Effects Of Water Scarcity

Decent Essays
Water Scarcity: Its Impacts, Causes, and Solutions
In the nearby city of Flint, Michigan, many people are forced to use bottled water to substitute for their lead-poisoned water. It all began in April 2014, when the government officials of Flint decided to change Flint’s water supply. The water treated by the Detroit Water and Sewage Department was changed to water from the Flint River. It may not seem like a big deal at first, however, all the water from this river was contaminated with lead and the Flint officials failed to apply corrosion treatment to allow for safe drinking water. Much of this contaminated water sources from the aging pipes that supply the water to Flint. It is believed that around 6,000 to 12,000 children have been
…show more content…
Droughts will become more common in some places, floods in others. Glaciers and snow packs will disappear in some areas, affecting the freshwater supplies to those downstream communities. These changes will combine to make less water available for agriculture, energy generation, cities and ecosystems around the world. Just looking at the United States may be mind boggling. Due to climate change the United States losses nearly $9 billion per year.9 Even with this money spent on the droughts, a constant supply of drinking water is still threatened to be pushed out of balance. An earlier crisis was the ozone depletion in the late 1970s that caused an ozone hole in the stratosphere. This was caused by man-made CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) such as hairspray and air conditioning appliances (prior to the 1970s). All sorts of problems emerged from the crisis, but in the modern world much of the climate change comes from greenhouse gases. As people trap more and more CO2 with not enough ways to take it out, more heat is trapped in the earth. This causes more evaporation, and even less water available than the 2.5% water from

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Policy and Background The water crisis in Flint, Michigan has made national headlines throughout the country. Many citizens first heard of the ordeal in late 2015. However, the process began in March of 2013 when the Flint City Council voted to switch water service from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to the Karegnondi Water Authority (Ridley, 2016). The Karegnondi Water Authority was building a new pipe to Lake Huron slated to be completed in 2016 and the City of Flint was eager to take advantage.…

    • 1844 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    (http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/20/465545378/lead-laced-water-in-flint-a-step-by-step-look-at-the-makings-of-a-crisis). People in Flint, have been drinking and bathing in water that has enough lead to meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s definition…

    • 1725 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    As Americans, we have come accustom to having clean fresh water at our disposal, and not having the worries that several other countrys do. One American city, has been forced to learn the hard way about how valuable the water they once took for granted really was. Flint, Michigan for nearly two years now has been dealing with the water crisis. They turn on their taps and their showers only to find nastily, discolored water. Additionally, along with the discolored water, tests have revealed that the water contains things that make it unsafe It all started when a Michigan politician made a decision to redirect Flints water supply from the Hudson river to the Flint river.…

    • 2485 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Lead has leading to public health in danger. In Flint, Michigan there was a state of emergency on January 5th, 2016 due to lead in the water supply. Many residents and children of Flint were poisoned by the lead which caused irreversible brain damage and could affect physical health. Governor Richard Snyder was well aware of the lead problem in the city's water system. He didn’t warn or tell any government officials that there was rusting on the pipes.…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The public, local elected officials, Michigan’s Department of Environmental Equality, and the Environmental Protection Agency were not involved in the project. They should have been overseeing the change to ensure that mistakes were not made and that the city manager’s idea would benefit, and not harm, the residents of Flint. Third, the government was not open and honest with the people as it carried out this project. Fourth, the government failed to attempt to improve the economy in Flint. The struggling economy was the primary reason the water source was being changed, as officials were attempting to save money.…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Flint Water Crisis

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the article “I’m a Flint resident. I’m done paying for water that is not safe” by Tunde Olaniran, Olaniran discusses the issues surrounding the water crisis in Flint Michigan. She speaks of her own history regarding the unsafe water and how she paid her bills until she was afraid to drink it or even let it touch her skin. The water crisis is due to high levels of lead and corroded pipes which combine together to make unsafe water for all purposes. Some experienced hair loss and scalp issues when washing their hair.…

