Purpose: To examine the relationship between populations and the availability of water

Background:
As the world’s population grows access to fresh water declines. This relationship is evident in both industrialized and developing countries and in both arid and wet climates. The availability of water can be determined by how much fresh, unpolluted water is present per capita (per person in a population. Countries with relative sufficiency means that there is more than 1700 m3 of water per capita. Countries under freshwater stress have only between 1000-1700 m3of water per capita. Countries experiencing
freshwater scarcity will have less than 1000 m3of water per capita. Once a country experiences water scarcity, it can expect chronic shortages of freshwater that threaten food production, hinder economic development, and damage ecosystems.

Procedure:
Examine the data that shows the relationship between population and water availability for the past decade and the predicted population and water availability for the next two decades then answer the questions below.

1. By how much is the total world population predicted to change between 1950 and 2050?


2. By how much is the average world per capita water availability predicted to change between 1950 and 2050?
3. What is the relationship between population and per capita water availability? In other words, as population increases, what happens to water availability?

4. Why do you think this is the case? Why do we see this relationship between population and water availabiltiy?


5. If the predictions for world population growth and per capita water availability come true, in what ways might the world be different in 2050 than it is today?


6. Which parts of the world do you think might fact the most serious water shortages? Why?

7. Are you aware of any scarcity problems in your region or community? If so, what is being done about these concerns? If not, do you think you might see water scarcity in your region in the future? Why or why not?

Country / Total annual renewable fresh water available by country (cubic kilometers) / 1950 / 1975 / 1995 / 2025 / 2050
Population (thousands) / Per capita water availability (cubic meters) / Population (thousands) / Per capita water availability (cubic meters) / Population (thousands) / Per capita water availability (cubic meters) / UN Low Projection / UN Low Projection
Population (thousands) / Per capita water availability (cubic meters) / Population (thousands) / Per capita water availability (cubic meters)
United States / 2478 / 157,813 / 15,702 / 267,115 / 9,277 / 267,115 / 9,277 / 303,132 / 8,175 / 272,128 / 6,987
China / 2800 / 554,760 / 5,047 / 927,808 / 3,050 / 1,220,224 / 2,295 / 1,366,883 / 2,048 / 2,337
1,198,215
India / 2085 / 357,561 / 5,831 / 620,701 / 3,074 / 929,005 / 2.244 / 1,222,833 / 1705 / 1,230,522 / 1,694
South Africa / 50 / 13,683 / 3,654 / 24,728 / 2,022 / 38,126 / 1,238 / 40,377 / 1,196 / 46,015 / 1,087

Below is a table showing water availability and projected availability for four countries/regions . Create a bar graph indicating the relationship between population growth and water scarcity in the for the four countries/regions. As with the world data, the x-axis of the bar graph should be labeled with the years 1950, 1995, 2025, and 2050—students should write the appropriate population figure beneath each year. The y-axis will represent per capita water availability (rounded to the nearest 100 or 500).

1. In what ways are your graphs similar to/different from the graph of world-wide population and water availabiity?

2. Using the 1995 data, describe the current water availability for each country.

3. Is there a difference between water availability per capita in a developed country like the United states and developing countries like China and India? Why or Why not?

4. Using the UN Low projections which countries should be cocerned with coming up with a plan to avert severe water shortages?

Country / 2025
UN High Projection
Population (thousands) / Per capita water availability (cubic meters)
United States / 350,084 / 7,078
China / 1,545,015 / 1,831
India / 1,466,848 / 1,319
South Africa / 50,289 / 994

5. To the right is the UN high projections for population and water availability for the year 2025. Should the low or high projections be used in the development of water use and conservattion plans? Why?

1950 / 1995 / 2025 / 2025 / 2025 / 2050 / 2050 / 2050
Population (thousands) / Per capita water availability (cubic meters) / Population (thousands) / Per capita water availability (cubic meters) / UN Low Projection / UN Medium Projection / UN High Projection / UN Low Projection / UN Medium Projection / UN High Projection
Population (thousands) / Per capita water availability (cubic meters) / Population (thousands) / Per capita water availability (cubic meters) / Population (thousands) / Per capita water availability (cubic meters) / Population (thousands) / Per capita water availability (cubic meters) / Population (thousands) / Per capita water availability (cubic meters) / Population (thousands) / Per capita water availability (cubic meters)
Ukraine / 231.00 / 36,906 / 6,259 / 51,757 / 4,463 / 44,081 / 5,240 / 45,979 / 5,024 / 48,080 / 4,804 / 34,531 / 6,690 / 40,802 / 5,661 / 47,205 / 4,894
United Arab Emirates / 1.99 / 70 / 28,471 / 2,210 / 902 / 3,098 / 643 / 3,297 / 604 / 3,496 / 570 / 3,045 / 655 / 3,668 / 543 / 4,368 / 456
United Kingdom / 71.00 / 50,616 / 1,403 / 58,079 / 1,222 / 55,522 / 1,279 / 59,535 / 1,193 / 61,101 / 1,162 / 47,321 / 1,500 / 58,733 / 1,209 / 64,970 / 1,093
United States / 2478.00 / 157,813 / 15,702 / 267,115 / 9,277 / 303,132 / 8,175 / 332,481 / 7,453 / 354,649 / 6,987 / 272,128 / 9,106 / 347,543 / 7,130 / 409,479 / 6,052
Uruguay / 124.00 / 2,239 / 55,382 / 3,186 / 38,920 / 3,400 / 36,471 / 3,692 / 33,586 / 3,968 / 31,250 / 3,230 / 38,390 / 4,027 / 30,792 / 4,902 / 25,296
Uzbekistan / 129.60 / 6,314 / 20,526 / 22,762 / 5,694 / 33,851 / 3,829 / 36,500 / 3,551 / 39,198 / 3,306 / 37,133 / 3,490 / 45,094 / 2,874 / 54,219 / 2,390
Venezuela / 1317.00 / 5,094 / 258,539 / 21,844 / 60,291 / 31,724 / 41,514 / 34,775 / 37,872 / 37,514 / 35,107 / 33,669 / 39,116 / 42,152 / 31,244 / 51,257 / 25,694
Viet Nam / 376.00 / 29,954 / 12,553 / 73,793 / 5,095 / 100,101 / 3,756 / 110,107 / 3,415 / 120,355 / 3,124 / 103,671 / 3,627 / 129,763 / 2,898 / 160,295 / 2,346
Yemen / 5.20 / 4,316 / 1,205 / 15,027 / 346 / 36,535 / 142 / 39,589 / 131 / 42,307 / 123 / 51,195 / 102 / 61,129 / 85 / 71,515 / 73
Zaire / 1019.00 / 12,184 / 83,634 / 45,453 / 22,419 / 102,760 / 9,916 / 105,925 / 9,620 / 114,132 / 8,928 / 146,186 / 6,971 / 164,635 / 6,189 / 196,117 / 5,196
Zambia / 116.00 / 2,440 / 47,541 / 8,081 / 14,355 / 15,510 / 7,479 / 16,163 / 7,177 / 16,816 / 6,898 / 18,959 / 6,118 / 21,965 / 5,281 / 25,193 / 4,604
Zimbabwe / 20.00 / 2,730 / 7,326 / 11,190 / 1,787 / 18,156 / 1,102 / 19,347 / 1,034 / 20,528 / 974 / 20,768 / 963 / 24,904 / 803 / 29,456 / 679