Introduction
The United Nations defines climate change as the long-term shifts in temperature and weather patterns due to natural causes. However, since the 1800s, human activities such as deforestation and air pollution have been the significant causes of climate change (UN Water, 2017). The resource that is mainly affected by climate change is water. Water is one of the resources necessary for the life of both plants and animals. However, climate change threatens water availability in many parts of the world. Water is the primary medium through which humanity and other living organisms feel the effects of climate change. These effects usually lead to water scarcity, which manifests in two ways. People could experience water scarcity due to drought or floods, which contaminate existing water sources rendering the water unfit for consumption. Regardless of water scarcity, the effects always lead to negative consequences such as loss of productivity and deterioration of people’s health due to poor sanitation (UN Water, 2017). Given the life-threatening effects of water scarcity due to climate change, individual organizations and governments should work together to mitigate the impact of climate to ensure a sustainable water supply.
The Magnitude of Water Scarcity Due to Climate Change
According to UN Water (2019) climate change is the cause of variability in the water cycle, which also reduces the predictability of water availability, demand, and quality, aggravating water scarcity, which threatens sustainable development worldwide. The water shortage due to climate change disproportionately affects poor and vulnerable populations (UN Water, 2019). Factors such as population increase, poor soils, uncontrolled migration, changes in land use, biodiversity, environmental pollution, and over-extraction of underground water make the already bad situation worse.
Scarcity of water due to climate change leads to the deterioration of the population’s health due to poor sanitation. The complexity of climate change-induced water scarcity is complex as it covers other factors than health. Over 80% of infections worldwide are caused by scarcity of clean water due to drought or floods, which contaminate water sources in most developing countries (UN Water, 2019). The infections are due to waterborne diseases that are mostly found in water bodies. Some of the countries that experience the problem of water scarcity in the form of unsafe drinking water due to climate change are Bangladesh, India, and most countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Abedin et al., 2018). The magnitude of water scarcity due to climate change is a global problem, which hinders sustainable development. Therefore, it should be upon all international stakeholders to come together and find a solution to the crisis.
Summary of Peer-Reviewed Articles
Accoding to and article by Dolan et al. (2021) water scarcity has a direct effect on the economic status of the people. Water scarcity due to climate change leads to food insecurity and health issues and impairs the economic prosperity of communities. The water scarcity situation will likely be difficult due to the expected increase in the population of most countries, which will put pressure on the available water sources since climate change causes a rise in temperature and variability in rainfall. The available renewable water resources are at risk of contamination or depletion. Growing economic prosperity will also impact the already dwindling water resources. Hence, global communities must come together to mitigate the problem of water scarcity due to climate change.
According to Misra (2014), sustainable development goals faces various challenges that affects negatively affect its fulfilment. Global water scarcity due to climate change is one of the challenges that impair the achievement of sustainable development goals. Although most public understand water scarcity as a local problem, its effect is felt on a much broader scale. For instance, when water scarcity affects the production of agricultural commodities, which are the primary source of water consumption, they are often consumed outside their production area(Misra, 2014). Therefore, when there is water scarcity, consumption levels are drastically affected so as the economic state of those involved in agribusiness. Although the agricultural sector consumes the bulk of the water, water is also a crucial component in manufacturing, transportation, and energy (Dolan et al., 2021). Therefore, water scarcity can lead to a multi-sectoral crisis, and the situation will be execrated by an expected increase in population and globalization.
Comparison and Contrast of the Articles
Both articles acknowledge that water shortage is a major challenge to achievinf the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Therefore, governments, international organization, and communities mus come together to mitigate the water shortage problem due to climate change. Government could implement policies which mitigate climate change. According to Dolan et al. (2021), other than climate change, population increase, globalization, urbanization and economic development are causes of waer shortage that must also be mitigated. Conversely, Misra (2014), argues that water scarcity due to climate change could lead to less globalization, economic development and urbanization.