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Flint Crisis

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Chevar Mcnair There was a huge crisis going on in Flint, Michigan that was causing a lot of controversy around the United States. Flint was suffering for nearly nineteen months because of a law passed by their governor. Governor Snyder decided to sign a law that changed Flint’s primary drinking water from the Great Lakes to the Flint River so it will save money for flint. Now there is no water that is safe to drink at all in Flint because this now meant that the water will now have a percentage of led which is dangerous to the human body. By doing this people would not be able to drink their own water from their faucet because it will cause them to get sick.…

    • 706 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As most of America is aware of by now, there is a grave injustice happening in Flint, Michigan. The city’s drinking water is heavily contaminated with lead and has been since 2014. The problem began when the city of Flint switched to using the Flint River as a source of drinking water. A month after the switch was made, residents began to “complain about the smell and color of the new water, which [was] 70 percent harder than its previous water source” (Kennedy, 2016). Despite the complaints, no action was taken.…

    • 1136 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Posing as an immediate threat, the government has failed to protect its public in which the infrastructure is in dire need. Advancing into the future, Flint, Michigan’s water, along with hundreds of other cities suffering troubled water systems, efficient treatment must be demanded. Before more citizens are affected and connections, broken by the deadly…

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    An article by The New York Times states about the water pipes, “Just over 6,200 have been replaced so far, said Steve Branch, the acting city administrator. An estimated 12,000 could remain” (Fortin). This means that around one third of the pipes that Flint residents are being forced to drink out of could still be leaching lead in the water. Since no level of lead is considered safe for children, and others, to consume, this needs to be fixed. By extending the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Emergency Order which provided Flint residents with reliable bottled water until 2020, when all the pipes are replaced, you will ensure that Flint residents have access to safe water.…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Flint Water Problem

    • 225 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Flint, one of the largest cities in Michigan, has been recently in news for its very high lead concentration in drinking water. The problem started when the city temporarily changed its water source as a cost saving measure. Lead in Flint’s municipal water came from the old lead pipes, which reacted with highly corrosive Flint River water in the absence of proper treatment measures. Lead concentration in Flint water is found to be so high that it can be easily considered as hazardous waste. Although, the residents of Flint were complaining about their water from the very beginning, neither the local and the state government nor the EPA considered that as a problem.…

    • 225 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Justin Wing Final Paper Section 101 GSI: Elizabeth Gilbert 6/28/17 The Flint Water Crisis and Implicit Racism Imagine consuming and using water that is not clear, but yellow in color. This is a harsh reality that the people of Flint, Michigan experience every day. The Flint Water Crisis reflects the structural and environmental racism towards African Americans in the United States government due to the disproportionate exposure of lead and other toxic chemicals in the water and their lack of political power.…

    • 1797 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    what is the Flint water water crisis? The Flint water crisis is something…

    • 350 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Effects Of Water Scarcity

    • 1804 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The world is running out of water, 75% of the planet earth is covered with water out of that 97.5% is the ocean, 2.5% is freshwater but 70% of that is ice, 30% is groundwater and much of that is polluted. Which leaves only 1% safe water and out of that, 70% is used for irrigation, 22% for industry and 0.8% for domestic use that consists of basic tasks like sanitation, drinking etc (Heimbuch,2010). This issue is known as water scarcity it is the lack of sufficient water for daily needs, without water the humankind will die off eventually it is extremely important for survival. According to recent estimates from the International Water Clean “potable water is an essential ingredient of a healthy human life, but 1.2 billion people lack access…

    • 1804 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Global warming and the world General Purpose: To inform Specific Purpose: To inform my audience of global warming and its impact on our planet Central Idea: The growing concern of climate change and the rising sea level due to globe warming has been a big discussion in many parts of the world Introduction I. Attention-getter: How’s the weather outside? Many of us many not this but the earth is growing hotter as the years goes by.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics