Water 1

Question 1

what % of earths water is freshwater?

Answer 1

2. 5%

- only a small fraction of which is available

Question 2

what is Mesopotamia and where was it located?

Answer 2

ancient civilisation 3000BC
located between Tigris and Euphrates rivers - capital was Babylon
Babylons hanging gardens - wear v important

Question 3

why do people settle near rivers?

Answer 3

• its essential for development
• river floods and enriches the soil with silt and minerals
• bathing
• washing
• transport
• worship

Question 4

what is the water footprint

Answer 4

measure of humanity appropriation of fresh water in volumes of water consumed/polluted

Question 5

average consumption of water

Answer 5

3-5 litres of drinking water/day

100-400 including washing and sanitation/day

Question 6

what’s the big issue behind production/the indirect effects

Answer 6

agriculture, water and industry use lots of water
e.g. one beef burger =10000litres
one egg = 200-250litres
one slice of bread = 40 litres

Question 7

what are the 3 water footprints

Answer 7

green, blue, grey

Question 8

green water footprint

Answer 8

from precipitation stored in root zone of soil and evaporated/transpired by plants. relevant for agricultural, forestry and horticultural products

Question 9

blue water footprint

Answer 9

sourced from surface or groundwater and either evaporated, incorporated or taken from one body of water and moved to another. irrigated agriculture, industry and domestic water use

Question 10

grey water footprint

Answer 10

amount required to assimilate pollutants to meet specific water quality standards. point source pollution through a pipe or indirectly due to runoff or leaching

Question 11

why are there concerns for future

Answer 11

due to climate change, population increase, urbanisation etc

Question 12

how much of the worlds population will be living in water stressed areas by 2025?

Answer 12

half

Question 13

in 2015 how much of the population used a safely managed drinking water service, located on premises and available when needed and free from contamination

Answer 13

71%

5.2billion people

Question 14

how many people lack basic drinking water service

Answer 14

844 million

Question 15

how are low and middle income countries health care facilities are affected by lack of water

Answer 15

38% lack improved water source
19% don’t have improved sanitation
35% lack water and soap for handwashing

Question 16

what % of disease in Africa is caused by unsafe water

Answer 16

4-8%

Question 17

key issues straining future water sources

Answer 17

climate change, growing population, urbanisation, increased water demand per person, contamination of water, changes inland use

Question 18

future water wars?

Answer 18

as droughts intensify, conflict of who gets water source access is more fraught.

Question 19

how many incidents invloved conflict and collaboration over shared river basins in 1990-2008

Answer 19

2000

Question 20

problems with groundwater consumption

Answer 20

much of it comes from fossil aquifers that were last replenished in glacial period 10000-20000 yrs ago
thus if we use it all it won’t be recharged in our lifetime - unsustainable

Question 21

how can we study groundwater

Answer 21

satellites

GRACE mission - detects changes in gravity

Question 22

how much have water levels dropped by in the past decade ?

Answer 22

100feet

Question 23

what is happening in response to dropped water levels

Answer 23

building of deeper tunnels e.g. under lake mead

short term and unsustainable

Question 24

Las Vegas case study

Answer 24

home to 40mill with 2 mill tourists
4 inches of rain a year
most people have pools
city now pays 
$1.50 for every square foot to replace turf with desert landscape

Question 25

how many large dams are there globally

Answer 25

45,000

Question 26

negatives of dams

Answer 26

displace people

cause environmental damage - over 60% of worlds major rivers are fragmented

Question 27

Chile case study

Answer 27

sparsely population
untouched landscape 
you will have to flood land elsewhere
impact of transmission lines is also bad
HEP destroys nature on a big scale

Question 28

how can we reduce impact of dams?

Answer 28

• limited length licences
• internationally agreed envtl and social standards
• decide what is an acceptable impact
• compensated locals properly
• produce other energy alternatives
• ensure wealthy neighbours pay adequately for power
• compensation for countries whose envois are too good to dam and provide economic development