What factors affect drinking water availability in North Africa and what can be done to improve the situation caused by these factors in North Africa?
Report written by: Serge Shchesnyak
Introduction.
Conflicts over drinking water in North Africa have occurred since prehistoric times and are still going on today. These conflicts, such as the water conflict in the Middle East and North Africa, are fought over what we consider to be something that everyone has. Drinking water. The goal of this paper is to identify the key factors which limit drinking water availability in North African communities and to identify the possible solutions, such as desalination, to combat these factors, if possible.
This research investigation is limited to identifying …show more content…
It is possible to obtain 20 liters of water per day on a reliable basis.
Safe drinking water - water with bacterial, chemical and physical characteristics that meet World Health Organization’s guidelines or national standards for drinking water quality.
Factors.
Water scarcity.
North Africa is located in a geographically dry area, composed of a desert, chaparral and the Atlas Mountains to the north (see explanation in Appendix A1). There are very few natural fresh water sources, the largest ones include the Nile basin, Nubian Sandstone, Al Kufra basin and Lake Chad. These renewable sources are very unevenly distributed (see map in Appendix A2) and some are heavily polluted or are drying up (see Appendix A3). The other, nonrenewable kind of water sources are overused and are in danger of completely being used up, which will complicate the problem still farther.
Climate change.
Even though climate change is a small fraction of the actual problem, in countries under water stress (see Appendix A4) even this difference means a huge change. In northern countries, such as Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, climate change caused a 2 degree upwards change in temperature and a 20% rainfall level decrease.
Human use and …show more content…
This method, however, is a very costly procedure and requires specialists to run the costly equipment, thus, this is an expensive and thus not very effective procedure for developing countries which lack funding.
Long lasting water projects.
These water projects include wells, dams and rain catchment systems, which all provide a water source that is safe to drink and can be located near villages to avoid long distance walks.
Bibliography.
Eliasson, Jan, and Susan Blumenthal. "Dying for a Drink of Clean Water." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 20 Sept. 2005. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.
"Northern Africa and Freshwater Resources." Northern Africa and Freshwater Resources. Eoearth. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.
"The Problems and Solutions to Safe Water in Africa." Triple Pundit People Planet Profit. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
"Rain Shadow." National Geographic Education. National Geographic, 21 Jan. 2011. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.
"Vital Water Graphics." Lake Chad: Almost Gone -. Web. 19 Mar. 2016.
"Water and Change." : Environmental and Human Factors Affecting Patterns and Trends in Physical Water Scarcity and Economic Water Scarcity. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.
Waughray, Dominic. "The Pending Scramble for Water." BBC News. BBC, 02 Feb. 2009. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.
Appendix
Report written by: Serge Shchesnyak
Introduction.
Conflicts over drinking water in North Africa have occurred since prehistoric times and are still going on today. These conflicts, such as the water conflict in the Middle East and North Africa, are fought over what we consider to be something that everyone has. Drinking water. The goal of this paper is to identify the key factors which limit drinking water availability in North African communities and to identify the possible solutions, such as desalination, to combat these factors, if possible.
This research investigation is limited to identifying …show more content…
It is possible to obtain 20 liters of water per day on a reliable basis.
Safe drinking water - water with bacterial, chemical and physical characteristics that meet World Health Organization’s guidelines or national standards for drinking water quality.
Factors.
Water scarcity.
North Africa is located in a geographically dry area, composed of a desert, chaparral and the Atlas Mountains to the north (see explanation in Appendix A1). There are very few natural fresh water sources, the largest ones include the Nile basin, Nubian Sandstone, Al Kufra basin and Lake Chad. These renewable sources are very unevenly distributed (see map in Appendix A2) and some are heavily polluted or are drying up (see Appendix A3). The other, nonrenewable kind of water sources are overused and are in danger of completely being used up, which will complicate the problem still farther.
Climate change.
Even though climate change is a small fraction of the actual problem, in countries under water stress (see Appendix A4) even this difference means a huge change. In northern countries, such as Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, climate change caused a 2 degree upwards change in temperature and a 20% rainfall level decrease.
Human use and …show more content…
This method, however, is a very costly procedure and requires specialists to run the costly equipment, thus, this is an expensive and thus not very effective procedure for developing countries which lack funding.
Long lasting water projects.
These water projects include wells, dams and rain catchment systems, which all provide a water source that is safe to drink and can be located near villages to avoid long distance walks.
Bibliography.
Eliasson, Jan, and Susan Blumenthal. "Dying for a Drink of Clean Water." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 20 Sept. 2005. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.
"Northern Africa and Freshwater Resources." Northern Africa and Freshwater Resources. Eoearth. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.
"The Problems and Solutions to Safe Water in Africa." Triple Pundit People Planet Profit. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.
"Rain Shadow." National Geographic Education. National Geographic, 21 Jan. 2011. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.
"Vital Water Graphics." Lake Chad: Almost Gone -. Web. 19 Mar. 2016.
"Water and Change." : Environmental and Human Factors Affecting Patterns and Trends in Physical Water Scarcity and Economic Water Scarcity. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.
Waughray, Dominic. "The Pending Scramble for Water." BBC News. BBC, 02 Feb. 2009. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.
Appendix