levels but lack the means of providing this in an accessible manner (Kummu et al., 2010). Close to a fifth of the global populace lives in regions hit by physical water scarcity with inadequate water resources to meet the demands. This demand includes the water needed to fulfill ecosystem demands for effective functioning. Physical water scarcity mostly exists in arid areas as well as in regions where the water seems to be in abundance, but there is over-commitment, as is the case where a hydraulic irrigation infrastructure is overdeveloped. The symptoms that indicate physical water scarcity include declining groundwater, environmental degradation, and other forms of overuse or exploitation (Kummu et al., 2010).
According to Liu et al. (2017), economic water scarcity is due to a lack of better technology or infrastructure investment to extract water from aquifers and rivers, among other available water resources. It can also be due to inefficient human capabilities to skillfully meet the overall water demand. About 25% of the global population faces economic water scarcity. This scarcity includes inadequate infrastructure, causing people to travel long distances to access fresh water. Most often, the available water is contaminated. Large portions of the African continent suffer from economic water scarcity, so proper infrastructure development can help alleviate poverty. Critical conditions result from politically weak and economically poor communities that live in dry environments. As the GDP per capita increases, so does the water consumption; hence, most developed countries consume 200-300 liters per person per day, while underdeveloped countries such as Mozambique consume 10 liters per person per day. On the minimum, international recommendations stand at 20 liters per person per day. An increase in water consumption is directly related to an increase in income (Liu et al., 2017).
Describe water scarcity in terms of its effect on the interrelationship of the physical, biological, and ecological systems.
It is commonplace to have aquifers in areas that experience limited access to water or low rainfall amounts (Schwabe & Connor, 2012). Groundwater exploitation can threaten future water supplies where the withdrawal rate is higher than the natural recharge rate of the aquifers. Estimates show that a third of the world’s largest aquifers face imminent distress. Additionally, pollution, overuse, and redirection of lakes and rivers for irrigation, municipal use, and industrial use can cause significant environmental harm and ecosystem collapse. One such example is the Aral Sea, which at one time was the fourth-largest inland water body in the world but currently is a fraction of its former size due to the inflowing rivers’ diversion for agricultural irrigation (Kurylyk et al., 2014).
There is an increase in the challenges of fair water collection as water resources become ever so scarce. A government may have to choose between environmental, municipal, industrial, or agricultural interests, with some groups winning at the expense of the other groups. Domestic and regional conflicts and forced migration can result from chronic water scarcity, especially in geographically fragile areas. Areas that face chronic water shortages are more vulnerable to water crises where water supply diminishes to critical levels. Humans can only go for a few days without water; hence, critically low levels can escalate to humanitarian emergencies of rapid complexity.
Describe the impacts on the environment resulting from human decisions related to water scarcity.
According to Mays (2010), the factors affecting water resources include population growth and more so in regions with existing water shortages; rural to urban migration; demands for higher standards of living and greater food security; increased competition between the diverse water resources uses; and pollution from farmlands, cities, and factories. Natural variability in the occurrence and distribution of water and climate change further complicates the sustainable development of water resources.
According to Reid et al. (2019), water resources face several threats mainly caused by human activity. These include rapid urbanization, climate change, pollution, and changes in the landscape, such as deforestation. Each of these has specific impacts on water scarcity and usually on ecosystems directly and consequently on water resources. When activities are inadequately managed, such as mining, road building, forest-clearing, and farming, this can result in too much soil as well as suspended particles finding their way into rivers. This, in turn, causes damage to the aquatic ecosystems, hinders inland shipping, and impairs water quality. Pollution, on the other hand, can cause much harm to aquatic ecosystems and water resources. Some of the major pollutants include disease-causing organisms and organic matter from wastewater discharges, pesticides, fertilizers that run off from agricultural lands, heavy metals released during industrial activities and mining, and acid rain resulting from air pollution. Olson (2015) adds that increased water-extracting processes from underground sources have characterized the past few decades. The benefits of drawing underground water are temporary, while the negative consequences, such as the depletion of resources and lower levels of water, can have a lasting impact.
References
Kummu, M., Ward, P. J., de Moel, H., & Varis, O. (2010). Is physical water scarcity a new phenomenon? Global assessment of water shortage over the last two millennia. Environmental Research Letters, 5(3), 034006.
Kurylyk, B. L., MacQuarrie, K. T., & Voss, C. I. (2014). Climate change impacts on the temperature and magnitude of groundwater discharge from shallow, unconfined aquifers. Water Resources Research, 50(4), 3253-3274.
Liu, J., Yang, H., Gosling, S. N., Kummu, M., Flörke, M., Pfister, S., … & Alcamo, J. (2017). Water scarcity assessments in the past, present, and future. Earth’s future, 5(6), 545-559.
Mays, L. W. (2010). Water resources engineering. John Wiley & Sons.
Mekonnen, M. M., & Hoekstra, A. Y. (2016). Four billion people facing severe water scarcity. Science advances, 2(2), e1500323.
Moss, B. (2010). Ecology of fresh waters: a view for the twenty-first century. John Wiley & Sons.
Olsson, G. (2015). Water and energy: threats and opportunities. IWA publishing.
Reid, A. J., Carlson, A. K., Creed, I. F., Eliason, E. J., Gell, P. A., Johnson, P. T., … & Smol, J. P. (2019). Emerging threats and persistent conservation challenges for freshwater biodiversity. Biological Reviews, 94(3), 849-873.
Schwabe, K. A., & Connor, J. D. (2012). Drought issues in semi-arid and arid environments. Choices, 27(316-2016-6341).
The Global Risk Report. (2017). World Economic Forum. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-risks-report-2017
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Question 
Human Ecology-Water Scarcity
Topic Examples: Climate Change, Loss of Biodiversity, Pollution, Water Scarcity, Human Population, and Energy. If you are not sure if your topic is a relevant issue, obtain preapproval.
The research paper must be a minimum of three full pages, 12-point font, double spaced, APA format with a separate cover page and reference page.
The following must be covered in the paper:
- Give a complete explanation of why your topic is a human ecology issue and assess different points of view, assumptions, and/or arguments regarding your topic.
- Describe the issue in terms of its effect on the interrelationship of the physical, biological, and ecological systems.
Human Ecology-Water Scarcity
- Describe the impacts on the environment resulting from human decisions related to this issue.
- This assignment will require you to apply the skills gained during the library activities you completed in Modules 1 through 5. Using library resources, research a human ecology topic of your choice and follow the directions to complete a research paper on the topic evaluating both the issue and the impacts from human decisions regarding the issue.
This research paper will give you an opportunity to explore a human ecology issue of your choice in more depth. Examples of research topics, directions for writing the research paper, and the grading rubric linked below, is provided to help guide you through the research paper process.
I have attached the rubric and the course textbook.