Fresh water in the world is. Where are the main fresh water resources located? Intensification of economic activity

Water is the most abundant substance on our planet: although in varying amounts, it is available everywhere and plays a vital role for the environment and living organisms. Fresh water is of the greatest importance, without which human existence is impossible, and it cannot be replaced by anything. People have always consumed fresh water and used it for a variety of purposes, including domestic, agricultural, industrial and recreational uses.

Water reserves on Earth

Water exists in three aggregate states: liquid, solid and gaseous. It forms the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers and groundwater located in the upper layer of the crust, and the soil cover of the Earth. In the solid state, it exists in the form of snow and ice in polar and mountainous regions. A certain amount of water is contained in the air in the form of water vapor. Huge volumes of water are found in various minerals in the earth's crust.

Determining the exact amount of water in the world is quite difficult, since water is dynamic and is in constant motion, changing its state from liquid to solid to gaseous, and vice versa. As a rule, the total amount of water resources of the world is estimated as the totality of all waters of the hydrosphere. This is all free water that exists in all three states of aggregation in the atmosphere, on the surface of the Earth and in the earth's crust to a depth of 2000 meters.

Current estimates have shown that our planet contains a huge amount of water - about 1386,000,000 cubic kilometers (1.386 billion km³). However, 97.5% of this volume is salt water and only 2.5% is fresh water. Most of the fresh water (68.7%) is in the form of ice and permanent snow cover in the Antarctic, Arctic, and mountain regions. Further, 29.9% exists as groundwater, and only 0.26% of the total fresh water on Earth is concentrated in lakes, reservoirs and river systems, where it is most readily available for our economic needs.

These indicators were calculated over a long period of time, however, if shorter periods (one year, several seasons or months) are taken into account, the amount of water in the hydrosphere may change. It has to do with the exchange of water between the oceans, land and atmosphere. This exchange is generally referred to as the , or global hydrological cycle.

Fresh water resources

Fresh water contains a minimum amount of salts (no more than 0.1%) and is suitable for human needs. However, not all resources are available to people, and even those that are available are not always usable. Consider fresh water sources:

• Glaciers and snow covers occupy about 1/10 of the world's land and contain about 70% of fresh water. Unfortunately, most of these resources are located far from settlements, and therefore are difficult to access.
• Groundwater is by far the most common and accessible source of fresh water.
• Freshwater lakes are mainly located at high altitudes. Canada contains about 50% of the world's freshwater lakes. Many lakes, especially those located in arid regions, become salty due to evaporation. The Caspian Sea, the Dead Sea, and the Great Salt Lake are among the world's largest salt lakes.
• The rivers form a hydrological mosaic. There are 263 international river basins on Earth, which cover more than 45% of the land of our planet (the exception is Antarctica).

Water resources objects

The main objects of water resources are:

• oceans and seas;
• lakes, ponds and reservoirs;
• swamps;
• rivers, canals and streams;
• soil moisture;
• underground waters (soil, ground, interstratal, artesian, mineral);
• ice caps and glaciers;
• atmospheric precipitation (rain, snow, dew, hail, etc.).

Problems in the use of water resources

For many hundreds of years, human impact on water resources was insignificant and was of an exclusively local nature. The excellent properties of water - its renewal due to the circulation and the ability to purify - make fresh water relatively purified and with quantitative and qualitative characteristics that will remain unchanged for a long time.

However, these features of water gave rise to the illusion of the immutability and inexhaustibility of these resources. Out of these prejudices, a tradition has arisen of the careless use of vital water resources.

The situation has changed a lot in recent decades. In many parts of the world, the results of long-term and wrong actions towards such a valuable resource have been discovered. This applies to both direct and indirect use of water.

Throughout the world, for 25-30 years, there has been a massive anthropogenic change in the hydrological cycle of rivers and lakes, affecting the quality of water and their potential as a natural resource.

The volume of water resources, their spatial and temporal distribution, are determined not only by natural climate fluctuations, as before, but now also by the types of economic activities of people. Many parts of the world's water resources are becoming so depleted and heavily polluted that they can no longer meet ever-increasing demands. It may
become the main factor hindering economic development and population growth.

