“Fresh water bodies will have had disappeared by 2050” Notes

http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0402-water.html

By 2025 more than half of countries will face freshwater stress or shortages and by 2050
as much as 75 percent of the world's population could face freshwater scarcity, but
policy measures and new technologies could help reduce the shortfall, report researchers
writing in the journal Nature.

"This growing international water crisis is forcing governments to rethink how they value
and use and manage water, especially because economic development hinges on water
availability," write Mike Hightower and Suzanne Pierce, water experts at Sandia National
Laboratories. "Drinking water supplies, agriculture, energy production and generation,
mining and industry all require large quantities of water. In the future, these sectors will
be competing for increasingly limited freshwater resources, making water supply
availability a major economic driver in the 21st century."

http://environment.about.com/od/globalwarming/a/waterinvesting.htm

Freshwater Becoming More Scarce

The United Nations estimates that by 2050 more than two billion people in 48 countries
will lack sufficient water. Approximately 97 percent to 98 percent of the water on planet
Earth is saltwater (the estimates vary slightly depending on the source). Much of the
remaining freshwater is frozen in glaciers or the polar ice caps. Lakes, rivers and
groundwater account for about 1 percent of the world’s potentially usable freshwater.

If global warming continues to melt glaciers in the polar regions, as expected, the supply
of freshwater may actually decrease. First, freshwater from the melting glaciers will
mingle with saltwater in the oceans and become too salty to drink. Second, the increased
ocean volume will cause sea levels to rise, contaminating freshwater sources along
coastal regions with seawater.

Complicating matters even further is that 95 percent of the world’s cities continue to
dump raw sewage into rivers and other freshwater supplies, making them unsafe for
human consumption.

The Need for Freshwater is Increasing Rapidly

Yet, while freshwater supplies are at best static, and at worst decreasing, the world’s
population is growing rapidly. The United Nations estimates that the world population—
approximately 6.5 billion in 2006—will grow to 9.4 billion by 2050.

The cost of water is usually set by government agencies and local regulators. Water isn't
traded on commodity exchanges, but many utilities stocks are publicly traded.
Meanwhile, investments in companies that provide desalinization, and other processes
and technologies that may increase the world’s supply of freshwater, are growing rapidly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overpopulation

The recent rapid increase in human population over the past two centuries has raised
concerns that humans are beginning to overpopulate the Earth, and that the planet may
not be able to sustain present or larger numbers of inhabitants. The population has been
growing continuously since the end of the Black Death, around the year 1400;[4] at the
beginning of the nineteenth century, it had reached roughly 1,000,000,000 (1 billion).
Increases in life expectancy and resource availability during the industrial and green
revolutions led to rapid population growth on a worldwide level. By 1960, the world
population had reached 3 billion; it doubled to 6 billion over the next four decades. As of
2009, the estimated annual growth rate was 1.10%, down from a peak of 2.2% in 1963,
“Fresh water bodies will have had disappeared by 2050” Notes

and the world population stood at roughly 6.7 billion. Current projections show a steady
decline in the population growth rate, with the population expected to reach between 8
and 10.5 billion between the year 2040[5][6] and 2050.[7]

The scientific consensus is that the current population expansion and accompanying
increase in usage of resources is linked to threats to the ecosystem. The InterAcademy
Panel Statement on Population Growth, which was ratified by 58 member national
academies in 1994, called the growth in human numbers "unprecedented", and stated
that many environmental problems, such as rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide,
global warming, and pollution, were aggravated by the population expansion.[8] At the
time, the world population stood at 5.5 billion, and optimistic scenarios predicted a peak
of 7.8 billion by 2050, a number that current estimates show will be reached around
2030

Fresh water supplies, on which agriculture depends, are running low worldwide.[54][55] This
water crisis is only expected to worsen as the population increases. Lester R. Brown of
the Earth Policy Institute argues that declining water supplies will have future disastrous
consequences for agriculture.[56]

Potential problems with dependence on desalination are reviewed below, however, the
majority of the world's freshwater supply is contained in the polar icecaps, and
underground river systems accessible through springs and wells.

