Saturday, March 28, 2015

WATER

http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=102
WATER RESOURCES
 

Water resources here include only freshwater, because saline (sea) water requires treatment before most uses. Only 43 600 cubic kilometres of freshwater is available as a resource each year, despite more than twice this amount falling as precipitation (rain and snow). Much is lost through evaporation. Those countries with higher rainfall often have larger water resources. Of all the water available, the regions of South America and Asia Pacific have the most.
People living in Kuwait use sea water that is processed at a desalination plant. As such Kuwait has no area on this map because there are no freshwater resources there.

WORLD WATER RESOURCE DISTRIBUTION
Central Africa 4%
Southeastern Africa 2%
Northern Africa 3%
Southern Asia 4%
Asia Pacific 17%
Middle East 11%
Eastern Asia 7%
South America 30%
Eastern Europe 2%
North America 15%
Western Europe 4%
Japan 1%






Groundwater Recharge


   


Groundwater is water that has infiltrated rocks, and moved deep into the ground. Groundwater usually travels through permeable rocks, and sometimes forms underground rivers. Nearly 70% of all freshwater is groundwater, making it an important water source.Groundwater recharge is when the water stored below ground is replenished. Each year 11 400 cubic kilometres of surface freshwater becomes groundwater. In many places this is not enough to replenish water being withdrawn.
Regionally South America has the most groundwater recharge. The lowest is in Japan.

 WORLD GROUNDWATER RECHARGE
Central Africa 8%
Southeastern Africa 2%
Northern Africa 4%
South Asia 5%
Asia Pacific 10%
Middle East 8%
East Asia 8%
South America 34%
Eastern Europe 2%
North America 16% Western Europe 4%
Japan 0.24%



Water Use


   

Four thousand cubic kilometres of water are used by people each year around the world, for domestic, agricultural and other industrial purposes. This does not include non-consumptive uses such as energy generation, mining, and recreation.
China, India and the United States use the most water. These are also the territories where the most people live. But water use per person is about three times higher in the United States than it is in India and China.
Whilst everybody needs water, people use hugely varying quantities. On average, people living in Central Africa each use only 2% of the water used by each person living in North America. 


 WORLD WATER USE
Central Africa 0.076%
Southeastern Africa 1%
Northern Africa 4%
Southern Asia 24%
Asia Pacific 9%
Middle East 11%
Eastern Asia 17%
South America 5%
Eastern Europe 4%
North America 16%
Western Europe 6%
Japan 2%



Domestic Water Use


 


Water for domestic purposes includes drinking water, use for public services, commercial service establishments (such as hotels), and homes. 325 billion cubic metres of water are so used worldwide each year. The world average water use per person is 52 cubic metres per year.
There is huge variation in water use per person. Between 1987 and 2003 people living in Cambodia, where the majority do not have access to improved water supplies, used an average of 1.8 cubic metres of water each. People in Costa Rica used one hundred times more. The residents of Australia on average each use another 300 cubic metres again per year - much to water their lawns and fill pools.
 


"I remember when I was 14, carrying a 20 litre water can on my head, filling it from a river some thirty minutes away. When I came to Canada, I was shocked by the extravagant use of water here." Sieru Efrem, 2003


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