Population, Urbanization, and the Environment - Water (SOCI 1306)

Population, Urbanization, and the Environment SOCI 1306 Water Every year, hundreds of thousands of children die from cholera, typhoid, and diarrhoea caused by contaminated water, and over 160 million children experience malnourishment and stunted growth as a result of water-related problems. According to the CDC (2016), 3 billion people lack access to safe water for hand washing at home. Think about the implications of that, keeping in mind that a large number of individuals who lack access to water for hand washing reside in urban areas with a high population density or in agricultural communities where they interact with animals. Numerous other concerns we've covered also aggravate the water crisis. The effects of pollution, climate change, and global pandemics are all exacerbated when people lack access to clean water. Ultimately, other critical components of survival and social mobility may be hampered by the expense of getting that clean water. Youngsters carry water for their families by walking great distances to gather drinkable water. These same kids, along with others who gather firewood in a similar way, find it harder to concentrate on their studies, missing class or failing to finish the required assignments (Water.org 2021). Frequent water hauling has a severe impact on people's bodies, particularly pregnant women who frequently perform the duty. For some, this entails lugging 20 kg (40 pounds) for 30 minutes or more. As the world's population grows, the issue will only worsen. In the twenty-first century, water is one of the primary resource battlegrounds. Every youngster learns in school that water makes up 70% of the world. Despite that number, the amount of water that humans can consume is limited, and a sustainable water cycle continuously uses and reuses it. But because of the way we exploit this plentiful natural resource, a large portion of it is no longer fit for human consumption and cannot support life. The extraction of oil and natural gas, which was covered at the beginning of the chapter, uses so much water that wastewater cannot be safely disposed of anywhere but deep below. However, many individuals are unaware of how much more water is used by more typical activities. Both the enormous quantity of water required to grow almonds (8 percent of California's water supply, or around one gallon per every nut) and the amount of water required to make one cup of coffee have generated headlines. However, every animal and crop has a "water footprint." It is a recognised fact that the production of dairy milk requires more water than that of almond milk, for instance. Additionally, producing steak might require up to 900 gallons of water (WaterCalculuator.org 2020). Those water expenses should be taken into account, especially if the crops are grown in an area of the globe where access to clean water is also a problem. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, cutting back on irrigation water use for American crops would have very little impact. The majority of specialists concentrate on decreasing the distance that people must travel in order to access clean water, as well as on enhancing sanitation and water quality generally. Urbanisation, population growth, and industrialisation have always resulted in water contamination. The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught fire many times as a result of pollution, which contributed to the US's decision to switch to cleaner water. The same issues are presently plaguing other nations. The methods of food production used by many core nations rely on liberal doses of nitrogen and pesticides, which end up back in the water supply. Water close to human settlements is frequently polluted with untreated or partially treated human waste (sewage), chemicals, radioactivity, and levels of heat sufficient to create large "dead zones" incapable of supporting aquatic life. Water pollution can occasionally have an impact on the aquatic species that land animals and aquatic creatures eat. The pollution pass from prey to predator as we proceed up the food chain. Since humans eat at all food chain levels, we eventually ingest the carcinogens—like mercury—that have accumulated via a number of food web branches.