Water covers more than 70% of the Earth’s surface (Water Science School, 2019). Yet, despite its abundance, water is a fragile and precious resource, with freshwater occupying less than 3% of all water on Earth (Water Science School, 2018). To make things worse, of this 3% of freshwater, only about 1.2% is surface water that is readily available (Water Science School, 2018). Hence, (fresh)water pollution is an urgent issue which has to be resolved, as our supplies of water is very, very limited. Nunez (2010) has described (fresh)water pollution as a “rising global crisis”, with contamination “from a wide range of sectors, threatening human and wildlife health”. Perhaps I should also point out that by 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas (WHO, 2019). This highlights the importance of freshwater pollution.
However, in this series of blog posts, I will be focusing not only on freshwater pollution. I will also be focusing on marine pollution, which is also a huge crisis itself. I want to bring to your attention that there already exists a garbage patch in the ocean that covers an area that is twice the size of Texas, with an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of trash (CI, n.d.). There also exists more than 500 dead zones in the world’s oceans, which adds up to the surface area of the United Kingdom (UNESCO, n.d.). Pollution has caused these dead zones, which have such low oxygen concentrations that animal life suffocates and dies (CI, n.d.). Marine pollution also affects humans as we eat seafood. These sea creatures, be it fishes or other organisms, consumes the plastic that we dumped into the ocean. Overtime, these plastic materials accumulates in the animal’s body and is subsequently ingested by us when we eat seafood. Together with many other implications which my blog posts will explore, marine pollution is not any less important when compared with freshwater pollution.
Before “diving” into water pollution, I will first establish how this blog defines it. For a start, this blog defines water pollution as occurring “when harmful substances – often chemicals or micro-organisms – contaminate a stream, river, lake, ocean, aquifer, or other bodies of water, degrading water quality and rendering it toxic to humans or the environment” (Denchak, 2018). Unarguably, water pollution is a key issue that mankind must address before things get a lot worse. Please continue to visit my blog for more posts regarding and highlighting issues surrounding water pollution.
References:
CI. (n.d.). Ocean pollution – 11 facts you need to know. Conservation International. https://www.conservation.org/stories/ocean-pollution-11-facts-you-need-to-know
Denchak, M. (2018, May 14). Water Pollution: Everything You Need to Know. NRDC. https://www.nrdc.org/stories/water-pollution-everything-you-need-know
Nunez, C. (2010, March 16). Water pollution is a rising global crisis. Here’s what you need to know. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/freshwater-pollution
UNESCO. (n.d.). Facts and figures on marine pollution. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/ioc-oceans/focus-areas/rio-20-ocean/blueprint-for-the-future-we-want/marine-pollution/facts-and-figures-on-marine-pollution/
Water Science School. (2018, June 6). Where is Earth’s Water? USGS. https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/where-earths-water
Water Science School. (2019, November 13). How Much Water is There on Earth? USGS. https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/how-much-water-there-earth#:~:text=About%2071%20percent%20of%20the,percent%20of%20all%20Earth’s%20water.
WHO. (2019, June 14). Drinking-water. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water#:~:text=785%20million%20people%20lack%20even,dysentery%2C%20typhoid%2C%20and%20polio.