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Water

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Cuidado Del Agua.
Este problema que se nos presenta en la actualidad es un tema que cada día ocupa más la atención de científicos, técnicos, políticos y en general, de muchos de los habitantes del planeta.

La escasez de este vital líquido obliga a reiterar nuevamente una llamada a la moderación de consumo por parte de la población a nivel mundial, ya que sin su colaboración los esfuerzos técnicos que llevan a cabo algunas organizaciones resultarían insuficientes.

Sólo muy poca agua es utilizada para el consumo del hombre, ya que: el 90 % es agua de mar y tiene sal, el 2 % es hielo y está en los polos, y sólo el 1 % de toda el agua del planeta es dulce, encontrándose en ríos, lagos y mantos subterráneos. Además el agua tal como se encuentra en la naturaleza, para ser utilizada sin riesgo para el consumo humano requiere ser tratada, para eliminar las partículas y organismos que pueden ser dañinos para la salud. Y finalmente debe ser distribuida a través de tuberías hasta tu casa, para que puedas consumirla sin ningún problema ni riesgo alguno.

La escasez del agua

Las fuentes, los manantiales, las cuencas o cañadas están en acelerada vía de extinción, hay cambios de clima y de suelo, inundaciones, sequías y desertización. Pero es la acción humana la más drástica: ejerce una deforestación delirante, ignora los conocimientos tradicionales sobre todo de las comunidades indígenas locales, retira el agua de los ríos de diferentes maneras, entre otras con obras de ingeniería, represas y desvíos.

En la agenda política internacional el tema de la escasez del agua se ha vuelto prioritario, por ejemplo, el acceso al agua es un punto importante de los acuerdos de paz entre Israel y sus vecinos. Pero este aspecto no está confinado al Medio Oriente, puesto que el compartir ríos es un asunto de índole de seguridad nacional, precisamente por la importancia del agua para el desarrollo; actualmente cerca del 40% de la gente en el mundo vive en más de 200 cuencas de ríos compartidos.

Y es que ante una situación de escasez del agua la amenaza se cierne sobre tres aspectos fundamentales del bienestar humano: la producción de alimentos, la salud y la estabilidad política y social. Esto se complica aún más si el recurso disponible se encuentra compartido, sin considerar el aspecto ecológico.

Es por esto que, la gestión del recurso deberá tender a evitar situaciones conflictivas debidas a escasez, sobreexplotación y contaminación, mediante medidas preventivas que procuren un uso racional y de conservación.

La conceptualización de la conservación del recurso agua debe entenderse como un proceso que cruza a varios sectores, por lo que la estrategia debe considerar todo: lo económico, lo social, lo biológico, lo político, etcétera.

La calidad del agua son fundamentales para el alimento, la energía y la productividad. El manejo juicioso de este recurso es central para la estrategia del desarrollo sustentable, entendido éste como una gestión integral que busque el equilibrio entre crecimiento económico, equidad y sustentabilidad ambiental a través de un mecanismo regulador que es la participación social efectiva.

El agua es un recurso imprescindible pero escaso para la vida. Menos del 1% del agua del planeta es dulce y accesible para el hombre, aunque este porcentaje varía considerablemente según el lugar, el clima o la época del año
- El sector agrícola, mayor consumidor del agua

El sector agrícola es el mayor consumidor de agua con el 65%, no sólo porque la superficie irrigada en el mundo ha tenido que quintuplicarse sino porque no se cuenta con un sistema de riego eficiente, razón principal que provoca que las pérdidas se tornen monumentales. Le siguen el sector industrial que requiere del 25% y el consumo doméstico, comercial y de otros servicios urbanos municipales que requieren el 10%. Para el año 2015 el uso industrial alcanzará el 34% a costa de reducir al 58% los volúmenes destinados para riego y al 8% los destinados para otros usos. El consumo total de agua se ha triplicado desde 1950 sobrepasando los 4,300 km3/año, cifra que equivale al 30% de la dotación renovable del mundo que se puede considerar como estable.

Ante estas circunstancias muchas regiones del mundo han alcanzado el límite de aprovechamiento del agua, lo que los ha llevado a sobreexplotar los recursos hidráulicos superficiales y subterráneos, creando un fuerte impacto en el ambiente.

Aunque en las últimas dos décadas se ha logrado progreso sobre los distintos aspectos del desarrollo y la administración de los recursos hidráulicos, los temas de la calidad del agua son más serios de lo que se creía.

Las razones son diversas pero podríamos citar dos de estas:
La mayor parte de la población mundial vive en cuencas compartidas, lo que implica una mayor competencia debida a los usos, 50 países de los cuatro continentes asientan más de tres cuartas partes del total de su población en las cuencas internacionales; lo que hace que el 47% de la población se encuentre en cuencas compartidas internacionales, 214 cuencas son multinacionales, incluyendo 57 en África, 58 en América, 48 en Europa y 51 en Asia.

La situación jurídica sobre el uso y conservación del recurso que se comparte casi siempre en los PED tradicionalmente es ambigua, ya que prácticamente enfrentan una ausencia de reglamentación, aunque los países desarrollados han generado regulaciones y metodologías para una mejor gestión del recurso, no porque sean más precavidos, sino porque los problemas de contaminación de las aguas los comenzaron a enfrentar desde la época de los años 60 y 70, así tenemos que han logrado desarrollar alta tecnología y diversidad de metodologías para su conservación.
En este sentido, este 47% de la población, es decir, dos mil millones de personas dependen de la cooperación de todos los países que comparten las cuencas para garantizar el suministro del agua en cantidad y calidad, y para su estabilidad ambiental.