Water pollution

The main causes of water pollution are:

• Wastewater;

Domestic, industrial and agricultural wastewater pollutes many rivers and lakes.

• Waste disposal in the seas and oceans;

The dumping of garbage in the seas and oceans can cause huge problems, because it negatively affects the living organisms that live in the waters.

• Industry;

Industry is a huge source of water pollution, which produces substances that are harmful to people and the environment.

• radioactive substances;

Radioactive pollution, in which there is a high concentration of radiation in the water, is the most dangerous pollution and can spread into ocean waters.

• Oil spill;

An oil spill poses a threat not only to water resources, but also to human settlements located near a contaminated source, as well as to all biological resources for which water is a habitat or a vital necessity.

• Leaks of oil and oil products from underground storage facilities;

A large amount of oil and oil products are stored in tanks made of steel, which corrodes over time, which in consequence creates leakage of harmful substances into the surrounding soil and groundwater.

• Precipitation;

Precipitation, such as acid precipitation, is formed when air is polluted and changes the acidity of water.

• Global warming;

An increase in water temperature causes the death of many living organisms and destroys a large number of habitats.

• Eutrophication.

Eutrophication is the process of reducing the quality characteristics of water associated with excessive enrichment with nutrients.

Rational use and protection of water resources

Water resources provide for rational use and protection, from individuals to enterprises and states. There are many ways we can reduce our impact on the aquatic environment. Here are some of them:

Water saving

Factors such as climate change, population growth and increasing aridity are increasing pressure on our water resources. The best way to conserve water is to reduce consumption and avoid rising wastewater.

At the household level, there are many ways to save water, such as: shorter showers, installing water-saving appliances, and low-flow washing machines. Another approach is to plant gardens that do not require much water.

Planet Earth is very rich in natural resources: oil, coal, natural gas, precious metals. And people have been using these gifts for more than one millennium.

Some of them are valued very highly, they are valued, they are treated carefully and judiciously, and sometimes they don’t even think about the value of others, and they begin to appreciate only when they lose.

Is water worth more than gold?

The answer is simple - water, or rather, fresh clean water. Everyone knows examples of the disappearance of small rivers, lakes, pollution of water bodies, but for some reason this does not cause unrest. Most people simply do not think about the value of water and consider it a renewable resource. The naivety of these delusions can have irreparable consequences. Already now, 1/3 of the entire population is experiencing a lack of fresh water, and every hour the problem is only becoming more global.

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The amount of water in the world

Many wonder why this problem occurs, because there is so much water. Indeed, the surface of the entire planet consists of 4/5 water (this is one of the most common compounds, the volume of the world's oceans is approximately 1.3300 billion cubic meters of water). The presence of this fact allows people to believe that the supply of fresh water is inexhaustible. But, unfortunately, this is not the case. 97% of water is in the seas and oceans (sea water is unsuitable for consumption) and only 3% is fresh water. But it is worth noting that only 1% of the total volume is available to mankind for use.

Where does the water go?

The main part of fresh water (more than 65%) is concentrated in the glaciers of Antarctica. But did you know that due to global warming, this stock is rapidly decreasing? Which, of course, is a great danger to all living things.

It is hard to imagine how much water is used every day. On average, a person uses about 200 liters. Multiplying this number by the total number of people inhabiting the Earth, you get more than 1,400,000,000 tons - these are just household expenses, and if you take into account industry, the figure will increase rapidly. People began to forget that it is necessary to preserve not only rare species of animals and plants, but it is also very important to preserve water, without which life is impossible.

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What to expect?

Forecasts are not encouraging, water reserves are not at all limitless, and they are already being exhausted. Studies show that in the next 10 years, most of the world's states will experience a lack of water, and in another 20 years, 75% of the total population will be left without fresh water. The deficit will no doubt increase if action is not taken now. The main problem is pollution of fresh water by industrial emissions, fertilizers from fields, intrusion of salt water in coastal areas, as well as irrational use, which, in turn, leads to the fact that groundwater does not have time to be renewed and its level gradually drops.

