Turkey’s drought experienced in 2020, brought many questions to be accompanied. Although it is surrounded by seas on 3 sides, the common thought was that we had water-rich resources. We feel very deeply that this is not the case this year. The fact that the precipitation did not occur at the desired level and the air temperatures were well above seasonal norms were the alarm bells of the approaching danger. This noticeable effect of human-based global warming did not begin this year. However, when the water level in the dams dropped drastically and the danger of being dehydrated arose, a rush took us. The race to dominate nature and the consumption-oriented pretentiousness of humans are the main reasons for this situation. Let’s examine together how our stupidity wreaked havoc and let’s discuss the issue.
First of all, let’s look at how much water resources we have. 74% of the world is covered with water. However, this should not mislead us. It is necessary to see how much of it is suitable for consumption rather than the water we have. We can express in numbers as follows:
Water rate: 74%
Potable fresh water rate: 2.5%
Fresh water rate at the surface: 1.2%
Fresh water used: 0.24%
So what does these data mean? Even though the 0.24% rate seems small, is it enough for our current population?
If the classification is made according to the presence of water; Countries with an average water per capita less than 1000m³ per year are “water poor”; Countries with 1000-2000 cubic meters are “those who suffer from water stress”; Those between 2000-8000 m3 are “countries where water is sufficient”; 8000 m³ and above are classified as “water rich countries”.
Although Turkey is a country surrounded by the sea, it feels the water stress. One of the first methods proposed to deal with this situation in the future is to purify sea water and turn it into drinking-potable water. However, there are two important problems here: First, this method is not economical. In addition, since it will be more costly to access to usable water, this will cause water and food prices to go up. The other problem is what to do with the salt to be obtained. If released to the nature, the soil will be adversely affected.
Globally, it is estimated that more than 1 billion people live in arid regions. According to the study of Seckler et al., It is predicted that people living in this region will experience a decrease in the amount of water used in food production and agriculture in 2025 compared to 1990. In other words, 1/3 of the world population will be significantly affected.
Again, in this projection, it is estimated that food imports will increase due to the decrease in the amount of food produced in arid regions. We need to open a separate bracket for the position of China and India as a population.
It is estimated that the water shortage that China will experience and the increase in its population will cause it to import approximately 210-370 million tons of grain in 2025. It is predicted that a demand of this scale may upset the grain balance in the world and an upward trend in prices will begin.
On the Indian side, the situation does not look bright either. The large-scale use of groundwater causes a decrease in resources. Due to intensive use, withdrawals of 1-3 meters per year occur in fresh water basins. There are two major problems this situation will bring: First, it will be more costly to draw water from these basins from year to year. This increase in costs will cause an increase in water usage costs and will bring a decrease in the amount of water per person. The second is on the food production side. In this scenario, it is a very serious situation that India can experience production losses of up to 25% in agriculture. The first thing to be done to compensate for these losses is the demand for product imports. With its population expected to reach 1 billion 395 million in 2025, it is obvious that India will be a big problem for the world.
The chart above shows that we have lost about half of our total renewable surface and groundwater from 1960 to 2020. In the years 2050 and 2080, we see that the result is much worse. Especially the fact that our renewable resources go towards extinction as a result of the cruel waste of our resources indicates a very troublesome situation.
Drought caused by human-based global warming, rapid population growth and the accompanying consumption density inevitably confront us with these problems. Another problem that the decrease in water resources will create is food security. Irrigation for agricultural purposes consumes approximately 80% of the global water resources. We can draw some inferences from this information. If we add to the increasing population, food demand and depletion of water resources to the current use of water on such a large scale, ensuring food hygiene will be a very troublesome process.
Inadequate washing or poor water quality due to lack of water will increase the incidence of food-borne poisoning in consumers. Another link that can be made is the rise in antibiotic use parallel to the increase in diseases and the emergence of resistant bacteria as a result.
In addition to this massive health problem caused by water shortage, the impact of global warming on the nutritional content of consumed foods will need to be questioned separately. According to the research conducted by Southwestern University, it has been determined that there may be a 10-15% decrease in the protein values of wheat, rice and barley products in 2050. You can reach the article on this subject by clicking “here“.