Fresh water can be obtained from salt water by desalination. For example, Malta derives
two thirds of its freshwater by desalination. A number of nuclear powered desalination
plants exist;[57] these could continuously provide drinking water with few limitations, if the
development of breeder reactors results in nuclear fuel becoming a renewable resource.
[58]
However, the high costs of desalination, especially for poor countries, make
impractical the transport of large amounts of desalinated seawater to interiors of large
countries.[59] The cost of desalinization varies; Israel is now desalinating water for a cost
of 53 cents per cubic meter,[60] Singapore at 49 cents per cubic meter.[61] In the United
States, the cost is 81 cents per cubic meter ($3.06 for 1,000 gallons).[62]

According to a 2004 study by Zhoua and Tolb, "one needs to lift the water by 2000 m, or
transport it over more than 1600 km to get transport costs equal to the desalination
costs. Desalinated water is expensive in places that are both somewhat far from the sea
and somewhat high, such as Riyadh and Harare. In other places, the dominant cost is
desalination, not transport. This leads to somewhat lower costs in places like Beijing,
Bangkok, Zaragoza, Phoenix, and, of course, coastal cities like Tripoli." Thus while the
study is generally positive about the technology for affluent areas that are proximate to
oceans, it concludes that "Desalinated water may be a solution for some water-stress
regions, but not for places that are poor, deep in the interior of a continent, or at high
elevation. Unfortunately, that includes some of the places with biggest water
problems."[63] Another potential problem with desalination is the byproduction of saline
brine, which can be a major cause of marine pollution when dumped back into the
oceans at high temperatures."[63]

The world's largest desalination plant is the Jebel Ali Desalination Plant (Phase 2) in the
United Arab Emirates, which can produce 300 million cubic meters of water per year,[64]
or about 2500 gallons per second. The largest desalination plant in the US is the one at
Tampa Bay, Florida, which began desalinizing 25 million gallons (95000 m³) of water per
day in December 2007.[65] A January 17, 2008, article in the Wall Street Journal states,
"Worldwide, 13,080 desalination plants produce more than 12 billion gallons of water a
day, according to the International Desalination Association." [66] After being desalinized
at Jubail, Saudi Arabia, water is pumped 200 miles (320 km) inland though a pipeline to
the capital city of Riyadh.[67]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_resources
“Fresh water bodies will have had disappeared by 2050” Notes

Fresh water supplies, on which agriculture depends, are running low worldwide.[54][55] This
water crisis is only expected to worsen as the population increases. Lester R. Brown of
the Earth Policy Institute argues that declining water supplies will have future disastrous
consequences for agriculture.[56]

Potential problems with dependence on desalination are reviewed below, however, the
majority of the world's freshwater supply is contained in the polar icecaps, and
underground river systems accessible through springs and wells.

Fresh water can be obtained from salt water by desalination. For example, Malta derives
two thirds of its freshwater by desalination. A number of nuclear powered desalination
plants exist;[57] these could continuously provide drinking water with few limitations, if the
development of breeder reactors results in nuclear fuel becoming a renewable resource.
[58]
However, the high costs of desalination, especially for poor countries, make
impractical the transport of large amounts of desalinated seawater to interiors of large
countries.[59] The cost of desalinization varies; Israel is now desalinating water for a cost
of 53 cents per cubic meter,[60] Singapore at 49 cents per cubic meter.[61] In the United
States, the cost is 81 cents per cubic meter ($3.06 for 1,000 gallons).[62]

According to a 2004 study by Zhoua and Tolb, "one needs to lift the water by 2000 m, or
transport it over more than 1600 km to get transport costs equal to the desalination
costs. Desalinated water is expensive in places that are both somewhat far from the sea
and somewhat high, such as Riyadh and Harare. In other places, the dominant cost is
desalination, not transport. This leads to somewhat lower costs in places like Beijing,
Bangkok, Zaragoza, Phoenix, and, of course, coastal cities like Tripoli." Thus while the
study is generally positive about the technology for affluent areas that are proximate to
oceans, it concludes that "Desalinated water may be a solution for some water-stress
regions, but not for places that are poor, deep in the interior of a continent, or at high
elevation. Unfortunately, that includes some of the places with biggest water
problems."[63] Another potential problem with desalination is the byproduction of saline
brine, which can be a major cause of marine pollution when dumped back into the
oceans at high temperatures."[63]

