Water Cycle - Assignment Example

?Water Cycle Water is a vital resource that is important for the survival of life on this planet. Water is under the process of continuous movement between atmosphere and lithosphere through processes like evaporation, condensation, infiltration, surface run off, melting and precipitation. And this movement of water between atmosphere and lithosphere is named as water cycle and it is the source of permanent water supply. 70% of Earth is under water, but only 3% of this water is suitable for human consumption. Out of this 3% fresh water, 70% is locked in glaciers and ice caps at Polar Regions. Surface water i.e. rivers lakes, ground water are the main sources of fresh water for human consumption such as household, irrigation, industrial purposes etc. Some of the freshwater sources are renewable and others are non-renewable. Renewable resources can refresh themselves naturally with the passage of time but some human activities are changing them into non renewable resources. Using ground water at a rate exceeding its recharging can result in climate change like less rainfall, extensive flooding etc. This is what is happening in the Edward ground water reservoir of Central Texas. North Africa, China, India all these countries are facing this problem of ground water depletion and this condition will become more severe in future. Surface water (rivers) is crucial for agriculture as well as for industries. Rainfall and melting of glaciers are the sources of water in these rivers. Deforestation by the humans is disturbing the rain system, and resulting in less rainfall so less amount of water is added to the rivers. Construction of dams etc results in less water reaching delta regions of rivers. It affects the fish species living in the wetland areas. Around 80% of all the wetlands present in Europe have been destroyed. In large parts of the world, rivers are considered as dumping sites for wastewater. According to a report by Food and Agriculture Organization, 450 cubic Km of wastewater is discharging in to lakes and rivers everywhere. Human intervention has thus become a threat to fresh water. Fossil Fuel Oil, Gas and Coal are the three most important fossil fuels. Out of these Oil is more commonly in use and therefore considered more important due to its particular characteristics that give it a privilege over other fuels. Industries, agriculture, all economic sectors are in one way or the other using oil. Different derivatives of crude oil such as plastics, wax have their importance as well. It is rightly said that we are living in the Age of Oil Oil is important for the economic development so all countries try to find their own oil. According to estimation more than 50% of the oil that was available on this planet has already been produced and it is called Peak in Oil Production. Now geologists are of the view that we have oil reservoirs that can supply oil with the current annual consumption level for 40 more years only. That is an alarming situation, so scientists are trying to develop techniques to cope up with this situation. Some people are trying to use coal in liquid or solid form and natural gas as a substitute of oil. Environmentalists are not happy about it as coal produces a lot of pollution. OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) was created by oil producing countries to develop ways to stabilize the oil prices in the international market and to ensure a steady income to the member countries. In my view, instead of emphasizing more on the use of fossil fuel we must develop renewable sources as a substitute of these fossil fuels. These renewable sources are environment friendly. We can harness sunlight, wind or tides for the extraction of energy. Instead of thermal power plants we must rely more on the hydro electric power plants. Climate Change Industrialization and modern lifestyle has resulted in an increased amount of Carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These gases trap the infrared energy with in the earth’s atmosphere. As a consequence the average temperature of earth has increased and this is called as global warming. According to scientists global warming can result in serious changes in the global climate. Most prominent effect of global warming is the rapid melting of glaciers and ice caps in the Polar Regions which is increasing the sea level. Due to increase in sea level many islands especially of Maldives and Netherlands will submerge in water. Coastal areas of the world where most of the economic activities are concentrating will drown, resulting in the economic collapse. Climatic pattern will change; dry areas will face severe and more prolonged conditions of aridity whereas wet areas will receive rainfall in enormous amount that and will be flooded. Hurricanes will become stronger. Human health will be affected directly by long and intense heat waves, increasing smog, and many infectious diseases. Many ecosystems are under this threat especially Arctic and sub Arctic ecosystems as they are highly sensitive to change in temperature. Coral reefs are also facing problems because they are sensitive to change in ocean water’s temperature. Need of time is to address this issue on international level and all the countries (especially developed countries, which are main contributors of greenhouse gases in atmosphere) must agree on decreasing the amount of greenhouse gases production by their industries. They must collect funds in order to help out those areas which are facing or can face serious damage due to the effects of global warming. Global warming must either be reversed or cease at this point