What Is Water Scarcity?

Water scarcity is the deficiency of clean water resources to meet water demand. As listed in 2019 by the World Economic Forum every continent is affected by the scarcity of water as one of the biggest global risks in terms of the potential impact over next decade. It is shown by partial or no satisfaction of economic competition, expressed demand for water quality or quantity, irreversible depletion of groundwater, disputes between users and negative impacts on our environment. Some what about two-thirds of the global population i.e. 4 billion people are living under conditions of serios water scarcity. Half a billion people in the world have to face severe water scarcity all the year round. As well as half of the world’s biggest cities experience scarcity of water.
A mere 0.014% of all the water on Earth is both easily accessible and fresh. Of the remaining water, about 97% is saline and a little less than 3% of it is hard to access. So technically, there is an adequate amount of fresh water on the global scale. However, because of the unequal distribution i.e. exacerbated by climate change which is resulting in some very wet and some very dry locations, as well as a sharp rise in the global freshwater demand in recent years driven by the industry, humanity is facing a scarcity of water i.e. water crisis. Demand is expected to outstrip supply by 40% in 2030, if current trends continue.
The quintessence of global water shortage is the temporal and geographic mismatch between freshwater demand and its availability. The increasing world population, changing consumption patterns, improving living standards and expansion of irrigated agriculture are main driving forces for the increasing global demand for water. Scarcity is expected to intensify more with most forms of the economic development, but, if correctly identified, maximum of its causes can be predicted, avoided or mitigated.

By: Prerana Sharma
Content: https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/water_scarcity.htm