The world's largest desalination plant is the Jebel Ali Desalination Plant (Phase 2) in the
United Arab Emirates, which can produce 300 million cubic meters of water per year, or
about 2500 gallons per second. The largest desalination plant in the US is the one at
Tampa Bay, Florida, which began desalinizing 25 million gallons (95000 m³) of water per
day in December 2007.] A January 17, 2008, article in the Wall Street Journal states,
"Worldwide, 13,080 desalination plants produce more than 12 billion gallons of water a
day, according to the International Desalination Association." After being desalinized at
Jubail, Saudi Arabia, water is pumped 200 miles (320 km) inland though a pipeline to the
capital city of Riyadh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_resources

Water stress

Best estimate of the share of people in developing countries with access to drinking
water 1970–2000.
Main articles: water crisis and water stress

The concept of water stress is relatively simple: According to the World Business Council
for Sustainable Development, it applies to situations where there is not enough water for
all uses, whether agricultural, industrial or domestic. Defining thresholds for stress in
terms of available water per capita is more complex, however, entailing assumptions
about water use and its efficiency. Nevertheless, it has been proposed that when annual
per capita renewable freshwater availability is less than 1,700 cubic meters, countries
“Fresh water bodies will have had disappeared by 2050” Notes

begin to experience periodic or regular water stress. Below 1,000 cubic meters, water
scarcity begins to hamper economic development and human health and well-being.

[edit] Population growth

In 2000, the world population was 6.2 billion. The UN estimates that by 2050 there will be
an additional 3.5 billion people with most of the growth in developing countries that
already suffer water stress.[9] Thus, water demand will increase unless there are
corresponding increases in water conservation and recycling of this vital resource.[10]

[edit] Expansion of business activity

Business activity ranging from industrialization to services such as tourism and

entertainment continues to expand rapidly. This expansion requires increased water
services including both supply and sanitation, which can lead to more pressure on water
resources and natural ecosystems.

[edit] Rapid urbanization

The trend towards urbanization is accelerating. Small private wells and septic tanks that
work well in low-density communities are not feasible within high-density urban areas.
Urbanization requires significant investment in water infrastructure in order to deliver
water to individuals and to process the concentrations of wastewater – both from
individuals and from business. These polluted and contaminated waters must be treated
or they pose unacceptable public health risks.

In 60% of European cities with more than 100,000 people, groundwater is being used at
a faster rate than it can be replenished.[11] Even if some water remains available, it costs
more and more to capture it.

[edit] Climate change

Climate change could have significant impacts on water resources around the world
because of the close connections between the climate and hydrological cycle. Rising
temperatures will increase evaporation and lead to increases in precipitation, though
there will be regional variations in rainfall. Overall, the global supply of freshwater will
increase. Both droughts and floods may become more frequent in different regions at
different times, and dramatic changes in snowfall and snowmelt are expected in
mountainous areas. Higher temperatures will also affect water quality in ways that are
not well understood. Possible impacts include increased eutrophication. Climate change
could also mean an increase in demand for farm irrigation, garden sprinklers, and
perhaps even swimming pools

[edit] Depletion of aquifers

Due to the expanding human population, competition for water is growing such that
many of the worlds major aquifers are becoming depleted. This is due both for direct
human consumption as well as agricultural irrigation by groundwater. Millions of pumps
of all sizes are currently extracting groundwater throughout the world. Irrigation in dry
areas such as northern China and India is supplied by groundwater, and is being
extracted at an unsustainable rate. Cities that have experienced aquifer drops between
10 to 50 meters include Mexico City, Bangkok, Manila, Beijing, Madras and Shanghai.[12]

[edit] Pollution and water protection

Main article: Water pollution

“Fresh water bodies will have had disappeared by 2050” Notes

Polluted water

Water pollution is one of the main concerns of the world today. The governments of
many countries have striven to find solutions to reduce this problem. Many pollutants
threaten water supplies, but the most widespread, especially in underdeveloped
countries, is the discharge of raw sewage into natural waters; this method of sewage
disposal is the most common method in underdeveloped countries, but also is prevalent
in quasi-developed countries such as China, India and Iran. Sewage, sludge, garbage,
and even toxic pollutants are all dumped into the water. Even if sewage is treated,
problems still arise. Treated sewage forms sludge, which may be placed in landfills,
spread out on land, incinerated or dumped at sea.[13] In addition to sewage, nonpoint
source pollution such as agricultural runoff is a significant source of pollution in some
parts of the world, along with urban stormwater runoff and chemical wastes dumped by
industries and governments.

