Chemistry and Water: The Science Behind Sustaining the World's Most Crucial Resource

نویسندگان

  • Puerto Rico
  • M. C. Larsen
چکیده

Forested watersheds offer access to vital natural resources, i.e., water supply for drinking, agriculture and industry, transport routes, and hydroelectric energy. Ecosystem services provided by these watersheds are numerous and, in addition to good quality water, include reduced peak river flow during storms; increased availability of groundwater and base flow in streams during seasonal dry periods and droughts; reduced soil erosion and landslide probability; enhanced resilience to wildfire, pathogens, and invasive species; biodiversity; genetic resources; and recreation [1e3]. These resource and esthetic benefits come with risks associated with floods, landslides, and wildfires, which are episodic natural disturbances in these settings. Furthermore, these disturbances compromise the provision of the ecosystem services listed previously. Nonetheless, natural landscape disturbance by floods has well-known benefits, i.e., delivery of nutrients to flood plains; landslides open forest gaps that create small-scale opportunities for successional vegetation growth, while hurricanes and wildfires similarly serve as large-scale mechanisms for resetting landscapes and creating new habitats. More than half of the world population now lives in urban areas, which are expected to absorb all the population growth expected over the next four decades, mostly in the cities and towns of the less developed regions. The United Nations [4,5] has defined 23 megacities with at least 10 million inhabitants; all but 6 of these are in the developing world. These populations place large stresses on water and other resources.

برای دانلود رایگان متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Investigating the quality of water behind the Golestan dam for aquaculture activities using the CCMEWQI index

The lakes behind the dam considered as semi-natural resources and have a special role in aquaculture. In order to achieve management goals, it is necessary to know the pattern of changes in biotic and abiotic parameters in the lake behind the dam. For this purpose, in order to determine water quality using water quality indicators (WQI) 12 physicochemical properties (water temperature, dissolve...

متن کامل

Seasonal variations of ground water quality and its agglomerates by water quality index

Water is a unique natural resource among all sources available on earth. It plays an important role in economic development and the general well-being of the country. This study aimed at using the application of water quality index in evaluating the ground water quality innorth-east area of Jaipur in pre and post monsoon for public usage. Total eleven physico–chemical characteristics; total dis...

متن کامل

Groundwater and human development: challenges and opportunities in livelihoods and environment.

At less than 1000 km3/year, the world's annual use of groundwater is 1.5% of renewable water resource but contributes a lion's share of water-induced human welfare. Global groundwater use however has increased manifold in the past 50 years; and the human race has never had to manage groundwater use on such a large scale. Sustaining the massive welfare gains groundwater development has created w...

متن کامل

Life cycle assessment of steel production from iron scrap: a case study at a steel plant

Background and Objective: The steel industry is the world's largest consumer of energy. A large amount of iron waste is produced annually, which its use in the steel industry can be economic. The purpose of this study was to investigate the environmental impacts of the steelmaking from iron scrap as a raw material using a life cycle assessment (LCA) method. Materials and Methods: Simapro softw...

متن کامل

Assessment of Farmers' Attitudes towards Water Scarcity Challenge and Its Adaptation Strategies in Villages of Bahar County (Hamadan Province, Iran)

Water Resource plays a pivotal role in sustainable development of every area, especially in rural areas. The challenge of dehydration is one of the greatest challenges in 21st century because it can be the source of many of the world's social and ecological changes. The agricultural sector as the most important economic sector in the rural areas is directly affected by the shortage of water res...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

عنوان ژورنال:

دوره   شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2016