No matter where we are living in the world, we are being impacted by it, solely; because it is a global village. Internet and door to door delivery have made things accessible to everyone, anywhere in the world. The cheap flights, desire to travel, and ‘trade more’ are impacting our lives in such a manner that we have never thought before. Nevertheless, everything has its “gives and takes”……right!
The greenhouse gasses
No time is better than now to see how our activities are impacting the earth and its atmosphere. We are living in a fragile age. We can see the impact of Coronavirus, not only on the poor of the nations, but the most robust and rich countries of the world are drowning in the consequence of over-consumption.
The greenhouse gases (GHGs) are thought to be responsible for maintaining our earth's surface temperature to a suitable degree, which at present averages 15°C (59 °F). Without these gases, the average amount of temperature at Earth's surface would be −18°C, which would, of course, be inhabitable. The gist of it is that the balance of everything is important, as we are producing more greenhouse gases, the equilibrium which mother earth was able to keep earlier, now can’t be maintained.
Since 1775, with the birth of the industrial revolution, we started to affect the environment more severely than before. The rapid increase in the world’s population, usage of more land for farming, bad agricultural practices, and soil erosion, deforestation for greed or more settlers, too much consumption, and need for food, clothes, etc. have led to more carbon emissions eventually.
Many countries in the developed world have started seeing the effects of using coal in the 1920s and they started to keep their cities cleaner by then. The problem of carbon emission remained because it was not entirely dealt with as they moved the factories outside the cities. Japan has cleaned its city smog produced by industrialization by the 1970s. China is also trying to snub her air pollution, the program they adapted in the 1990s, but still a long road ahead for them. This year (2019) Delhi smog was so thick in the winter months that the government has shut down all the schools for many days.
What is being done about it?
Numerous countries in the developed world have taken different measures to reduce carbon emission, but it is still not enough. The developing world tries to tackle the carbon emission problems too, but due to lack of will, corruption, and egoistic views in politics and blaming everything on poor and poverty, or worse; on the rest of the world, and poor infrastructure are some of the things which are keeping the problem at bay.
Due to rapid economic growth, we started emitting 40% more carbon into the air. If things are not taken seriously by our governments and us, the emission level by 2047 will increase the earth’s surface temperature by 2 °C, which indeed is not good news…guys!
The same goes for the water. On the 22nd of March UN observes “water awareness day”. It’s so frightening to know that we are going to have water shortages. This abundant resource, the whole globe is blue, how come we are having a scarcity of water. Water is an essential component of life, that’s for sure! We all depend on it and without it, won’t be able to thrive.
Seventy percent of the earth is covered in water, which is governed by a rule of recycling. The sunlight warms the water in oceans; it rises (evaporation), turns into clouds (condensations), and later comes back to land by rain or snow (precipitations). The trees on land help regulate the water supply of earth by holding on, like natural sponges, and transpire water back to the earth's atmosphere, as well as back to the soil as liquids (excreting). This is called the water cycle or the hydrological cycle.
All major ancient civilization thrives near water and flourishes if they managed their water resources well, e.g. Indus valley civilization-Indus River (sub-continent), Ancient Egypt civilization- river Nile, Chinese civilization- Yangtze- yellow rivers, and so on.
So my point is that where ever there is water, there is life, prosperity, and many civilizations got made, flourished. People are still living closer to those rivers only to live an easy prosperous life.
Overpopulation, poor infrastructure, deforestation, lack of wetlands, irrigation, and climate change is some of the major factors, which are affecting the natural water cycle.
Scarcity of usable water
Two-third of the world's population (4 billion) is facing shortages of water once a month in a year. Half a billion people face severe water scarcity all year round.
Half of the world's largest cities experience water scarcity. Whatever is the solution, it’s not very simple, albeit attainable. We should conserve as much water as possible. Many organizations are actively working along with the governments, communities, and United Nations to achieve the goal of accessible and potable water for all, to name a few; World Water Council, The United Nations (UN-Water), The World Bank, the Stockholm International Water Institute, The Nature Conservancy, PepsiCo, and Global Water Leaders.
Our planet is 70 % water, no doubt, but only 3% is fresh water. 1% is available to us as potable water, because two-third of it is tucked away as glaciers, and ice caps.
Water from groundwater, lakes, and rivers is replenished by rain and snow as explained earlier. The importance of water is universal. All life depends upon it. We use it for drinking, irrigations, as part of sanitation systems, and in industries.
As part of the Earth water cycle, freshwater is a renewable source although it is dependent on other parts of the water cycle. Water is scarce because freshwater resources are limited, and overconsumption, as well as wastage of water and climate change, has made this problem intensified, especially where demands are high.
How to conserve water
The main thing is water management, the way we use it in all activities of lives, what you and I can do to conserve. There are some simple tips which we all can manage:
Don’t use too much water during showers.
Don’t leave your tapes (facets) running if not using, use them smartly
Use little or appropriate water during toilet flushing
While using washing machines, always check the water, use water accordingly
Try to reuse your water as much as possible.
Try not to wash your cars, pets more often
Try to water your garden and plants smartly and plant those plants, which use less water.
Never waste the water.
If possible collect rainwater and use it for watering plants etc.
Buy clothes which use less water in manufacturing and if already bought them, use them as long as possible.
If the great civilizations of the past have managed their water thousands of years back through different means; so can we. Please advise the readers as to what are other ways to conserve water. Add weight with me. Be vivid & stylish!