[edit] Water and conflict

The only known example of an actual inter-state conflict over water took place between
2500 and 2350 BC between the Sumerian states of Lagash and Umma.[14] Yet, despite the
lack of evidence of international wars being fought over water alone, water has been the
source of various conflicts throughout history. When water scarcity causes political
tensions to arise, this is referred to as water stress. Water stress has led most often to
conflicts at local and regional levels.[15] Using a purely quantitative methodology, Thomas
Homer-Dixon successfully correlated water scarcity and scarcity of available arable lands
to an increased chance of violent conflict.[16]

Water stress can also exacerbate conflicts and political tensions which are not directly
caused by water. Gradual reductions over time in the quality and/or quantity of fresh
water can add to the instability of a region by depleting the health of a population,
obstructing economic development, and exacerbating larger conflicts.[17]

Conflicts and tensions over water are most likely to arise within national borders, in the
downstream areas of distressed river basins. Areas such as the lower regions of China's
Yellow River or the Chao Phraya River in Thailand, for example, have already been
experiencing water stress for several years. Additionally, certain arid countries which rely
heavily on water for irrigation, such as China, India, Iran, and Pakistan, are particularly at
risk of water-related conflicts.[17] Political tensions, civil protest, and violence may also
occur in reaction to water privatization. The Bolivian Water Wars of 2000 are a case in
point.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/On_average_how_much_water_is_used_in_the_US_every_day

How Much Water Do You Really Use?

The Truth's a Shocking Average of 1,189 Gallons (4,500 Liters) a Day

“Fresh water bodies will have had disappeared by 2050” Notes

© Alan Sorum

Jan 11, 2008

Americans waste a shocking amount of water everyday. Water conservation not

only helps to preserve a scarce resource, conserving water saves energy

Americans have increasingly seen their demand for fresh water accelerate as
climate change continues and the population grows. The problem has only
worsened with record droughts and shifts in population centers. Fresh water is a
scarce resource and most people have no idea how water they consume each
day. A good number of them would be surprised to learn that the average citizen
in the United States uses an average of 1,189 gallons (4,500 liters) of water per
day.

Understanding the Problem - Water is part of our everyday life and while
some activities obviously consume water, some use is less apparent. It takes
more than 20 gallons (75 liters) of water to manufacture a pound of plastic and
100 gallons (378 liters) to produce a pound of cotton. Energy consumption
effects water use as well with just less than half of our fresh water being used by
electrical power plants. A group of concerned organizations have banded
together to better educate people about the problem and encourage better
conservation called H2O Conserve.

H2O Conserve Membership - This water conservation organization is made up

of four public interest groups, Food & Water Watch, GRACE, John Hopkins Center
for a Livable Future, and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. These
organizations recognize the impending crisis looming in the United States over
its water supply and is taking positive steps to address it

Conservation Tools - H2O Conserve has developed several tools to help

consumers better understand their overall water use and reduce consumption.
One key feature of the group's website is a water consumption calculator that
uncovers overall water consumption based on lifestyle choices. In recent press
release, Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch says, "By
allowing visitors to calculate their "water footprint" - including the water they use
at home, the water used to produce their food, energy and household products,
we hope to get people thinking about water in a whole new way." The H2O
Conserve site provides many useful tips on water conservation and detailed
information on fundamental water related issues.

Water Saving Tips From H2O Conserve - H2O Conserve offers more than fifty
tips to conserve water on their website. A few examples are:

Install a low-flow shower head

Fix leaky faucets - a steady drip can waste 20 gallons (75 liters) of water a day
“Fresh water bodies will have had disappeared by 2050” Notes

Only run the dishwasher and clothes washing machines when they are full

Consider composting garbage and using the garbage disposal less

When able, buy whole and unprocessed foods. Processed foods and drinks use
more water to produce

Use a pool cover to keep water cleaner and lower loss due to evaporation

Water lawns during the cooler parts of the day

- From suite101.com.