Will water availability have a negative impact on global warming, how far do you agree?

Content
Debate ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 Water quality and availability ................................................................................................................. 3 Sources of the water ........................................................................................................................... 3 Climate change........................................................................................................................................ 4 Case study ............................................................................................................................................... 4 India .................................................................................................................................................... 4 Floods in India ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Climate change? ...................................................................................................................................... 6 Final opinion............................................................................................................................................ 6 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................ 7 Illustrations ............................................................................................................................................. 7

Debate
I think that water quality and availability will cause a positive impact on global warming as water is the main source of heat retain in the atmosphere. As evaporated water is exposed to the atmosphere retaining the heat released by the reflecting infra-red light from the Earths surface, a low availability of this water on Earth will cause a decrease in the atmospheric humidity leading to a decrease in Global warming.

Water quality and availability

Water quality refers to the chemical and physical properties of water; this refers to the amount of bacteria living in it. These bacteria could be harmful as well as healthy for the people who consume this type of water.

Sources of the water

Underground, 30.00%

Salt Water, 97.50% Ice, 68.90%

Lakes/Rivers, 0.30%
Figure 1: Water sources Pie chart

Fresh Water, 2.50%

As we can see in the pie chart, the amount of drinkable fresh water on Earth is as low as %2.5. You probably thought that as the Earth is full of water, the humans will never become

extinct from water scarcity, but the truth is that water scarcity is becoming more and more sever yeas the years pass. Water availability refers to the waters scarcity in the area; it means the number of people that have access to fresh drinkable water. In some cases people have a good access to water but the water they have access to be poor quality leading to evolving diseases between the people who consume it.

Climate change
You have probably heard about Global warming already. Global warming is the heating of the planet, caused by the Greenhouse gases release on Earth due to different activities such as transport, fossil fuels, methane emissions, deforestation, waste release and water contamination, etc. Greenhouse gases are gases that retain heat in the atmosphere. When released to the atmosphere, the light comes through them but when heat and the light bounce off, they are trapped in this gases and cause the planet to heat up. Another problem is climate change; climate change refers to seasons getting longer or shorter and the temperatures in that season becoming more extreme. For example a Winter that was 12 C becoming 20c the next year. This changes in climate affect very drastically the vegetation and cause animals to migrate and adapt in other locations. The heat absorbed from the sunlight by the Greenhouse gases may vary depending on where most Greenhouse gases molecules are located. Countries that release most gases will become the warmest. The link between global warming and climate change is obvious. When the temperatures increase the water in the zone evaporates faster making that place become dryer. Also the evaporation affects biodiversity living down rivers and in jungles; this causes vegetation to die out. Whole Biomes may change their conditions causing animals to migrate to find new homes.

Case study
India
1 in 8 people worldwide do not have access to safe and clean drinking water. A country that faces lots of water scarcity and availability problems is India. The GDP in India is $3,800 (2012 est.). Its population is 1,220,800,359 (July 2013 est.). Most of Indias population is from

Figure 2: India Map

years 25 to 54 and the least is 55 and over meaning that India has a high young death rate. The Birth rate in India is almost triple the death rate causing a high population increase which leads to a higher resource exploitation for survival.

20.24 births/1,000 population (2013 est.)

7.39 deaths/1,000 population (2013 est.) India faces water scarcity across many parts of the country; its a fact that 22 out of 32 Indias big cities face water problems. A fast growing economy and a large agricultural sector have stretched the supply of water. More than %80 of the available water for India is used for farming and agriculture while less than %10 of drinkable water is left for the population. Experts are sure that this water crisis is due to the mismanagement of the water resources, as a correct management would be to make more drinking water available for the population and less available for farming. In Varanasi, a city located in the north east of India, the local residents are blocking the road Pilikothi in order to protest against water scarcity.
Figure 3: Diarrhea cause

