the global water crisis

The Global Water Crisis Student`s Name: School Name: Abstract Though some may contest the idea that the global water supply situation is in crisis, it is in actuality an irrevocable fact. This fact is faced every day by those who live in areas where land that was once covered by green fields of corn lays barren. The global water crisis is a state of affairs that has been brought about mainly by human action and neglect. Human action caused the crisis through unsustainable exploitation of this vital resource. Neglect can be seen as the unwillingness of governments to create a framework for sustainable water management. This paper examines the global water crisis and the possible approaches to mitigating it. The Global Water Crisis All life on the planet depends on water. It is without doubt the most significant and vital substance on earth. According to the world wildlife fund, two-thirds of the total global population is at risk of suffering from an extreme water crisis by the year 2025 (2009). The predicament has many dimensions. Among them are the lack of access to safe drinking water, pollution of water sources such as rivers, lakes and groundwater, and the risk of extreme reduction in global freshwater supplies in the near future (Lall et.al, 2008). This paper is aimed at examining the causes and consequences of the global water crisis. It also looks at the current and proposed actions that should be undertaken to remedy the situation. Understanding the Global Water Crisis The global water crisis can be summed up as the deterioration of fresh water supplies across the globe. According to the United Nations, The depletion of global water supplies is a multifaceted problem. It stems from many causes and has different implications on the developed and developing world (2009). The developing world, however, is more likely to bear the greatest costs of the worsening crisis than the developed world. The world wildlife fund identifies three dimensions to the crisis: an ecological dimension, a humanitarian dimension and an economic dimension (2011). The ecological dimension of the global water crisis pertains to the destruction of ecosystems that contribute to the supply of fresh water to both people and animals (Hunt, 2007). Destruction of watersheds and wetlands through illegal logging, agriculture and construction leads to reduction in water supply to the surrounding regions. Surface and underground sources of water are usually diverted towards industries and large scale farms and away from human settlements, especially those in the rural areas of developing nations. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that fifty percent of global wetlands have been drained in the last century in order to pave way for agricultural land (WWF, 2011). Diversion of water also affects aquatic ecosystems negatively Pollution as a result of industrial effluent and agricultural wastes contribute a great deal to the loss of fresh water to residents of developing countries. The World Wildlife Fund observes that pollution destabilizes river and lake ecosystems ( 2011). Proper sewage disposal mechanisms...