Discussion 6
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Northern Arizona University *
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Geography
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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docx
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Uploaded by AmbassadorHeatParrot33
of water is super important since water is essential for life. According to the Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development’s Environmental Outlook to 2030 report, 47 percent
of the world’s population will be living in areas of high water stress (Arsenault, 2012). The same
article says that 780 million people lack access to safe drinking water
(Arsenault, 2012)
. One of
the factors that leads to water scarcity is climate change. Climate Change warms the earth
making warm places on the map even hotter (Schleifer, 2017). Another factor our world is
seeing is that groundwater is being depleted. Fresh water in the earth can be found
underground and can be extracted for use, but this water is being used faster than it is being
replenished (Schleifer, 2017). Another factor we are seeing is a lack of care for the environment
in general. Plants and trees are essential for replenishing and replacing groundwater after
humans extract it and continuing to cut down forest areas adds to the problem of water scarcity.
In addition,
Cutting down trees severely affects the habitats of animals, which can eventually
lead to the extinction of vulnerable species. As well as causing soil erosion, deforestation also
results in larger amounts of greenhouse gasses reaching the atmosphere because trees cannot
absorb carbon dioxide once they’re cut down. Since there are worrisome environmental issues
about water quality and water pollution, there are also plenty of opportunities for water pollution
solution ideas and water quality monitoring.
For example, as I heard from my family, The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is doing a ten-
year monitoring cycle for the state's 80 watersheds, which involves actively monitoring stream
and lake water conditions in each of these 80 watersheds
(
Water Quality Initiatives | Minnesota
Pollution Control Agency
, n.d.)
. The purpose of this type of water monitoring cycle is to
determine the overall health of the watershed’s water resources and to identify impaired waters
and those that may need protection to prevent these impairments from happening at all
(
Water
Quality Initiatives | Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
, n.d.)
. In my personal opinion and
prediction of the future of water, everyone globally is not in a very good spot in terms of water.
Based on the statistics that I found about how many people lack access to safe drinking water, it
is easy to tell that our world has much improvement that needs to be made in this area. The
things that we as members of this earth and citizens of the United States include volunteering
for local water resource charities or projects, doing your part in your household and lifestyle to
not waste water, and being aware of the intensity of this problem and what our country proposes
that we do about it. As well as trends happening where many are buying reusable water bottles
like Stanley Cups or Hydroflasks, to lessen the plastic in the oceans. As of right now, I do not
think that we are headed in a very promising direction, but with new ideas coming out about how
to preserve our water sources, I do think the people of this earth may be able to turn the
situation around. We can also help the drastic water pollution situation that is currently going on
in our poor oceans by not littering or picking up litter off the ground, reducing our use of plastic
items that are commonly found in the ocean such as straws, and making sure we are disposing
of oils and composts in the right way. Cigarette butts are the most common form of ocean litter,
so we should make sure smokers or smoking areas are disposing of these correctly.
Arsenault, C. (2012, August 26).
Risk of water wars rises with scarcity
.
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2012/08/26/risk-of-water-wars-rises-with-scarcity/
Schleifer, L. (2017).
7 Reasons We’re Facing a Global Water Crisis
.
https://www.wri.org/insights/7-reasons-were-facing-global-water-
crisis
https://www.pca.state.mn.us/air-water-land-climate/water-quality-initiatives
Water quality initiatives | Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
. (n.d.). Retrieved November 15,
2023, from https://www.pca.state.mn.us/air-water-land-climate/water-quality-initiatives
(Schleifer, 2017)
Arsenault, C. (2012, August 26). Risk of water wars rises with scarcity. Retrieved November 10,
2020, from
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2012/08/26/risk-of-water-wars-rises-with-
scarcity/
(Schleifer, 2017)
Schleifer, L. (2018, September 26). 7 Reasons We're Facing a Global Water Crisis. Retrieved
November 10, 2020, from
https://www.wri.org/blog/2017/08/7-reasons-were-facing-global-water-
crisis(Healthier Watersheds, n.d.)
What we're doing to improve water quality. (2017, October 09). Retrieved November 10, 2020,
from
https://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/what-were-doing-improve-water-quality-0
(
Water Quality Initiatives | Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
, n.d.)
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