WATER FOOTPRINT
This concept expresses the amount of direct and indirect water spent to produce a good or food we use. The water footprint is evaluated by 3 different types of water: Green, blue and gray water.
As can be seen from the image above, while blue water refers to surface and underground fresh water resources; green water refers to rainwater. Gray water can be defined as recycled water that is not of drinking water quality.
This table shows how many cubic meters of water is needed for one ton of plant and animal sourced products. It is seen that the general average is taken for vegetable, fruit and cereal products. When considered as the most commonly consumed products, it can be interpreted that animal-based products require a significant amount of water.
So what is the position of the produced food in the world? The infographic published on ourworldinadata.org using FAO data summarized this situation very well.
According to the infographer, in half of the 71% livable area, agriculture is done and in 77% of this area livestock products are grown. The main point that should be taken out of the chart is that this huge area allocated for animal products can meet 37% of the global protein need and 18% of the calorie requirement. How accurately we manage resource usage, this should be considered.
So how is the trend in other industries?
The other industry that consumes the most water after agriculture is the textile sector. It is especially useful to open up the positions of China and India in the world textile market. The share of the two countries in textile exports exceeds 45% as of 2019. Including Turkey, it can be said that close to 50% of this figure. According to the data of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2020, the most exporting countries in the field of textiles are as follows.
In 2017, the Chinese government started a research together with the “Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs” and “Natural Resources Defense Council” in order to determine the damage caused by the textile industry in the country, It found that 70% of it was contaminated. We mentioned above the possible effects of the water shortage China will experience in the following years. When we look from this side of the picture, we see how this economically focused approach destroys water resources.
Let’s take a look at the situation of another important country, India.
The textile industry is a key industry for India. Thanks to the cheap labor, the intensive production in the country causes 27% of the total foreign currency to be created by this sector, and it constitutes approximately 3% of the country’s GDP (Gross National Product). It alone meets 21% of the employment in the country. The importance of these data lies in water resources. The fact that India is the 13th country with the most drought in the world, the withdrawals between 1-3 meters in its water basins every year and the intense water use of the industry show that it will experience great problems in the near future like China. The fact that ¼ of the country’s population is already experiencing water shortages reveals that the upcoming period will be difficult.
The presence of more than 36% of the world’s population in China and India, the nutritional problem caused by water shortage and economic instabilities will affect the world very severely.
On the other hand, according to the “Global Risk Report” published by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2020, the top 5 among the 10 most important risk factors awaiting the world are environmental trends. The water crisis, on the other hand, is ranked 8th due to the social effects it will create. However, considering that the water crisis has arisen as a result of the heavy destruction in nature, it may be a correct approach to interpret that it is in a close relationship with environmental factors.
So how can we deal with this problem?
First of all, a mass action must be taken to solve this problem, but even though state policies seem to be effective, we also need an action from the bottom, that is at the individual level. The reason is simple: There is a situation where state policies are intertwined with the business world. The attitude of the business world towards non-renewable resources for the purpose of more profit and the benefits of states and individuals from this cause a kind of vicious circle.
Can we break this vicious circle? The answer is simple: Yes, by consuming less. However, this is not as easy as it might seem. The impact of behavioral psychology and motivated consumption understanding is enormous. The perception that we will be happy with more consumption is so common that we have come to keep our individual tastes and ego ahead of everything. In addition, the other pathetic aspect of the situation is that people compete with each other because of their consumer goods and lifestyle.
As for what we will do individually;
- We need to reconsider our eating habits. The consumption of foods with excessive water needs should be reduced in the short-medium term, and alternative food sources should be preferred in the long term.
- We must abandon all unnecessary purchasing habits that cause excessive water consumption and move to a different level of consciousness in this regard.
- We should use sustainable ones instead of disposable products.
- We should avoid unnecessary water consumption in individual water use (home, work, etc.). Practical practices on this subject are easily available online.
We all know that life cannot exist without water, but we need to internalize this situation and change our lifestyle before it is too late.
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