Why is Fresh Water Scarce?

1. List the main reasons for water scarcity? The main reasons for water scarcity are low rain fall, land degradation, population growth and water pollution




2. What is a drought? What type of hardships do you think that a drought could cause if you were living in a village in a poor country such as Ethiopia? A drought is when less then usual rainfall happens over several years. Water is hard to get for a more wellthy town in a drought and a poor town in a place which gets alot of rain still finds it hard to get water so a town which is poor and in a drought must find it really hard. The people in a poor town try to grow their own food but if they are in a drouhgt then they have nothing to grow the food with.



3. How does land degradation affect the supply of fresh water? Land degradation makes the rain run off so no water infiltrates the ground into the ground water, so the wells would get less water and they would start getting salt water.

4.(a) What is El Nino? El Nino is a group of winds which change course every couple of years. El Nino winds travel across the Pacific ocean between Australia and South America.

(b) Why does El Nino often cause drought in Australia? El Nino reverses the winds carrying moisture to Australia, to carry it to South America. Dry hot winds come in through the Pacific to Australia.

5. Observe the map showing the global effects of El Nino in 1982-83.

(a) What effects does El Nino have on the availability of fresh water? In Australia they hardly have any water and in South America so much water comes down that it can cause flooding and that can pollute the water.

(b) Name the countries and describe the problems that arose from decreased rainfall caused by El Nino. Australia and Peru are the main countries which are affected by El Nino. The farmers in Australia don't have enough water to grow crops. Cities and towns are put on very tight water restrictions. In Melbourne households are given a target of only using 150 litres per day.