"Global Water Crisis and Water Shortage" by Andrew An

In modern days, water scarcity is the worldwide problem that everyone should be aware of, rather than the problem that only minorities are suffering from. These days, the demand for freshwater is exceeding the supply, causing a global water crisis. Owing to the global water crisis, four billion experience severe water scarcity for at least one month each year, which is two-third of the whole population.

The water shortage problem is becoming severe these days due to population growth, global warming, and contamination of freshwater. The global population growth subsequently leads to an increase in demand for water. As the amount of freshwater available in the Earth is limited, it is inevitable for the water shortage to happen. Global warming is another major reason for the water shortage. Due to global warming and climate change, the rainfall pattern changes and the frequency and intensity of droughts increases. Moreover, global warming causes the glaciers to melt, which leads to an increase in sea level. As the sea level rises, some of the natural water body is salinated. This decreases the amount of freshwater available for people. Contamination of water bodies also causes the global water crisis. A lot of the water bodies are contaminated due to untreated sewage from factories, fertilizers' from the farms, and some other pollutants from the illegal disposal of trash. 

Water shortages are creating severe challenges for many countries, particularly low-income nations. Each year, an estimated 3.5 million people die as a result of inadequate access to safe and sufficient water. Beyond these direct consequences, many people are indirectly affected, facing impacts on health, food security, economic stability, and overall quality of life. A lot of farmers lack water for drainage, and some industries are also impacted by it. Waterborne disease is another major issue closely linked to water scarcity. When clean water is limited, people are often forced to use unsafe sources, increasing the risk of disease. The prevalent and famous diseases such as cholera, typhoid fever, and hepatitis A are all waterborne diseases. If there is not enough freshwater, people will be more prone to these waterborne diseases since it is inevitable for them to use contaminated water. Because of this contaminated water, millions of people are suffering from waterborne disease. 

As people are not able to survive more than three days without water, the global water crisis is an urgent issue that should be tackled right now. As some people are aware of the severity of this issue, there are some global responses going on. For instance, there are a lot of things going on to increase awareness about this issue. This is done by campaign and education. The scientific technology to recycle and reuse water is developing. Also, there is a lot of research going on for seawater desalination. However, there is still a global effort required to tackle and solve this problem