ENV118 Lecture 7: Water-A Global Perspective

• School: Macquarie University
• Department: Environment and Geography/Environmental Sciences
• Course: ENV118
• Professor: Katherine Dafforn

Document Summary

Water: a global perspective by dr emilie ens. Basin queensland (2010-2011) one flood event can have a massive impact. Integral in every facet of the world"s functionality (both environmental and societal processes. Economy, health, food production, industrial processes and energy generation, ecological functioning, human psychological functions. Both population growth and water demand (not just per capita) is growing exponentially. The global volume of water is finite. High demands on water, variability, climate change amongst other factors. Some places have geographical constraints that make it impossible or impractical to trap, store, or transfer additional water without quality or cost problems (water short countries) Conflicts of interest: agriculture vs the environment (ex. Human water consumption is nearing its limit with respect to total use, future needs must be met by modified patterns of consumption. Water resources: lakes, rivers, groundwater: quantity of supply, damming and bores, drainage of wetlands, industry, domestic use, agriculture.