The Earth can also be referred to as the blue planet and contains water that covers approximately three quarters of its surface. Water contained on the earth's surface can be categorized according to the state and place it can be found (Gleick, 817). It can further be categorized as fresh or salt water. Salt water covers the largest amount of Earth's water and can also be referred to as salient water. The distribution of Earth's salty water can be allocated as follows herein. Oceans cover approximately 96.5%, Permanent snow 1.74%, ground water 1.7%, soil moisture 0.001%, swamps 0.0008%, river 0.0002% while biological water covers 0.0001%. On the other hand, fresh water covers approximately 2.5% with proportionate distribution as identified herein. Permanent snow covers 68.7%, ground water 30.1%, soil moisture 0.05%, Ground ice 0.86% while lakes cover 0.26%. Atmosphere covers a further 0.04%, swamp water 0.03%, rivers 0.006% while the remainder 0.003% gets covered by biological water component.
The availability and storage of fresh water take diverse surfaces and aquifers and is available for current as well as future use. Fresh water covers approximately 1.5 million kilometers and its storage and transmission take place through lakes, rivers, oceans, swamps and aquifers within the earth’s crust. There exist 28 large fresh water lakes in the world that covers over 500 km2 (Peter, 1993). Most of these fresh water lakes can be found in ancient fields, recent glaciations areas and regions of the Earth's crust that have experienced large tectonic fractures. The period between 1951 and 1980 saw an increase in the number of freshwater reservoirs as a result of development of artificial lakes and reservoirs. On average, the world contains 44500km3 runoff per year but only 43500 km3 of the total drains directly into the ocean. The remaining 1000km3 evaporates into the atmosphere and comprises the water moisture (Fekete et.al, 294).
Fresh water contains less than 1% salinity, and it is of quality fit for human consumption. According to the United Nations, human beings experience many global water crisis. The United Nations went further and declared 2003 as the international fresh water year with an objective of solving the problem by the year 2015. Approximately 1.1 billion people and animals seldom access safe drinking water in most parts of the world. This can be attributed to the fact that water is a scarce commodity and the world holds a limited supply of it sufficient for all human beings and animals. Population growth has contributed a lot to the shortage considering that the population has tripled in the past century. Aquifers supply lakes, rivers, streams, swamps and reserves with fresh water to replenish the already consumed water. However, water scarcity will always be there as long as annual river runoff and the renewable ground water inflow occur each year.
The trends in the population growth and fresh water withdrawals rose tremendously from 175 million to 325 million gallons per day between the year 1950 and 2000. However, in the year 1980 recorded an exceptional high of 375 gallons per day (UNESCO). In order to manage the water, inflows and discharge data need be kept well so as to bring out the water crisis analysis (World Water Council). The inflow water less the discharge water indicates the storage capacity that a reservoir can hold. This information helps to estimate the amount of water in the water bodies and the number of reservoirs available. A water resource plays a key role in understanding better the natural water cycle and its impact on people’s activities. Fresh water covers approximately 2.5% volume of water in the hydrosphere which is equivalent to 35 million km3.
In order to make sure that scarcity of fresh water is not a disaster for human beings, the hydrological cycle and the water balance processes ensure that there is a continuous renewal of water every year. In the hydrological cycle water can be in the form of liquid, vapor or ice depending on the cycle stage it is. Water moves from the ocean into the atmosphere, then from the atmosphere to the land and back into the ocean. Water through an evaporation process rises and accumulates in the atmosphere forming clouds. The wind then blows the cloud to the land where water particle forms water droplets through the condensation process. The droplets fall on land in the form of rain refilling the water aquifers thus preparing them to produce more fresh water for human consumption. The water in the land eventually flows back to the ocean through rivers and stream thus forming the renewable water cycle. Most of the rains produce fresh water unless there is high gas emission in the atmosphere. Natural water gets renewed annually at different rates where surface runoff serves as the main source of fresh water due to the high aeration in the open flows. Water for human consumption should have a lot of oxygen to cater for their diverse needs (Gleick, 1996).
A proper freshwater delivery and management technique needs to be adopted in order to increase the sufficiency of water sources in the world. The ecosystem has an obligation to provide fresh water services to the world throughout the year unless without much hindrance by human activities. The world populations have in many centuries depended on the fresh water for their survival. The dependence on fresh water concurs with the saying water is life, because in order for any human to survive he has to drink water (Charles, 2008). Despite the human dependence on fresh water, human beings all over the world immensely get involved in activities hindering the normal flow of fresh water. Dead zone can be defined as an area where the amount of oxygen goes below the minimum oxygen level required (Peter, 1993). The ecosystem guarantees supply of fresh water and good relationship between environment and human beings. A stable ecosystem has more advantages to human beings because it ensures that the following fundamental human needs get are met: secure food supply, high survival of aquatic life. Sharing water resources which enhance co-existence between users, easy identification of proper solution for hazards like flood and drought and lastly it ensures dependable governance and public participation. Desalinization defines the removal of salt from water to change it from salt water to fresh water. In most countries with water crisis, the fresh water shortage is addressed by introduction of desalinization processes (Gleick, 1993). The process requires a lot of money and involves high energy consumption. Clean water reduces the spread of water borne diseases and its also used to enhance human immune system therefore it has an extremely beneficial aspect of human being.
.
Works Cited
Charles J. V., Christian L., Fresh Water 2008 retrieved from
Http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/uiferl/pdf%20reports/MA%20Freshwater%20Ecosystem%20Services.pdf
Fekete, B.M., C.J. Vo¨ro¨smarty, J. Roads, and C. Willmott: Uncertainties in precipitation and their impacts on runoff estimates, Journal of Climate, (2004) 17, pp. 294–304.
Gleick, P. H.,: Water resources. In Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather, Ed.By S. H. Schneider, Oxford University Press, New York, (1996) vol. 2, pp. 817-823
Gleick, P.H. Water in Crisis: A Guide to the World's Fresh Water Resources. New York, Oxford University Press (1993)
Peter, H. G. Water crisis: a guide to the world’s fresh water resources 1993 retrieved from
Http://www.ibiologia.unam.mx/pdf/directorio/z/introduccion/world_watershed_re.pdf
UNESCO. Hydrological cycle/water balance retrieved from
Http://www.unesco.org/education/educprog/ste/pdf_files/sourcebook/module7.pdf
World Water Council. World Water Vision Commission Report: A Water Secure World. Vision for Water, Life and the Environment. (2002).
Http://www.worldwatercouncil.org/Vision/Documents/CommissionReport.pdf [Geo-2- 125]