, streams, fresh lakes, as well as in the clouds. According to various estimates, the share of fresh water in the total amount of water on Earth is 2.5-3%.

About 85-90% of fresh water is contained in the form of ice.

In connection with the expanding pollution of water sources, population growth, and the development of new territories, the task of artificially obtaining fresh water arises. This is achieved by:

• seawater desalination, including solar desalination
• condensation of water vapor from the air, using deep sea water;
• condensation of water vapor in daily accumulators of cold, in particular - of natural origin, such as caves in coastal rocks.

The latter method creates huge natural reserves of fresh water in the coastal areas of a number of countries that have been discovered recently. Layers with fresh water sometimes go under the seabed, and through cracks in impenetrable layers fresh springs beat.

The cost of fresh water is becoming so high that the production of refrigeration units that receive water from moist air by condensation has begun.

The distribution of fresh water across the globe is extremely uneven. In Europe and Asia, where 70% of the world's population lives, only 39% of river waters are concentrated. In terms of surface water resources, Russia occupies a leading position in the world. Only in the unique Lake Baikal is concentrated about 1/5 of the world's fresh water reserves and more than 4/5 of Russia's reserves. With a total volume of 23.6 thousand km 3, about 60 km 3 of rare natural water is reproduced in the lake annually.

According to the UN, already now more than 1.2 billion people live in conditions of constant shortage of fresh water, about 2 billion suffer from it regularly, and by the middle of the 21st century. the number of people living with a constant lack of water will exceed 4 billion people. Thus, we can talk about an impending global water crisis. In such conditions, it is quite likely that Russia's main advantage in the "post-oil" period is water resources, and the production of water-intensive products may become the dominant direction of development of the Russian economy.

see also

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See what "Fresh Water" is in other dictionaries:

fresh water- Natural water with salinity up to 1 mg/l … Geography Dictionary

fresh water- - EN freshwater Water having a low relatively mineral content, generally less than 500 mg/l of dissolved solids. (Source: LANDY) EN bathing freshwater Freshwater in which bathing is explicitly authorized or in which bathing is not prohibited and is traditionally practiced by a large number of bathers. Water… Technical Translator's Handbook

Evaporators, desalters. P. water has always been an essential item on ships in sea navigation, but mainly for drinking only. At present, P.'s consumption of water on new ships has increased, thanks to conscious practice ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

This term has other meanings, see Water (meanings). Water ... Wikipedia

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• Imagine this. A new look at gigantic numbers and immense magnitudes, Smith David J.. If the entire history of our planet is compressed to 1 hour, then dinosaurs lived on Earth for only 3 minutes. If all the money in the world is a pile of 100 coins, then Africa will only get 3 coins. If the Sun is...

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Where is the most fresh water? (ranking of countries of the world)

The size of the freshwater area is one of the most obvious indicators of the richness of the natural resources of a country. In the future, it is water that will become one of the most expensive and sought-after resources on the world market, because even now a bottle of mineral water in grocery stores often costs more than a liter of gasoline! At the same time, it should be noted that many countries do not have their own freshwater area at all, which puts them on the brink of an ecological disaster! Some futurologists predict an increase in instability in the world and even wars precisely because of and for this valuable, but very underestimated resource - water! The FOX-calculator project decided to figure out which countries in the world have the largest freshwater area. To put it simply, which countries in the world have the largest supply of fresh water.

Fresh water is the most valuable resource of the second half of the 21st century!

List of countries by freshwater reserves (size of freshwater area):

The goal of the wars of the second half of the 20th century, according to many analysts, was the desire to control resources, mainly hydrocarbons. Somehow, such an important component of the life of human society as fresh water remained in the shadows. It would seem that there is no particular point in fighting because of her, here she is - open the tap and use it. Unfortunately, not all peoples are admitted to this great blessing. And soon, literally in a matter of decades, a disaster of thirst on a planetary scale may even come.

