دیکشنری

THE WORLD WATER DECADE

Water is necessary for life. People can live only a few days without it. Yet nearly 25 million people die each year because of it. Both industrial nations and less-developed countries are worried about the quality and quantity of water in the world

The United Nations has named the 1980s the World Water Decade. The UN hopes to provide pure water for everyone by 1990

Even though people, animals, agriculture, and industry use a lot of water, there is more than enough on the Earth. Water covers about three-fourths of the Earth's surface. However, 97.4 percent of it is salt water. Three-fourths of the Earth's fresh water is frozen in glaciers and in the great polar ice caps. Most of the water we use comes from rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere. Less than one percent of the Earth's water is usable, and we use it over and over again

One of the problems about water is distribution. Water is not always distributed where the large population centers are. Some regions get enough rain, but it is all in one or two short rainy seasons

There are three kinds of water use : (1) domestic for drinking, cooling, cleaning, and bathing, (2) agricultural, and (3) industrial. For acceptable living conditions, domestic use per year is 30 cubic meters per person. However, in many areas people have much less water. For example, in parts of Madagascar, people have less than two cubic meters a year. Farmers need 300 cubic meters per year to provide enough food for a healthy life for one person. Mexico and India use 90 percent of their water for agriculture. Industry in the United States uses 2,300 cubic meters per person, but less developed countries use only 20-40 cubic meters

Over half the world is without pure drinking wate. Seventy-five percent of city people have safe water, but only 29 percent of rural people do. About 80 percent of all illness is related to bad water

Millions of women and children spend up to six hours a day carrying water. When these women finish carrying water and doing their domestic work, they don't have time for anything else. In some dry areas, children stay home from school to help carry water

The United Nations hopes to change this. It is attempting to develope water systems that people can afford. Villages will be able to create and take care of these systems themselves, and other villages can copy them. UNICEF, the World Bank, and other organizations are helping. Local, national, and international organizations must all work together to improve the quality of life of millions of people with pure water

Source : Concepts and Comments