Description of the Projected Future Trends in Water Scarcity Due to Climate Change
The world has been urbanizing at a rapid rate based on recent reports. Between 1950 and 2020, the world population has increased from 0.8 billion to 4.5 billion, respectively, and the population is expected to reach 7 billion by 2050, representing a more than 60% increase (Garrick et al., 2019). As such, demand for water is likely to exceed supply. Meaning the security of water is uncertain hence will adversely affect people’s health in urban areas, the urban environment quality, and the development of urban areas. Currently, several residents of urban areas are already facing severe water scarcity. Increasing population, socio-economic development, and urbanization are expected to increase water demand by 50% to 80% in the next 20 to 30 years. On the contrary, climate change will affect water’s spatial availability and distribution. Urban areas are likely to face water scarcity in the future if nothing is done to remedy the situation. Therefore, this will compromise the achievement of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and, more specifically, SDG 11 Development of sustainable cities and communities (He et al., 2021). Thesechanges cannot be achieved if cities are experiencing water scarcity.
Public Health EffortsNeeded to Address Water Scarcity
The scarcity of water promotes the reproduction of bacteria, protozoa, and other pathogens, which enhance the spread and occurrence of diseases associated with unclean water. The dirty water increases people’s chance of contracting waterborne infections such as cholera, typhoid, and bilharzia. The chances of contracting skin and eye infections due to contaminated water increase due tothe variability of precipitation patterns caused by climate change. Variability in precipitation compromises the supply of freshwater because of flooding. Public health officials can overcome these challenges by developing climate-change-related projects with governmental and non-governmental organizations. Public health officials can also include local people in the project because they tend to understand local problems hence can help develop solutions to those challenges (Abedin et al., 2018). This makes it easier for public health officials who act as project managers to solve local water scarcity problems caused by climate change.
Ethical Issues to be Considered in Addressing Water Scarcity
The major issue in water scarcity is controlling water wastage and contamination. In such situations, the moral norm is to promote sustainability. By following this principle, the rate of human water consumption, loss, or contamination should not exceed the ability of water resources to replenish and cleanse themselves. Governments and non-governmental organizations can ensure sustainability by protecting water resources such as forests, underground water, and surface water for the benefit of the future generation.
Conclusion
Climate change is one of the main reasons for water scarcity. Water is a necessary resource for sustainable development. Without water enough water, populations are subject to health isues due to poor sanitation. Similarly, the public cannot engage in economic activities such as farming and manufacturing therefore affecting the economic wellbeing of the public. As such, it is important for all stakeholders such as government, international organizations and individuals to take responsibility to mitigate the effects of climate change.
References
Abedin, Md. A., Collins, A. E., Habiba, U., & Shaw, R. (2018). Climate change, water scarcity, and health adaptation in southwestern coastal Bangladesh. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 10(1), 28–42. Web.
Dolan, F., Lamontagne, J., Link, R., Hejazi, M., Reed, P., & Edmonds, J. (2021). Evaluating the economic impact of water scarcity in a changing world. Nature Communications, 12(1), 1915-1921. Web.
Garrick, D., De Stefano, L., Yu, W., Jorgensen, I., O’Donnell, E., Turley, L., Aguilar-Barajas, I., Dai, X., de Souza Leão, R., Punjabi, B., Schreiner, B., Svensson, J., & Wight, C. (2019). Rural water for thirsty cities: Asystematic review of water reallocation from rural to urban regions. Environmental Research Letters, 14 (4), 043003-043005. Web.
He, C., Liu, Z., Wu, J., Pan, X., Fang, Z., Li, J., & Bryan, B. A. (2021). Future global urban water scarcity and potential solutions. Nature Communications, 12(1), 4667-4669. Web.
UN Water. (2017). Climate change | UN-water. UN-Water. Web.
UN Water. (2019). UN-Water policy brief on climate change and water. UN-Water. Web.