Environmental Cost of Global Freshwater Shortage

Risks to Freshwater Resources Threaten Environmental Biodiversity

Apr 7, 2009 Laurence O'Sullivan

Freshwater is a precious environmental resource that is relatively scarce and unevenly distributed throughout the planet. The supply of freshwater that is available for human use and the environment is coming under increasing stress, mainly from increased industrial and agricultural use and from climate change. This looming freshwater deficit will pose a serious threat to environmental biodiversity.

Limited Availability of Freshwater Supplies

Unlike water which is in plentiful supply, freshwater sources are limited.

• Phil Dickie, author of Rich Countries, Poor Water, published by the World Wildlife Fund in August 2006 says, “An astoundingly small proportion of the water essential to all terrestrial life is actually available. Per person, that small proportion of usable freshwater is also set to decrease as a consequence of population growth, climate change and substantial water supply losses through the contamination of water sources”.

• The World’s Water 2008 – 2009, by Dr. Peter Glick and published by Island Press in 2009 gives the total volume of water in the world at almost 1.5 billion cubic kilometers of water, but states, “Of this water, the vast majority (nearly 97%) is salt water in the oceans. The world’s total freshwater reserves are estimated at around 35 million cubic kilometers. Most of this, however, is locked up in glaciers and permanent snow cover, or in deep groundwater, inaccessible to humans”.

Climate Change Risks to Freshwater Resources

Both climate change and the battle against global warming are adding to the global freshwater shortage.

• Water in a Changing World, edited by Bruce Ross-Larsen and published by UNESCO in January 2009 states, “Climate change is a fundamental driver of changes in water resources and an additional stress or through its effects on external drivers. Policies and practices for mitigating climate change or adapting to it can have impacts on water resources, and the way we manage water can affect the climate”.

• Global Environmental Outlook 4, edited by Mirjam Schomaker and published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in October 2007 claims, “Available water resources continue to decline as a result of excessive withdrawal of both surface and groundwater, as well as decreased water run-off due to reduced precipitation and increased evaporation attributed to global warming”.

• The article titled “The Development of Biofuels Within the Context of the Global Water Shortage”, by Dr.Lena Partzsch, published in Volume 7 of Sustainable Development, Law and Policy argues that, “Agriculture and energy policies that are seemingly unrelated to water use, such as institutionalized support of biofuel production can have major water-related impacts. For instance, expanding agriculture to meet countries' growing demand for biofuels could place extreme stress on global water resources”.

Human Activities and the Global Freshwater Shortage

• In Agriculture, Water and Ecosystems, published by Earthscan in 2007, the author, M. Falconmark argues that, “The use of fertilizers has brought major benefits to agriculture, but has also led to widespread contamination of surface water and groundwater through runoff. Over the past four decades excessive nutrient loading has emerged as one of the most important direct drivers of ecosystem change in inland and coastal wetlands”.

• Fred Pierce, in the article “Hidden Water”, published in volume 6 of the UNEP magazine Tunza, shows that agriculture is a major user of freshwater supplies when he states, “Every teaspoonful of sugar in a cup of coffee requires 50 cups of water to grow it. That’s a lot, but not as much as the 140 litres of water (or 1,120 cups) needed to grow the coffee itself. Growing cotton for clothes is no better”.

Water is vital to life on earth and the environmental impact on biodiversity from a lack of freshwater resources could lead to irreversible environmental changes. To avoid this dangerous scenario, freshwater resources will have to be managed in a much more sustainable fashion. Unlike oil, which can be replaced with alternative sources of energy, there is no substitute for water.