Article 1
In order for humans to live, they need access to fresh water. While nearly 70% of the earth’s surface is water, most of it is salt water, which humans cannot drink. Only a small percentage, about 3%, is fresh water. Of this, about 69% is currently frozen as ice caps and glaciers, while another 30% is held underground in the soil or in rock. This means that only one percent of the world’s fresh water—or .03% of the world’s total water—is surface water that humans can access to drink. The small amount of potable (suitable for drinking) water makes its conservation incredibly important so that water shortages already occurring in some regions do not spread any further. If they do spread, this may lead to conflicts over the right to use this water.
There are many ways in which humans can affect access to fresh water. For example, humans can pollute bodies of water, thereby making them undrinkable. In some cases, they may make physical changes to the land by building over wetlands or damming up rivers. While wealthy countries can afford to make the investments necessary to make sure their residents have access to fresh water, poorer countries often cannot. This means that poorer countries are at greater risk of devastating droughts, which can lead both to dehydration and starvation, as the country is unable to water its crops.
Droughts can also have a negative impact on the biodiversity of a region. Biodiversity refers to an abundance of different types of plant and animal species within a particular region. The prefix “bio” means living, while “diversity” refers to different types of things. Around the world, more than 125,000 animal species live entirely in freshwater habitats, including 15,000 species of fish, 4,300 species of amphibians, and 5,000 species of mollusks, such as clams and oysters. Millions of other species, including humans, depend on fresh water to drink. When an area loses a large percentage of its fresh water, many animals die off. In some cases, species go entirely extinct. This leads to a decrease in the region’s biodiversity.
While droughts are natural and, in many places, a frequent occurrence, there are many things that humans do to increase the severity of these droughts. For one thing, the world’s population has doubled in the last 50 years, so humans have been using much more fresh water to drink and grow crops than they did in the past. Humanity’s increasing water consumption represents a growing threat to biodiversity.
In Africa, where droughts are common, they have been more prolonged than in the past. This is due in part to climate change, as well as a greater demand for water as the continent’s population has increased. During a drought in Kenya that lasted from 2007 to 2009, over 60 elephants died—some of dehydration, others of starvation due to lack of vegetation to eat, and others of diseases that became fatal due to the elephants’ weakened states. Some other endangered animals, such as the white rhinoceros, died too, which brought them closer to extinction.
When the biodiversity of a region declines, the human population suffers as well, in different ways. When a region experiences a significant drought, many animals may die from lack of water and food. If the region is one like Kenya, which depends on its wildlife to draw tourists, the effects of the drought can be devastating. If tourism declines due to high wildlife casualties, then the locals who depend on income from tourism will lose their livelihood. People may then turn to farming to earn money, but crops require water to grow. This can place further strain on the water supply and worsen the original problem of the drought. Sometimes, an imbalance in the system, such as a lack of water, can enter into a feedback loop where the situation only gets worse and worse.
Losses in biodiversity can also lead to problems with the availability of food. As we’ve discussed, a lack of water can prevent farmers from growing crops, which can lead to starvation. However, when a region loses its biodiversity, it disrupts the food chain in many ways. For example, if a species goes extinct, all the species used to feeding on it must find another source of food. Say a particular species of freshwater frog dies because its habitat has been depleted in a drought. This means the population of birds that feeds on this frog may decline as well, as it lacks sufficient food. Conversely, the insects that the frogs fed on may increase in number, as the frogs are no longer around to keep their population in check.
One of the main advantages of biodiversity is that there are certain natural processes that plants and animals perform that humans simply cannot. The billions of bees in the world play a critical role in pollinating the world’s flowers. If they did not do this, the food supply would dwindle and the human population would suffer greatly.
Biodiversity can play an important function in the cleaning of water. When water passes through lakes, wetlands, and streams, it often encounters different species of fungi, algae, and bacteria. Many of these microbes actually filter microscopic particles out of the water, making it safe for humans to drink. Even some larger species do similar work. For example, the caddisfly constructs nets underwater that filter out different kinds of particles, which it then eats. Wetlands rich with these filtering organisms act as natural water filtration systems. When the biodiversity of a region declines, many of the organisms critical to this filtering process can disappear. Therefore, pressures on the freshwater supply can cause biodiversity to decrease, which can cut the drinkable water supply even further.
While humans do have some water filtration plants, these plants are expensive and take a lot of energy to maintain. For centuries the water that flowed into New York City was naturally filtered by a northern watershed. As the water flowed south, it was purified. However, as the watershed was polluted and diverted, the water flowing to New York City was no longer filtered. The city faced a choice of spending $6 billion to $8 billion to build a water filtration plant, or just $1 billion to restore the natural watershed. The city wisely chose the latter option.
Article 2
Despite its importance for life, fresh water is extremely rare. Less than 3 percent of the water found on Earth is fresh water, and the remaining 97 percent is salt water, such as what is found in the ocean
Most of the water on Earth is in the ocean. Only a small amount is freshwater. Graphic: Newsela staff. Data from United States Geological Survey
Most of the world's fresh water is not easily accessible to humans. Approximately 69 percent of Earth's freshwater is locked away in the form of ice in glaciers and polar ice caps. Another 30 percent of Earth's fresh water is under the surface in the form of groundwater. That leaves only about 1 percent of Earth's fresh water available for human use.
