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Water Shortages By: Jonathan, Tirell Barron, Rashelly, Frankie,

What is it?Situation where the available water within a region is less than the region’s demand.

Reasons for water shortages

Overpopulation

Water pollution

Global Warming

Drinkable Water

Overpopulation

As the population increases, water demands increases as well.

increased and unsustainable agricultural and industrial use of water.

Deforestation and land-degradation seriously change the water cycle.

over-consumption and waste.

Examples

It takes 2.5 billion gallons of water per day to irrigate the world’s golf courses.

Water Pollution

In addition to our using more water than is returned in rain, we are also polluting the water we have. Most of the pesticides and fertilizers used in agriculture, sewer overflows, and the oil and grease from roads, eventually run off into the water systems.

Decaying plant material, failing septic tanks, and inefficient sewage treatment plants also contribute to water pollution.

Examples

Nuclear wasteIndian Point

Oil spill

More than 60 percent of U.S. coastal rivers and bays aremoderately to severely degraded by nutrient runoff. Every eight months, nearly 11 million gallons of oil run off our streets and driveways into our waters

Global warming

Human-produced greenhouse gases, and the resulting warmer climates they produce, will have a significant influence on ice- and snow-dependent regions and will result in costly disruptions to water supply and resource management systems.

"greenhouse physics"—show that in a warming climate more water will fall in the form of rain rather than snow, filling reservoirs to capacity earlier than normal. Additionally, a warming climate will result in snow melting earlier in the year than in previous decades, disrupting the traditional timing of water available from snow runoff streams. Together, these changes mean less snow accumulation in the winter and earlier snow-derived water runoff in the spring, challenging the capacities of existing water reservoirs.

Drinkable Water

Only 1 percent of the planet’s water is drinkable.