otherwise it can pose serious threat to the whole world and can completely abandon the world’s economy. Nuclear Energy Energy is the most crucial factor in today’s modern world. Fossil fuels and renewable resources provide energy. Fossil fuels cause global warming and their reserves will be depleted in near future, so now more emphasis is placed on generating energy through renewable sources which are environment friendly and there is no danger of these sources being depleted in future. Nuclear energy resource is secure, clean, reliable and competitive source of energy and it is one of the most suitable substitutes of the fossil fuels which are causing greenhouse effect. In a total of 30 countries 400 nuclear reactors are providing base-load electric power. Nuclear power plants produce enormous amount of energy with the help of small quantity of raw material e.g. one gram of uranium produces energy that equals energy produced by one ton of coal. In this way waste produced in nuclear plants is many times lesser. Some scientists are more in favor of solar panels and wind turbines than that of nuclear plants. But they are neglecting this fact that they are quantitatively incapable of producing energy that is required by the industries. However, there are many serious risks which are associated with nuclear energy. In nuclear plants we use radioactive elements as raw material, so there is always risk coupled with the radiations of this raw material. Nuclear power plants have very high security and chances of being effected by any hazard are very less, but if it happens, the impact can be disastrous for whole region because there is no way of stopping radioactive radiations from spreading over the region. Exposure to these radiations proves to be fatal not only for the current generation but their effects can be felt generation after generation. Where and how to dispose radioactive waste material is still a debatable issue because it remains radioactive for a very long time. Solid waste Solid waste is either Municipal waste or non municipal waste. Municipal waste is the solids waste that is produced by the household activities where as if waste is produced by agriculture, industries, or mining activities then it is placed under non municipal category. Proper solid waste disposal is a main concern in all human settlements, as with the increase in urbanization and modernization, the volume of solid waste has greatly increased. Previously oceans were considered as the most common site for waste disposal but now on the issue of pollution it has been banned in most of the countries. In most of the modern cities waste is sent to the landfills, either sanitary or secure landfills. In both cases a large area is used as a disposal site where waste is spread out. These landfills are properly lined with clay, plastic and sand so that materials produced by the decomposition of waste cannot percolate down along with rain water and cannot pollute soil and groundwater. In advanced landfills there is a system of pipes that collect and transport methane gas produced by the decomposition of waste and supplied to homes where it is used as a source of energy. In case of secure landfill, the waste is properly lined from the top as well and waste has segregated so that wastes materials which are not compatible with each other should be placed separately e.g. hazardous waste, flammable waste. Areas near these landfills are always highly polluted and smelly. Incineration is another method to dispose waste in which waste material is burned at very high temperature. In this way huge volume of waste is burned in to small volume of ash that is easier to dispose. However, incineration, as involve combustion process, results in air pollution. It is costly method as well. For organic waste composting is done in which we allow waste to decompose under aerobic condition. In this process, wastes finally decompose into humus that is used as fertilizer. But it is a time taking process. On individual level it is our responsibility to change our lifestyle and produce less waste as disposal of waste is a serious problem. In order to reduce waste we must follow 3Rs i.e. Reuse, Recycle and Reduce. Green Intelligence This concept was introduced by Daniel Goleman. This concept is a simple rating system to rank the impact of various products on the environment. According to it our efforts to save the environment can prove to bring more effective results if everyone has clear and easily accessible knowledge about the impact of whatever products they are selling or using. In our daily life most of us don’t have time to find out the environmental impact of different products so we don’t bother to get this knowledge and sometimes due to this reason unintentionally we keep on using products harmful to the environment. If a sustainability rating index will be developed, buyers can compare the environmental impacts of different products and definitely will purchase the one with least harmful environmental impact. In my point of view this method can be helpful if we want to make our planet safe from being polluted because easy to understand knowledge is the best technique to make people educated about the environmental concern. Once people will be educated and have the knowledge whatever they are purchasing is polluting environment to which extent, instinctively people will start thinking about the sustainability and commence to play their role in making our planet a green planet in its true sense. Reference: Bensel, T. and Turk, J. (2011) Contemporary Environmental Issues. San Diego, Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Read More