The goal 6.6 : “By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes.”
We depend on water-related ecosystems to get most of our fresh water and water supply. This means drinking water, water for sanitary uses, water to grow food and all other uses that our society needs to survive.
The five main categories of water-related ecosystems are: vegetated wetlands, rivers and estuaries (partially enclose water sources with rivers), lakes, aquifers (underground layer of water) and artificial water bodies (dams; man-built reservoirs). These all play a role in providing us with all our water services. They capture and store water, they decompose and absorb water pollutants and provide other uses, like for food sources, such as fish. Goal 6 aims to holt the degradation and destruction of these ecosystems and recover those already degrading.
Since 1900, half of the world’s wetlands have been destroyed. Wetlands support and home large amounts and varieties of animals, as well as being great areas for rice cultivations, which are very important in the diets of half the world’s population. These ecosystems provide water filtration, storm protection, flood control and recreational space, which all
benefits humanity. These wetlands are getting polluted by salty water. The Aral Sea, in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, used to be the 4th biggest inland lake. Now, is it shrinking and is becoming more and more salty, which is creating food shortages, a rise in infant mortality and decrease in life expectancy for the local population and 60 million people who rely on it.
Lets break down all the water on earth, and what we can use:
71% of the earth’s surface is water, but 97% of the water is in oceans, which is too salty to be used by us. The remaining 3% is fresh water, which we can use. We cannot access 2.5% of the fresh water, it is locked up in glaciers, polar icecaps, the atmosphere and the soil, is highly polluted or too deep to be extracted. So that leaves us with 0.5% of the earth’s water for us to survive on. This is actually 8.4 million litres of water for each person on earth.
80% of the water we use on a daily basis comes from surface water, these are mainly water-related ecosystems.
The degradation of these lands is mainly caused by pollution, habitat change, over-exploitation of the area, invasive species (new animals and humans) and climate change. The growth of human population and growing economic activity, especially in coastal areas, but these very important ecosystems at risk of dying. The degradation and destruction of these lands will cause floods, a loss of plant and animal species and could result in more people lacking necessary water, becoming environmental refugees. It could even cause an economic decline. Mountains and forests also store and maintain water quality. Forests can support themselves and recycle their water. Land vegetation recycles 48 cubic miles of water every day.
1.1 billion people lack access to just water, 2.4 billion people suffer from scarcity at least one month a year and suffer from inadequate sanitation, which leads to deadly illnesses. By 2025, 2/3 of the world may be facing water shortages.
This map was made by NASA, from a mission called
GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment). It looks at the rates that regions are gaining or losing water. High-latitude regions, such as North America, and global tropics, low-latitudes, are getting wetter. Mid-latitude areas are getting drier.
Mesocosms
Mesocosms are a perfect way to see how ecosystems survive on their own. On a scientific level, they are much bigger and are monitored more regularly in order to observe and discover what happens in specific situations with specific species, temperatures, etc. You can even make your own small one, in a jar. All you have to do is get some soil, maybe some moss, a couple little plants, even add some seeds if you want, water it a bit, then put the lid on. The plants will stay alive, by absorbing water from the soil, and sweating to release it, which collects as condensation on the jar, which will eventually end up back in the soil and absorbed again by the roots.