Water is necessary for life. Luckily, it is also one of the earth’s most abundant resources. But its prevalence does not necessarily assure its availability. About 70 percent of the earth’s surface is covered in water, making it the most abundant natural resource.
However only about 3 percent of the earth’s water is drinkable and of that two-thirds are found in glaciers. With human beings inhabiting every corner of the earth, access to clean water is not something enjoyed equally by everyone. This is due to both economic and geographic conditions. Changing weather patterns, which many attribute to human caused climate change and the high growth rates of humans have cause many to worry about drinking water’s future and continued availability.
Water is used in every aspect of human life, from agriculture, to personal hygiene to drinking. Fresh water constantly recycles itself via the water cycle also called the hydrologic cycle or the H2O cycle. The water cycle is the movement of water from above the ground (surface water and wetlands) and below the surface (groundwater). The balance of water remains constant over time, but individual water molecules are in constant motion, changing forms and recycling itself. Water is rarely static, it is always moving from one reservoir to another.
The water cycle is naturally shifting. Places that today are deserts at one point in their history may have been wetlands, or even lakes or seas. The shift in climate and weather patterns is natural and is continuously occurring. Recently, many sects of climatologists have become concerned that human released toxins in the atmosphere could unnaturally cause changes to the water cycles.
Water is not only one of the most prevalent natural resources in the world; it is the most important. Governments of various countries are working to plan for both droughts, which are regional phenomenon, and climatic changes, which could lead to permanent alterations in water patterns.
Urbanization, or the move from the country to a city also causes problems in water resources. Cities like Los Angeles have continuously dealt with providing water to growing populations. Other US cities, like Los Vegas Nevada, deal with a large population built in a desert where water is scarce and need to bring in water from the outside.
One final problem with water as a natural and necessary resource is pollution, which can turn otherwise drinkable water into water that cannot be used for human consumption. Water rationing, storing, future planning and purification are all things that are important when it comes to assuring that populations in both urban and rural areas will continue to have the amount of water that they require for their needs. Though it is one of the world’s most prevalent natural resources, it is not always accessible in certain areas and it’s access can change from year to year.
References:
US Geological Survey The Hydrologic Cycle, USGS pamphlet, (1984) retrieved March 20, 2013, from http://ga.water.usgs.gov/