How much water is on earth

There is a lot of water on Earth, more than two-thirds of the planet's surface is covered with it. Its total volume is an impressive figure of 1386 million cubic kilometers. The problem is not in quantity, but in quality. Fresh water reserves around the world are only a fortieth part of its total mass (approximately 35 million cubic km), everything else is unsuitable for drinking and use in various consumption sectors (agricultural, industrial, domestic) due to the high content of table salt (HCl ) and other impurities.

In addition, it should be noted that only a hundredth of all reserves are considered easily accessible. The rest of the volume requires serious labor and material costs for extraction, purification and delivery to the consumer.

But even this is not a problem: with the correct use of these resources and their rational renewal, even the existing volumes would be enough for a long time. The fact is that fresh water in the world is unevenly distributed, its reserves are consumed, that is, they are decreasing, and the population of the planet is growing. Currently, about six and a half billion people live on the planet, while, according to the most conservative forecasts, by 2050 it will exceed 9 billion. Already, a third of the world's population is experiencing an acute shortage of water.

Geopolitical aspects

Part of the planet's population belongs to the so-called "golden billion" and has access to all the benefits of civilization that are considered normal for us (electricity, communications, television, water supply, sewerage, etc.).

Given the scarcity of almost all resources and in an effort to maintain a high level of consumption of material goods, advanced economies are taking steps to prevent rising living standards in the rest of the world. Even today, fresh water in some regions is more expensive than oil, and soon it will turn into a strategic commodity. The war unleashed in Libya, according to many estimates, occurred for several reasons of an economic nature. In particular, along with the introduction of the gold standard for the dinar, the large-scale water conduit project - if fully implemented - could take the entire North African region out of the zone of influence of the United States and Western Europe. Thus, it can be assumed that abundant fresh water resources currently pose a risk of military invasion no less than oil fields.

What is water used for

Water is a substance so universal that it can rightfully be called, if not the source of all human benefits, then certainly their indispensable condition. Without it, it is impossible to grow agricultural plant products. For example, a kilogram of grain "costs" 0.8 - 4 tons of moisture (depending on the climate), and rice - 3.5 tons. But there is also animal husbandry, whose production volumes are growing. Consumes water and the food industry. A kilogram of sugar - if you please, 400 liters. In general, with rather modest physiological needs (just to drink, a person needs two or three liters a day), a resident of a developed country indirectly, together with food, consumes up to three tons of water used for their production. It's daily.

In general, the fresh water of the planet is spent as follows:

• the agricultural industry - 70% of this valuable resource;
• all industry - 22%;
• household consumers - 8%.

But this, of course, is an average ratio. There are many countries whose population is not spoiled by gastronomic delights, where the problem of fresh water is so acute that people sometimes simply have nothing to eat and drink.

Water quality in "third countries"

Today, according to international standards, a person needs forty liters of water a day for all his needs, including hygiene. Approximately a billion people on the planet, however, can only dream of it, and another 2.5 billion experience a lack of it to one degree or another. According to various forecasts, already in 2025 the number of those in need will reach a critical share, when for two out of every three earthlings fresh water will become a luxury.

We, in our abundance, sometimes cannot even imagine what kind of water the inhabitants of the “third world” wash themselves with and what they drink. Every year, three million people die from diseases caused by poor sanitation. The main one is diarrhea. Every year, three thousand children die from it all over the world (most often in Africa).

The cause of eight out of every ten pathologies is the pollution of fresh water and their shortage.

Environmental considerations in biofuel production

Water is not only drunk, it is used in almost every industry. Moreover, our planet is a closed ecosystem, and therefore many interdependent and cross-links are formed in it. In developing or renewing one of the important resources, humanity usually consumes another, which, it seems, is still plentiful. So, for example, it happens in the production of synthetic hydrocarbons, designed to replace petroleum products. An alternative fuel, which is planned to increasingly use ethanol (aka ethyl alcohol, or alcohol), of course, is much safer in an environmental sense than gasoline, diesel fuel or kerosene, but in order to produce a ton of this product, again, fresh water is required. water, and in an amount greater than a thousand times. The fact is that the raw material for synthesis is a biomaterial of plant origin, and the technology itself is impossible without hydro resources.

