Why do we have water shortages...?

Question

I cannot figure out why we have water shortages when the earth is 80% water.... I have heard so many times that it is too expensive to turn salt water into drinkable water however we will not bat an eye at spending billions (literally) on fighting a war over oil/terrorism (or whatever the war is truly about). Can anyone give me an answer....?

Answer 1

A prime cause of the global water concern is the ever-increasing world population. As populations grow, industrial, agricultural and individual water demands escalate. According to the World Bank, world-wide demand for water is doubling every 21 years, more in some regions. Water supply cannot remotely keep pace with demand, as populations soar and cities explode.

Population growth alone does not account for increased water demand. Since 1900, there has been a six-fold increase in water use for only a two-fold increase in population size. This reflects greater water usage associated with rising standards of living (e.g., diets containing less grain and more meat). It also reflects potentially unsustainable levels of irrigated agriculture.
World population has recently reached six billion and United Nation's projections indicate nine billion by 2050. What water supplies will be available for this expanding population?
Meanwhile many countries suffer accelerating desertification. Water quality is deteriorating in many areas of the developing world as population increases and salinity caused by industrial farming and over-extraction rises. About 95 percent of the world's cities still dump raw sewage into their waters.
Lets not forget that climate change is occurring and most experts now concur that it is what effect will it have on water resources? Some experts claim climate change has the potential to worsen an already gloomy situation. With higher temperatures and more rapid melting of winter snowpacks, less water supplies will be available to farms and cities during summer months when demand is high.

Answer 2

Simple--the earth may be 80% water--but almost all of it is saltwater--and hence useless for agriculture, drinking, etc.

Any given region only has so much fresh water. In region after region, there has been careless andwasteful overdevelopment. When that happens--as in the North Georgia where I live--you eventually reach the point where the natrural water supply cannot keep up.

For years environmentalists and other scientists have been warning the Republicans who control the Georgia state government of this. They have been ridiculed, smeared, and ignored. Now--as was invevitable--they are being proven correct. They are now running around the state capitol squaking like chickens with a fox in the henhouse--actig like they are surprised.

They shouldn't be--and wouldn't be--if they had tried listening to all those nasty liberal scientists a couple of decades ago. The current line: " well, this is just temporary; as soon as the drought is over, everything will be fine." It won't--in Georgia and many other areas. This is not going away, and is only going to get worse until we stop the gutting of the natural resoruces of these reasons in pursuit of short-sighted profit.

Actually, that's wrong. It will stop--but we have the choice of either changing things--or Mother Nature is going to do it for us the hard way.

Answer 3

I agree with you.....there has to be a simple answer to this. I think it just comes down to an efficient desalination process.

Just like Frank Herbert said in the Dune series, it's not about water supply, it's about the distribution of moisture.

I think some areas of the U.S. are bound to become deserts in the next 20-30 years if things continue on the course they're on. Maybe irrigation methods will have to improve also.

But I also can't understand a related quandary....why is there an energy crisis when there is an infinite amount of energy in the universe??? Pretty soon we will imagine up an idea shortage too.

Come to think of it, the Roman Catholic church managed to create a shortage of God in people's minds for 1,000 years or so. If they pulled that off.....no, I won't get started on this one :-)

Answer 4

Well only 1% of the world's water is freshwater, and how much of that isn't poisoned or dirty? It has to be filtered and cleaned multiple times, and either piped or shipped somewhere. It's not that we don't have the water we need, it's a question of getting it where it needs to be, same with food. We have more than we need, but how do you get it to the people who really need it? You have to find a way to ship it there and that, my friend, takes some serious cash that would probably never be made up for.

Answer 5

In SC ,and Ga , the water shortage comes from the population growth , and the Army Corps of Engineers not keeping up with the growth , Northern Ga. Has not built any reservoirs in 45 to 50 years , Here in upstate SC , the Corp of Engineers has kept lake levels so low that many waterfront homes had boats sitting in the mud for years before this drought, they allowed the water to rise for two years just to lower it again for new bridges , As alway it is politics trying to help by hurting , as it always has .

Answer 6

Lots of people move to historically dry areas, such as Las Vegas or Los Angeles & then expect a miracle of sufficient water.

As to our politics, what do you expect when you *select* (rather than elect) a President & VP whose family fortunes have been made in oil; OF COURSE they're going to go to war to protect their revenues. They're certainly not in business to put themselves out of business by championing renewable sources, like solar & wind power. (Hey, it's not like they're risking THEIR children or grandchildren over in the Middle East.) (Draft Jenna & Barbara Bush!)

As far as desalinization, yes it can be done; it merely takes loads of power. Were you aware that in 1968, Gerard K. O'Neil at Princeton proved that solar power satellites were cost effective with off the shelf technology? 39 years ago...with then existing technology. And the technology has improved since then. All we need to do is start putting up satellites & the cost of power keeps dropping every time...the sun shines 24/7 in space. Just convert it to microwaves & set up receiving stations in the desert, out of the way.

Answer 7

Same reason we will soon experience an oil shortage:

To many people using the resource! Out west, entire rivers have been diverted and pumped dry for irrigation and to supply water to cities that have been built..... IN A FRIGGING DESERT! HELLO!!!!

Answer 8

1) Distillation is an expensive endeavor and none too effective.
2) California is naturally a desert and was never intended to support a large population.

Answer 9

Desalination is very expensive, and if you don't live near an ocean it's not a good option. You're right about the money spent otherwise. It's all about money and power, media, war, politics, government, plumbers, lawn care, environmentalism, retail... everything. If there was enough profit in desalination it would be more prominent.

Answer 10

It must be George Bushes fault right ? I bet he stole all the water and put it in a big tank in texas, so him and his buddies can drink it all up while they laugh at everybody else. they will steal the sun next and make us pay for daylight, and who knows what else omg!