Floods in India
There have been several massive floods in India. Some of them include the Bihar floods, Lehi floods 2010, Guajarati floods 2005 and the Mumbai floods in the 2005 as well. These floods relate to water scarcity and availability as the floods after big dry seasons, do not absorb into the soil causing the water to be stationary for weeks and even months. As Indias population faces several water scarcity problems, the people who are flooded are tempted by the harmful flood water. This water contains lots of diseases and unsafe bacteria
Figure 4: Indian kid drinking poor quality water

which will put people who drink it in danger. Apart from being dirty water, the diseases brought by this water

cause illnesses like Diarrhoea, Arsenicosis, Cholera, Fluorosis which every year kill about 600,000 Indian children caused by an unsafe water source. Its even ironic that in Cherranpunji, one of the rainiest places in the world, there is a struggle to find safe drinkable water especially in the dry season. Half of the water supply in rural areas, where 2/3 of Indias population lives, is usually contaminated with toxic bacteria. The employment rate has significantly declined in India due to the difficulties factories face to obtain fresh water. According to a recent World Bank report, most major Indian cities will run dry by 2020 unless policy-makers make significant changes in water resource management. The amount of available water in India will affect the amount of vapour in Indias atmosphere.

Climate change?
As the amount available of water in India will decrease, the amount of evaporation will decrease too causing less infrared heat retained in the atmosphere which will lead to a positive impact on global warming. The decrease of water availability will also decrease the amount of factories that are able to buy water in order to produce, leading to a reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from those factories. The decrease in water vapour as well as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will decrease the rate of global warming.

Figure 6: Explanation of the Greenhouse effect

Figure 5: CO2 emission picture

Final opinion
I think that a decrease in Indias water availability will lead to a reduction of water vapour emissions which will decrease the heat retained in the atmosphere causing a positive impact on global warming. The poor water quality in India will lead to factories not being able to operate which will cause a reduction in CO2 emissions, and this will also decrease the amount of heat retained in the atmosphere causing a positive impact on global warming too. Therefore I think that the bad water quality and low water availability will have a positive impact on global warming.

Bibliography
Bureau of Asia Research. Indias Water Crisis: Causes and Cures. 13 August 2013. http://www.nbr.org/research/activity.aspx?id=356 (accessed March 25, 2014). Dash, The times of India- Dipak Kumar. 22 of India's 32 big cities face water crisis. 9 September 2013. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/22-of-Indias-32-big-cities-face-watercrisis/articleshow/22426076.cms (accessed March 25, 2014). EPA- Climate Change. Water Resources. 9 September 2013. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/impacts-adaptation/water.html (accessed March 25, 2014). EPA- Ground Water and Ecosystems Restoration Research. Water Quality and Availability. 14 August 2012. http://www.epa.gov/ada/cc/wateravailability.html (accessed March 25, 2014). EPA- Water: Climate Change and Water. Water Impacts of Climate Change. 13 March 2014. http://water.epa.gov/scitech/climatechange/Water-Impacts-of-Climate-Change.cfm (accessed March 25, 2014). . Water quality. 17 March 2014. http://water.epa.gov/scitech/climatechange/Water-Quality.cfm (accessed March 25, 2014). EPA- Water: Sustainable Infrastructure. Water Availability. 11 March 2013. http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/sustain/availability_wp.cfm (accessed March 2014, 25). Snyder, The water promise- Shannyn. WATER IN CRISIS - INDIA. n.d. http://thewaterproject.org/water-in-crisis-india.asp (accessed March 25, 2014). Unicef- Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. Common water and sanitation-related diseases. 17 June 2013. http://www.unicef.org/wash/index_wes_related.html (accessed March 25, 2014). Wikipedia. Water activity. 24 February 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_availability (accessed March 25, 2014). . Water quality. 23 March 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_quality (accessed March 25, 2014).

Illustrations
Figure 1: Water sources Pie chart ........................................................................................................... 3 Figure 2: India Map ................................................................................................................................. 4 Figure 3: Diarrhea cause ......................................................................................................................... 5 Figure 4: Indian kid drinking poor quality water..................................................................................... 5 Figure 5: CO2 emission picture ............................................................................................................... 6 Figure 6: Explanation of the Greenhouse effect ..................................................................................... 6