Theoretical and practical sources

The availability of water resources in different countries and entire regions of the planet varies significantly. The problem of fresh water is felt most strongly in Africa and the Middle East. Its scale can be assessed by considering separately the sources from which consumption is carried out, as well as possible methods of extracting moisture. Almost all water used for irrigation, industry and domestic needs comes from surface or underground water bodies, which are considered renewable (replenished) due to the natural cycle. There are also fossil reserves, which include, for example, the Libyan deposit. They make up about a fifth of all the water resources of the planet. They are not renewable, practically nothing is returned to them, but in regions experiencing a shortage, there is no alternative to them. Still on the planet there is ice, snow and deposits in the form of glaciers. In general, the possible fresh water resources can theoretically be divided into the following categories:

1. Ice and snow - 24.1 million cubic meters km (68.7%).

2. Groundwater - 10.5 million cubic meters km (30.1%).

3. Lakes - 91 thousand cubic meters km (0.26%).

4. Soil moisture - 16.5 thousand cubic meters. km (0.05%).

5. Swamps - 11.5 thousand cubic meters km (0.03%).

6. Rivers - 2.1 thousand cubic meters km (0.006%).

The practice of use, however, differs significantly from the theoretical possibilities. Of great importance is the availability of the resource and the cost of bringing it to consumption. Glaciers, which make up the largest supply of fresh water on Earth, today remain unused due to the high cost of production. Even desalination technologies are cheaper.

Distillation

Despite the energy intensity and high cost of the product, desalination has become widespread in the countries of the Middle East (Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates), which had sufficient budgetary funds to implement large-scale projects. In general, this strategy pays off, but some unexpected technological obstacles create significant problems. For example, Oman's water intake systems recently became clogged with poisonous algae, which paralyzed the operation of distillation plants for a long time.

At the same time, Turkey has become the largest regional supplier of fresh water, directing significant investments into this specific sector of the economy. The country has no problems with water supply and sells the surplus to Israel and other states, transporting them in special tankers.

How water sources are destroyed

As is often the case, the problem is not so much a lack of resources, but a lack of frugality and irrational use of what is available. The largest rivers turn into giant sewers, poisoned by poisonous industrial effluents and household waste. But pollution of fresh waters, for all its perniciousness and obviousness, is not the whole problem.

In search of cheap ways to produce electricity, they are blocked by dams, which slows down their natural course and violates the temperature-dynamic characteristics of evaporation-reduction processes. As a result, the rivers become smaller. Such phenomena are observed everywhere. The level falls in the Colorado, Mississippi, Volga, Dnieper, Yellow River, Ganges and other great rivers, while smaller ones dry up completely. The artificial interference in the hydro circulation of the Aral Sea led to an ecological catastrophe.

Who has water and who uses it

Of the total available volume, the largest supply of fresh water on the planet (about a third) is in South America. In Asia, another quarter. 29 countries, united not on geographical but on economic grounds (free market and Western-style democracy) in the OECD organization, own a fifth of the available water resources. The states of the former USSR - more than twenty percent. The rest, roughly 2%, is in the Middle East and North Africa. However, things are pretty bad in most of the entire territory of the Black Continent.

As for consumption, its highest level is observed in India, China, USA, Pakistan, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Mexico and Russia.

At the same time, the most water is not always consumed in those countries where its reserves are really large. There is a strong need for it in China, India and the United States.

The situation with water resources in Russia

Russia is rich in everything, including water. The most striking example of what treasures our country possesses is Lake Baikal, in which one fifth of the entire water supply of the planet is locally concentrated, and of excellent quality. But most of the population of the Russian Federation lives in its European part. Baikal is far away, you have to drink water from the nearest reservoirs, which, fortunately, are also plentiful. True, the not always balanced and rational attitude to water (as well as to all other) wealth, which was so characteristic of the Soviet period, has not completely outlived its usefulness even now. It is hoped that over time this situation will be corrected.

In general, at the moment and in the foreseeable future, Russians are not threatened with thirst.