By:Unknown
Summary
There is very little water availability in Africa due to global warming. The increase in weather is drying up water sources and making it unavailable to the people who rely on it. Efforts to provide a reliable water source have been comprimised due to the rapid increase in population and problems with land use such as erosion. Only the tropical zones in central Africa have an abundant water source. Sharma et al says "Eight countries were suffering from water stress or scarcity; this situation is getting worse as a consequence of rapid growth, expanding urbanization, and increased economic development." In 2000, 300 million people could not get clean water. In 2025, about 600 million people will not be able to get clean water. This picture represents how much the water availability has decreased and will decrease over the course of thirty five years.
Personal Opinion
I think that the african government should take more responsibility for the water scarcity. We always hear how America is helping other countries, supplying them with filters and giving them money to build wells etc. The reason for this problem is mainly population growth. They should but a limit on how many offspring can be produced. Another idea that would help is supplying water pumps and wells every so many miles.
Questions
How do you feel about the decrease in water availability?
What are some ways that these people can get water more easily?
Who do think is responsiblefor this?
Sorry forgot the link!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.grida.no/publications/vg/africa/page/3116.aspx
This was an interesting article. I find it very sad that the availability is so scarce to people around the world and I find myself to be very lucky and fortunate to have water in my home. However, if more people thought "What if I didn't have access to clean water?" then maybe these other countries would be getting more support around the world.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the decrease in water availability is scary and sad. We, as humans, need water to live and so does every other organism (that I know of). If people don't have access to water than there will be a serious issue in the future.
I find it so sad that places like Africa do not have enough water for everybody and yet countries like ours, we get as much water as we want. It just does not make sense. If we were limited on water also, then I woud understand Africa's codnition, but we are not in that situation. The other day, I saw a "What's Hot on Google+" post and it showed two pictures. One was of Steve Jobs, the other of some unhealthy looking African kids. Above the picture of Steve Jobs, it said "1 dies, 100 million cry" while above the African kids' picture, ti said "1 million die, No one cries" and it is definitely true! Things like the oil spill, that happens in Africa too, but we NEVER hear about (I heard about it from Mrs. Deluca by the way) and it quite upsets me and we should probably raise awareness for it so we can maybe get more people to help. In that Jay-Z video where he visits Africa to find out the current water conditions, it is terrible to see children our age having to carry heavy jugs of water everyday because they have no other way to get their water.
ReplyDelete"How do you feel about the decrease in water availability?"
Respone: I think that the decrease in water availability is absolutely terrible. Water is a human right (Well, everyone's right, including animals of course), not an option.
"What are some ways that theses people can get water more easily?"
Response:Well, they cannot do much with the current condition of their economy and such, and this answer ties in with the third question ("Who do you think is responsible for this?"), but it is people like their government that need to help get the people proper sewage and pipes going through, no matter what the cost to construct it. The responsibility also slightly falls onto us because of our lack of awareness (Answering third question now) and our issues with choosing what to do when and where. By that I mean, we get into wars (There is that one where it is not really a war, and we actually could have avoided getting into it, but we just got in it to apparently fix the government.) that we do not need and it is pointless to do that. We are all humans and we need to make sure that we are all healthy so we can increase mankind longevity. We gotta set our priorities straight when it comes to what we get ourselves into.
It's sad to think that there are children in all different parts of the world, who are so thirsty just for a sip of clean water that they can't get, while we drink and drink and drink up our mountains of water. We often take for granted the great things we have like clean water and enough food and it's truly not fair. They deserve water just as miuch as we do, but just because we're in a better position or have more money and power, we get it over them. There's plenty of ways to get water to them too. We could donate money to bulid a well for them so that they can provide their own fresh goundwater. The government needs to take action! It's our world and when you're in the position to take care of it, then you should! We're all equal and have our rights to water.
ReplyDeleteThis article also reminds me of a memoir I once watched where there were dying children walking across Africa with no water or anything. They became so thirsty at one point, that they started drinking their own urine and once that ran out, they begged each other for some of theirs. I just can't wrap my mind around the fa ct that theses young kids had to resort to such drastic measures as these.....so very disturbing.
ReplyDeleteI think the water situation in Africa is pretty scary after looking at the graph. Many people are without clean water due to global warming and rapid population growth. I have seen many commercials about charitable efforts in Africa on TV. In the commercials, the people are either without water or they are using very dirty and contaminated water. The decrease in water availability in Africa is very unfortunate. In the U.S. we don't even consider water as an issue but out in Africa, people are struggling to find clean water every single day. Africa should recieve more international and relief aid.
ReplyDelete