It is well known that water is the source of life, and no one can live without water. However, the global trend indicates that the world is facing a looming water crisis. The cause for this is discussed in the essay below.
Global Water Crisis
Kirby (2000) observes that the human’s need for water is expected to grow by 40% in the next two decades. However, this is worrying given that there is only 0.8% of the global water that humans have access to, since the rest is too salty for use. As of 1999, the UNEP officials warned that in 50 countries, 200 scientists indicated that water was one of the two major problems of the decade, and the situation was bound to get worse.
With such a worrying prospect, it is worth looking at the precipitating factors of the problem. Arizona.edu (2012) has it that the human’s manner of utilization of the resource could be the main course. This is mainly because the populations of many countries continue exploding. As this happens, the water resources are strained further. Similarly, there is the issue of desertification where the process is steadily increasing in many countries. The result is that the available water continues reducing. Climate change is also another factor, since global warming leads to the drying up of water sources. In a way, humans are to blame for all these changes. Arizona.edu (2012) further observes that if the situation is not reversed, then it is likely that nations that have common water sources might soon get into conflicts as they compete for the resource, just as the energy conflicts of the 1970s.
In as much as the prospect does not seem so appealing, humans can still help in controlling the situation. For instance, they can control the population growth as well as the water utilization. However, more concentrated efforts might be needed. For instance, there was the sixth annual World Water Forum meeting held in Marseille, France. During the meeting, there was a proposal to establish a global water fund under the UN umbrella (lcg.org, 2012). Such efforts could save the world of the looming water crisis.
References
Arizona.edu. (2012). Global Water Shortage Looms in New Century. Retrieved on 19th May 2012, http://ag.arizona.edu/AZWATER/awr/dec99/Feature2.htm
Kirby, A. (2000). Dawn of a Thirsty Century. Retrieved on 19th May 2012 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/755497.stm
Lcg.org. (2012). Can Global Control Fix the Water Crisis? Retrieved on 19th May 2012 from http://www.lcg.org/cgi-bin/lcg/newsprophecy/lcg-np.cgi?category=NewsProphecy1&item=1333062736
