Water

Question 1

What are the major features of a famine drought?

Answer 1

(Food deficit)
- Loss of natural vegetation
- Increased risk of wild fires
- Wind-blown soil erosion
- Desertification

Question 2

What are the main features of a hydrological drought?

Answer 2

(Stream flow deficit)
- Reduced infiltration
- Low soil moisture
- Little percolation and groundwater recharge

Question 3

What are the major features of a meteorological drought?

Answer 3

(Rainfall deficit)
- Low precipitation
- High temperatures
- Strong winds
- Increased solar radiation
- Reduced snow cover

Question 4

What are the major features of an agricultural drought?

Answer 4

(Soil moisture deficit)
- Low evapotranspiration
- Plant water stress
- Reduced biomass
- Fall in groundwater levels

Question 5

What are the impacts of a meteorological drought?

Answer 5

• Loss of soil moisture
• Supply of irrigation water declines

Question 6

What are the impacts of hydrological droughts?

Answer 6

• Reduced water storage in lakes and reservoirs
• Less water for urban supply and power generation - restrictions
• Poorer water quality
• Threats to wetlands and wildlife habitats

Question 7

What are the impacts of agricultural droughts?

Answer 7

• Poor yields from rain-fed crops
• Irrigation systems start to fail
• Pasture and livestock productivity declines
• Rural industries affected
• Some government aid required

Question 8

What are the impacts of a famine drought?

Answer 8

• Widespread failure of agricultural systems
• Food shortages on seasonal scale
• Rural economy collapses
• Rural-urban migration
• Increased malnutrition and related mortality
• Humanitarian crisis
• International aid required

Question 9

Order of drought duration and severity? (From shortest to longest)

Answer 9

• Meteorological
• Hydrological
• Agricultural
• Famine

Question 10

What is the PDSI?

Answer 10

Palmer Drought Severity Index- Focuses on monitoring the duration and intensity of large-scale, long-term, drought-inducing atmospheric circulation.

Question 11

What happens in a normal (non- El Niño) year?

Answer 11

• The trade winds blow westwards (from South-America to Australia) across the tropical Pacific
• The winds blow towards the warm water of the western Pacific
• Convectional uplift occurs as the water heats the atmosphere
• The trade winds push warm air westwards. Along the east coast of Peru, the shallow position of the thermocline allows winds to pull up water from below
• This causes upwelling of nutrient-rich cold water, leading to optimum fishing conditions

Question 12

What is water scarcity?

Answer 12

Less than 1000m of water available per person per year.

Question 13

What is physical scarcity?

Answer 13

There is not enough water to meet the demand.

Question 14

What is economic scarcity?

Answer 14

Water is available but people cannot afford it.

Question 15

What is water stress?

Answer 15

Less than 1700m3 of water available per person per year.

Question 16

What is water insecurity?

Answer 16

Present and future water supplies cannot be guaranteed.

Question 17

What are the 4 main reasons for increased global water scarcity?

Answer 17

Increasing population and urbanisation
Improved living standards
Industrialisation
Agriculture

Question 18

How does increased population and urbanisation affect water?

Answer 18

• Demand for water is growing twice as fast as the population
• Half the world’s population live in urban areas. By 2030, the urban population in Africa and Asia is expected to double.

Question 19

How does improve living standards change affect water scarcity?

Answer 19

• Rising incomes in developing and emerging economies
• Increased meat consumption
• Larger homes
• Production of more cars, appliances and gadgets

Question 20

How does industrialisation affect water scarcity?

Answer 20

• Industrial consumption will increase by 400% by 2050
• Increased industrial pollution contaminates supplies

Question 21

How does agriculture affect water scarcity?

Answer 21

• Largest consumer of water
• By 2050, 60% more food will be required
• Depleting aquifer levels and contamination by salt water

Question 22

What are desalination plants?

Answer 22

Remove salt from water in order to obtain freshwater supply

Question 23

What are the pros of desalination?

Answer 23

• Sustainable due to vast amounts of seawater supply
• Advancing technology makes the process less energy-intensive

Question 24

What are the cons of desalination?

Answer 24

• Major ecological impact on marine life as left over water returned from desalination plant has double the salt concentration of sea water which can impact coral and food webs.
• Energy intensive process

Question 25

How long is the River Nile?

Answer 25

6700 km long (World’s largest river)

Question 26

What percentage of total water is stored in oceans?

Answer 26

96.9%

Question 27

What percentage of total water is stored in icecaps?

Answer 27

1.9%

Question 28

What percentage of total water is stored in groundwater?

Answer 28

1.1%

Question 29

What percentage of total water is stored in rivers and lakes?

Answer 29

0.01%

Question 30

What percentage of total water is stored in soil moisture?

Answer 30

0.01%

Question 31

What percentage of total water is stored in atmospheric moisture?

Answer 31

0.001%

Question 32

What are SuDS?

Answer 32

Sustainable drainage systems

Question 33

What do SuDS do?

Answer 33

Reduce runoff produced from rainfall by using: - green roofs - Infiltration basins - permeable pavements - Rainwater harvesting - Soak-away - Filter drains - Detention basins - Wetlands

Question 34

What are the main reasons that the price of water varies?

Answer 34

- The physical costs of obtaining the supply - The degree of demand for water - Infastructure - Who supplied the water

Question 35

How does the physical costs of obtaining the supply affect water price?

Answer 35

Becasue, in some cities, water has to be piped for many kilometres from mountainous reservoirs (for example, the California coastal city of Los Angeles gets its water from Colorado through a very long pipeline).

Question 36

How does the degree of demand affect water price?

Answer 36

If water is very scarce, as in the 2015 California drought, the price increases to manage and (inevitability the poor miss out). Even in cities in developed countries, such as Detroit and New York in the USA, there are considerable amount of very poor people

Question 37

What causes water prices to vary?

Answer 37

- Costs of obtaining the supply - Investment in infrastructure - Demand -Government policies -Privatisation

Question 38

Why does the cost of obtaining the supply cause water prices to vary?

Answer 38

Some areas have plentiful supplies e.g. Memphis- so the water costs are very low ($0.4 per m3). Areas where there are low levels of preciptation e.g. Coastal cities in California have high prices such as San Francisco ($1.8 per m3).

Question 39

Why does demand cause water prices to vary?

Answer 39

In Very High Human Development countries if there are high demands with wealthy consumers it allows water companies to charge high prices. E.g. in the US estimated 1 in 30 people have a swimming pool, so areas with high supply such as Chicago have high prices ($0.7 per m3).

Question 40

Why do government policies casue water prices to vary?

Answer 40

In some developed countries there are high prices to discourage waste of water e.g. Denmark cost can be as high as $9.7 per m3. In contrast some developed countries have state subsidies for water e.g. In SW US water for agricultural use which drives down costs to just $0.05 per m3.