El agotamiento del agua subterránea es la amenaza oculta para la seguridad de los alimentos.
La oferta de alimentos de muchos países en desarrollo depende del agua subterránea que se utiliza para irrigación. Si ese recurso no se administra de forma más sostenible, puede que algunas de las zonas más pobladas del mundo tengan que enfrentarse a una crisis profunda en el futuro.

El primer estudio global del Instituto Internacional para el Manejo del Agua (IWMI, según sus siglas en inglés) sobre la escasez del agua, publicado en el año 1998, puso de manifiesto que el agotamiento incontrolado de las capas acuíferas subterráneas representaba una seria amenaza para la seguridad de los alimentos en muchos países en desarrollo.

En esos países, el agua subterránea se ha convertido en el sostén principal de las actividades agroalimentarias. Sin embargo, ese valioso recurso no se está utilizando de manera sostenible. En los países en los que se depende del agua subterránea para la irrigación, el exceso de extracción de agua está provocando que los niveles freáticos de agua dulce estén descendiendo a un ritmo muy alarmante.
Las consecuencias derivadas de no intentar solucionar ese problema son potencialmente catastróficas, especialmente para las poblaciones más pobres, que son las que más padecen la escasez del agua. Son tres los problemas principales que caracterizan a la utilización del agua subterránea: el agotamiento debido a un exceso de extracción de este recurso; las inundaciones y la salinización causadas por un drenaje insuficiente; y finalmente, la contaminación, debida a las actividades intensivas agrícolas, industriales y de otro tipo.

Países que sufren ya las consecuencias de un exceso de utilización de las aguas subterráneas.
Los usos del agua se determinan de acuerdo a la ubicación geográfica del lugar, la economía que tiene, las actividades que realizan los miembros de la comunidad y el contexto cultural en el que se combinan cada uno de los aspectos anteriores.
Cada vez es más frecuente ver como algunas acciones que realizamos en nuestra comunidad deterioran no sólo la calidad del agua, también nos acerca más ala racionalización severa del recurso para poder cubrir las necesidades de todos los pobladores. Esta situación nos llevará en pocos años a una escasez del agua que pondría en riesgo el desarrollo social de todos.
Si bien es importante que cada persona valore el uso del agua para sus actividades básicas, es necesaria la organización comunitaria par a el manejo eficiente del agua que nos permita preservarla a futuro. La contaminación del agua

La contaminación del agua por tuberías de desechos debe ser controlada de alguna manera.

El déficit local y regional de agua es debido, sobre todo, al aumento de las necesidades surgidas del desarrollo económico y de la explosión demográfica. El hombre ha utilizado el agua para fines cada vez más numerosos, y su dependencia de ese elemento no ha hecho más que crecer.

El recurso agua es cada vez más apreciado, tanto para uso doméstico industrial o agrícola. Su escasez, sobre todo en las zonas áridas y semiáridas, la sitúan como prioridad vital para el desarrollo de las poblaciones: "si no hay agua, no hay vida". Muchos son los programas emprendidos para el uso racional del vital líquido; sin embargo; gran parte de ellos adolecen de objetividad, ya sea por su difícil aplicación o por el elevado costo que representan; es más, se ataca el problema desde puntos de vista sofisticados (se piensa que el modelo más complicado es el mejor); sin embargo existen oportunidades valiosas que están a nuestro alcance, que solo requieren ser visualizadas, un tratamiento técnico simple y "conciencia de todos".

Mucho se habla de las plantas tratadoras para reutilización del agua en ciertas actividades donde no se requiere la calidad de potable (claro, dado el acondicionamiento de las aguas degradadas). Pero hemos olvidado que también hay desperdicios que no están a la vista y por ello no les ponemos atención.

Adicionalmente, la contaminación causada por los efluentes domésticos e industriales, la deforestación y las prácticas del uso del suelo, está reduciendo notablemente la disponibilidad de agua utilizable. En la actualidad, una cuarta parte de la población mundial, es decir, mil quinientos millones de personas, que principalmente habitan en los PED (Países en Desarrollo) sufren escasez severa de agua limpia, lo que ocasiona que en el mundo haya más de diez millones de muertes al año producto de enfermedades hídricas.

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Water Pollution

...little or not at all absorbed by the environment. which could be dissolved in water. Answer: C 2) Hcnr would the pollution for which the environment has some absorptive capacity be called? B) Fund pollutants. A) Raw D) Absorptive pollutants. C) Light pollutants. pollutants. Answer: B 3) What is the characteristic of Carbon dioxide from below? A) Could be absorbed by plan life and the oceans. B) Could be absorbed by lakes and oceans. C) Could be absorbed by rivers and lakes. D) Could not be absorbed anyhow. Answer: A 4) What should be the correct classification of pollutants from below? B) Liquid and solid solution. A) Natural and artificial. D) Horizontal and vertical. C) Sulphuric and carbonated. Answer: D 5) The "vertical zone" of influence could be described like what of following? A) The damage caused mainly by ground level concentration or an air pollutant or by concentrations in the upper atmosphere. B) The damage caused mainly by ground level concentration. C) The damage caused mainly by air pollutant in the lower atmosphere. D) The damage caused mainly by water. Answer: A 6) What would be the correct definition of "global pollutant" from below? Pollutant B) Pollutant C) Pollutant D) Pollutant Answer: A A) concentrated concentrated concentrated concentrated mainly mainly mainly mainly in upper atmosphere. in lower atmosphere. in the ground. in the water. 7) Which of the costs from below should be marginal...

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