Unfortunately, the available surface fresh water is not equally distributed throughout the world. Brazil, Russia, Canada, Indonesia, China, Colombia and the United States have most of the world's surface freshwater resources. As a result, approximately one-fifth of the world's population lives in water-scarce areas. On average, each person here receives less than 35,315 cubic feet of water a year. This lack of water affects the economic development and politics of different areas.
Water that flows slowly into the Earth is called groundwater. It is stored in aquifers. Some aquifers can be refilled by rain and snow while others cannot. Groundwater is a source of drinking water for many people. Graphic: Newsela staff
Safe Drinking Water
Because freshwater resources are unequally distributed across the globe, many human populations do not have access to safe drinking water. According to the United Nations, 2.1 billion people around the globe lacked access to safe drinking water in 2017. Instead, they had access only to contaminated water. Populations drinking dirty water are at increased risk of diarrhea, cholera, dysentery and other diseases. Lack of access to clean water leads to more than 3 million deaths every year.
As a result, providing improved water sources to developing countries is an important goal for international organizations. These groups have had much success. Between 1990 and 2015, 2.6 billion people worldwide gained access to improved water resources as a result of international efforts. The remaining human populations still without access to clean water are concentrated mostly in Africa and Asia. They represent nearly 1 billion people.
Fishing And Agriculture
Access to fresh water is also important for economic development. For example, freshwater sources enable the development of fisheries. People around the world harvest fish from these habitats, providing enough animal protein to feed 158 million people worldwide. These fisheries are both a source of food for local fishermen and a source of income for traders.
Fresh water is also an important resource in other economic activities, such as agriculture. According to one estimate, about 70 percent of the world's fresh water is used for agriculture. Farmers around the world use irrigation to transport water from surface and groundwater sources to their fields. These agricultural activities involve over 1 billion people worldwide and generate over $2.4 trillion every year. In the future, demand for agricultural fresh water will only increase as global populations grow. According to one estimate, freshwater demand will increase by 50 percent by 2050. This increase in water use will put further strain on Earth's limited freshwater supplies. It will make access to fresh water even more important.
Relations Between Nations
Building site machines stand on the construction site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in Guba in the North West of Ethiopia, November 24 2017. The dam is currently being built on the Blue Nile and is going to be the biggest dam in Africa. However, the construction leads to tensions, especially with Egypt that worries about its share in Nile water. Photo: Gioia Forster/dpa via Getty Images)[click to enlarge]
The fight over fresh water can already be seen today in international politics. For example, Ethiopia and Egypt have long fought over Nile water resources in Africa. The Nile River is an important waterway that supplies nearly 85 percent of Egypt's water. However, approximately 85 percent of the Nile's water originates in Ethiopia. Because Ethiopia is planning to dam part of the river to generate electricity, Egypt is concerned that it might lose access to some of the Nile's waters. The disagreement has not yet turned into open conflict. However, it is clear that securing this important resource will define Ethiopian-Egyptian relations for many years to come.
Conflicts over water resources are common throughout the world. Even in the United States, where freshwater is relatively abundant, different populations fight over the use of fresh water. One major debate concerns the Colorado River system. This water system supplies water to Arizona, California, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Because of a drought that has reduced water flow in this river system, these seven states need to decide how to reduce water usage in order to preserve the river. Population growth and climate change will create additional challenges. These conflicts over water will continue to occur, and with greater frequency, in the future.
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Write a 5-paragraph essay, each paragraph must have 3-5 sentences.
(In kids words)
Paragraph 1: Fresh water is important for humans to live, but it is rare on Earth. Most of the water on Earth is salt water and humans cannot drink it. Only a small percentage, about 3%, is fresh water. And out of that, only 1% is surface water that humans can access. This means that fresh water is very limited and we need to conserve it so that shortages in some areas do not spread. If there is not enough fresh water, there could be conflicts over who gets to use it.
Paragraph 2: Humans can affect access to fresh water in different ways. They can pollute bodies of water, making them undrinkable. They can also build over wetlands or block rivers, which changes the land and can affect the availability of fresh water. Wealthier countries can afford to make sure their people have access to fresh water, but poorer countries often cannot. This puts them at risk of droughts, which can lead to dehydration and starvation because they cannot water their crops.
Paragraph 3: Droughts not only affect humans, but they also a have negative impact on the variety of plant and animal species in an area. Biodiversity means having many different types of plants and animals in a region. There are thousands of animal species and millions of other species that depend on fresh water. When there is a drought, many animals can die and some species can even go extinct. This decreases the biodiversity in the area, which is not good for the ecosystem.
Paragraph 4: Humans are making droughts worse. The world's population has doubled in the last 50 years, so we are using a lot more fresh water than before for drinking and farming. Africa, where droughts are common, has been experiencing longer and more severe droughts because of climate change and increased water demand. During a drought in Kenya, many elephants and other animals died, and some endangered animals came closer to extinction. The effects of droughts can be devastating for both wildlife and people who rely on the animals for tourism.
Paragraph 5: Loss of biodiversity and lack of fresh water can cause problems with food availability. Droughts can prevent farmers from growing crops, leading to starvation. When a species goes extinct, it can affect the whole food chain. For example, if a freshwater frog dies, the birds that feed on it may also decline, while the insects it ate may increase in number. Biodiversity is important because some animals and plants perform natural processes that humans cannot, like bees pollinating flowers and filtering organisms cleaning water. When biodiversity decreases, our access to clean water can also decrease.