Water Cycle Exam Qs Flashcards
Explain how water insecurity can cause social problems
Water insecurity= lack of access to clean water which can negatively deplete an individuals health since clean water is essential for drinking and food preparation.
Science proves that contaminated water sources can cause serious health problems that are linked to water borne diseases e.g. cholera
E.g. UN= 26% deaths from diarrhoea, 1.75bn cases of diarrhoea amongst children under 5, 3 mill cases of cholera, 11 mill cases of typhoid
Pose sig health problems to people no matter the age and can risk an impending death
Explain how water insecurity can cause economic problems
Can hinder agricultural production, causing farmers to miss out on profit
Agriculture relies heavily on water for its fertilisers, irrigation,crops and animals
E.g. 18% of world’s productive land is irrigated producing 40% of all food produced.
Without water, i would be impossible for farmers to grow crops and sell them, resulting in them making less income to support themselves= informal jobs
How human land use affect the shape of storm hydrographs
Shape of SHG depends on physical and human factors
Human=urbanisation
Flashy hydrograph ( steep rising limb, short lag time, high peak discharge)= impermeable surfaces, roofs, gutters, drains move water and sewage quickly to the river and really quickly- steep rising limb and high discharge
How does physical land use affect shape of storm hydrographs
Subdued hydrograph ( long lag time low peak)
Impermeable rocks= decrease percolation and allow the soils to become saturated, decrease infiltration and increase SRO
Longer lag time
Explain how land degradation and desertification can cause droughts
Human activity like over-farming can lead to over grazing, prevents regeneration of trees as samples are consumed and trampled on
Limit interception and evapotranspiration, meaning that the ground is no longer protected by the leaves’ canopy
Therefore, soil is vulnerable to the sun’s direct heat- dry, drought
E.g. 90% of Sahel farmers depend on viable saturated land to farm as it is their main source of income
Overfarming culture reduces land ability to retain moisture and supports agricultural production
Explain how deforestation an cause droughts
Without vegetation, there is reduced water uptake by plants and less moisture returning to the atmosphere, which means less evaporation and cloud formation, leading to less precipitation facilitating drier conditions e.g. amazon,126,000 hectares of trees are being logged as of 2025
Explain how urbanisation (land use) cause increasing flood risks
Changing greenfield sites to urban area with impermeable surfaces e.g. concrete
Reduce interception from trees due to the lack of canopy and facilitate faster SRO w short lag time, causing overland flows
E.g. rapid urban expansion /sprawl Houston USA experienced flooding after 2017 hurricane Harvey, as water can’t soak into the ground but moves quickly across the surface of the land
How does agriculture cause water insecurity
1) agriculture, largest consumer of freshwater, accounting for 70% of global water withdrawals, 18% of world productive land is
Irrigated producing 40% of all food produced. Lead to agricultural runoff where the overuse of pesticides and fertilisers bleed into rivers, triggering eutrophication where the algae blooms block sunlight, depleting oxygen levels in the water. Makes water contamated and unsafe for drinking and irrigation.
E.g. Gulf of Mexico created ‘dead zones’ where marine ecosystems have become disrupted and waters have become polluted
This meant that farmers who relied on the river for agriculture faced uncertainty causing them to lose out on profit
How does industry lead to water insecurity
Industry can contaminate freshwater sources, exacerbating water insecurity
E.g. the animas river water contamination 2015,where industry like the gold king mine, ruptured a contaminated wall, releasing 3 million gallons of contaminated toxic wastewater into the river.
This depleted safe water supply which meant that people
How can water insecurity cause trans boundary conflicts
China v India -.> determine who has hydro hegemony over key rivers like the Mekong ad Brahmaputra river
China upstream country wields sig control over these rivers enabling it to control water flow and availability to down stream countries
Despite china a country w the same volume of water usage as the USA it has. Pop x5 of the USA, meaning that any water deficit can cause adverse affects especially as 40% of its arable land is polluted or facing soil thinning( ministry of agriculture)
However, china leveraging this control can cause water blockages nd floods in India, especially its the Chinese building 87,000 small dams that alter a rivers course.
Pose threa to India as 60% of India’s agricultural intensive regions rely on the Brahmaputra and Ganges river
Meaning that if stability of these rivers aren’t kept it can cause socio economic effects
What are the impacts of water surpluses for businesses
Economic losses- businesses in York and Leeds suffered severe disruption just before Christmas following the December 2015 storms causing an economic loss of £5bn
Holiday season is the most profitable time of the yr for many businesses
Flooding forces business to close which can delay shipments and keep customers home leading to revenue loss
Impact for people following water surpluses
Over 16,000 homes were flooded across the UK, including York and Leeds
Relocate
Evacuate and insurance claims reached £1.3bn
Long term psychological distress as people r stripped from their homes which hold deep personal connections but also the prospect of finding a new home in todays growing population and cost of living crisis can become elusive due to land scarcity
Environmental impact of water surpluses
Soil erosion and contamination- decreases plants ability to absorb water as degraded soil struggles to filter and absorb water properly increasing SRO, carrying pollutants, pesticides and fertilisers into rivers harming aquatic life
