Water Woes: Global Issues With Our Most Vital Resource

Water scarcity is a significant and growing problem worldwide, with climate change, population growth, and poor water management being the primary drivers. While water covers 70% of the Earth's surface, only 3% is freshwater, and two-thirds of that is tucked away in frozen glaciers or otherwise inaccessible. This limited supply of freshwater is under increasing pressure from rising global temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and increasing demand from agriculture, energy generation, and industry. As a result, approximately 1.1 billion people lack access to water, and water-related illnesses, such as diarrheal diseases, cholera, and typhoid fever, claim the lives of over two million people annually.

Water scarcity

The impacts of water scarcity are far-reaching and devastating. When water is scarce, people cannot get enough to drink, wash, or feed crops, leading to economic decline and even displacement. Water scarcity also has severe health consequences, particularly for children. Lack of access to safe water and sanitation contributes to the spread of waterborne illnesses such as cholera and typhoid fever, causing the deaths of around 2 million people annually, mostly children. Water scarcity also affects education, particularly for girls, as the time spent collecting water reduces school attendance.

Addressing water scarcity requires an integrated and inclusive approach that considers the specific contexts and needs of different communities. This includes improving water infrastructure and distribution systems, promoting water reuse and conservation, and investing in climate-resilient water sources, such as solar-powered water networks and rainwater harvesting.

Sanitation and health

Water is essential to life, but the world is facing a water crisis. While the planet is mostly covered in water, only 3% of it is freshwater, and two-thirds of that is tucked away in frozen glaciers or otherwise inaccessible. This means that billions of people worldwide lack access to water, and even more, find water scarce for at least one month of the year.

Unsafe water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene practices facilitate the spread of diseases like cholera and typhoid fever. They also contribute to the emergence of more dangerous forms of diseases, such as extensively drug-resistant typhoid fever. Harmful germs, parasites, and toxic chemicals can contaminate water, causing serious illnesses.

Access to safe water and sanitation improves health and helps families protect themselves from illness and disease. It reduces child and maternal mortality rates and improves hygiene, privacy, and safety for women and girls. It also reduces physical injuries from constantly lifting and carrying heavy loads of water.

In addition, access to safe water and sanitation at home gives families more time to pursue education and work opportunities, helping them break the cycle of poverty. Universal access to basic water and sanitation would result in $18.5 billion in economic benefits each year from avoided deaths alone.

The World Health Organization and UNICEF's 2023 report on "Progress on Household Drinking Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene 2000-2022" underscores the importance of this issue.

Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions bring economic, environmental, quality of life, and health benefits. They are fundamental to improving standards of living, reducing poverty, promoting equality, and supporting socioeconomic development.

However, deficits in service coverage and quality tend to be concentrated in low-income groups, vulnerable groups, and rural populations. This is compounded by the lack of access to adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene services in healthcare facilities.

To address these challenges, dedicated efforts are needed to improve WASH practices and infrastructure. This includes understanding where underserved populations live and their levels of access, as well as increasing access in lagging regions like South Asia and Africa.

Non-governmental organisations like World Vision are working to ensure vulnerable people in disease-burdened rural areas have access to clean water and improved sanitation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they supported thousands of healthcare facilities and millions of households through access to clean water.

Safe drinking water is a human right, and it is critical to the health and well-being of families worldwide.

Climate change

Water Scarcity

Water-Related Hazards

Water Quality

Agriculture and Food Security

Water-intensive agriculture exacerbates water scarcity. Climate-smart agriculture, including drip irrigation and wastewater reuse, can help reduce water demand. Protecting and restoring natural buffers like wetlands and mangroves can also help regulate water flow, reduce soil erosion, and increase water storage.

Solutions

Adopting sustainable water management practices can help build resilience and protect health. Early warning systems for floods and droughts can significantly reduce disaster risk. Improving water and sanitation services can protect children's health, as water-related diseases are a leading cause of death for those under five.

Water pollution

Water is essential for life, connecting every aspect of it. However, despite covering 70% of the Earth's surface, only 3% of the world's water is freshwater, which is the type we need for drinking, bathing, and irrigation. This limited supply of freshwater is under constant threat of pollution from various human activities and, occasionally, natural processes.

Agricultural activities contribute significantly to water pollution. Farms and livestock operations wash fertilisers, pesticides, and animal waste into waterways, leading to nutrient pollution. This form of pollution, caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorus, is the number one threat to water quality globally. It can result in algal blooms, which are toxic to both people and wildlife. Additionally, untreated human wastewater and industrial waste are significant contributors to water pollution. Petroleum hydrocarbons, fuel combustion by-products, volatile organic compounds, and plastic pollution from boats, tankers, and cargo shipping are all harmful substances that contaminate our water resources.

The consequences of water pollution are severe and far-reaching. Firstly, it endangers the health of millions of people worldwide. Polluted water can spread water-borne diseases, such as cholera and typhoid fever, and cause other illnesses, including deadly diarrhoeal diseases. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), polluted water is water that has undergone a compositional change, rendering it unusable. This degradation of water quality has detrimental effects on both human health and the environment, stalling economic growth and exacerbating poverty.

To address water pollution, appropriate infrastructure, management plans, and legislation are necessary. Organisations like World Vision are working towards providing clean water and improved sanitation in developing regions. Additionally, individuals can play a role in reducing water pollution by properly disposing of chemicals, waste, and plastics, and by supporting initiatives aimed at protecting and restoring water bodies.

Human impact

Water covers 70% of the Earth's surface, but only 3% of this is freshwater, most of which is locked away in frozen glaciers. This means that access to water is a significant problem, with 1.1 billion people lacking access to water and 2.7 billion experiencing water scarcity for at least one month a year.

Human activity has had a profound impact on the Earth's water systems, causing water scarcity and pollution, and contributing to climate change, which in turn affects water supplies.

One of the most significant ways in which humans impact water systems is through the degradation of ecosystems. This often occurs through changes to landscapes, such as deforestation, the conversion of natural landscapes to farmland, the growth of cities, and surface mining. Deforestation, for example, can harm the water cycle by reducing humidity, creating more runoff and increasing the likelihood of droughts and floods. The clearance of forests and other natural landscapes also often destroys wetlands, some of the most productive habitats on the planet, which support a wide range of animal life and are essential for the cultivation of rice, a staple food for half the world's population. About half of the world's wetlands have been destroyed since 1900.

Another major way in which humans impact water systems is through pollution. Industrial waste, sewage, runoff from farmland and cities, and factory effluents all contribute to water pollution, which affects both surface water and groundwater. This pollution has a direct impact on public health, with 2 million people dying each year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by inadequate sanitation and exposure to waterborne illnesses such as cholera and typhoid fever.

Climate change, driven largely by human activities such as burning fossil fuels, is also altering patterns of weather and water around the world, causing droughts and floods and affecting water supplies.

Other human activities that impact water systems include the construction of dams and reservoirs, which can alter the timing of discharge in river basins, and water withdrawals for industrial, agricultural, or domestic purposes, which can displace water from its natural source.

The impacts of these human activities on water systems are complex and far-reaching, and they often interact with and compound one another. For example, climate change can increase existing water stress, and the construction of new reservoirs can further strain water supplies.

It is important to recognize that the impacts of human activities on water systems are not limited to the natural environment but also have significant consequences for human rights, including the rights to life, health, water, sanitation, food, a healthy environment, and an adequate standard of living. Vulnerable and marginalized groups often bear the brunt of these consequences.

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