User:Alejandro Rodriguez 2690/Fresh water

The source of almost all fresh water is precipitation from the atmosphere, in the form of mist, rain and snow. Fresh water falling as mist, rain or snow contains materials dissolved from the atmosphere and material from the sea and land over which the rain bearing clouds have traveled. However they can be as well found in glaciers, lakes, reservoirs. Also in areas such as ponds, rivers, streams, wetlands and even groundwater they can be found. In industrialized areas rain is typically acidic because of dissolved oxides of sulfur and nitrogen formed from burning of fossil fuels in cars, factories, trains and aircraft and from the atmospheric emissions of industry. In some cases this acid rain results in pollution of lakes and rivers.

In agricultural areas the lack of sewage and waste treatment has led to the quality of fresh water to become very toxic and create certain diseases or even birth defects. This has led to a reduction Of animals and a decrease of recreational activities in outside areas.

In coastal areas fresh water may contain significant concentrations of salts derived from the sea if windy conditions have lifted drops of seawater into the rain-bearing clouds. This can give rise to elevated concentrations of sodium, chloride, magnesium and sulfate as well as many other compounds in smaller concentrations.

In desert areas, or areas with impoverished or dusty soils, rain-bearing winds can pick up sand and dust and this can be deposited elsewhere in precipitation and causing the freshwater flow to be measurably contaminated both by insoluble solids but also by the soluble components of those soils. Significant quantities of iron may be transported in this way including the well-documented transfer of iron-rich rainfall falling in Brazil derived from sand-storms in the Sahara in north Africa.

Limited resource
Main article: Water scarcity

Fresh water is considered to be a renewable and variable, but finite natural resource. Fresh water can only be replenished through the process of the natural water cycle, in which water from seas, lakes, forests, land, rivers, and reservoirs evaporates, forms clouds, and returns as precipitation. Locally, however, if more fresh water is consumed through human activities than is naturally restored, this may result in reduced fresh water availability from surface and underground sources and can cause serious damage to surrounding and associated environments.

All Accessible fresh and unpolluted water accounts for 0.003% of total water available globally. However the downgrade of fresh water quality has been putting about 30% of amphibians and 50% of fish species that need fresh water at as possible risk of extinction

The increase in the world population and the increase in per capita water use puts increasing strains on the finite resources availability of clean fresh water. The World Bank adds that the response by freshwater ecosystems to a changing climate can be described in terms of three interrelated components: water quality, water quantity or volume, and water timing. A change in one often leads to shifts in the others as well. Water pollution and subsequent eutrophication also reduces the availability of fresh water.

Many areas of the world are already experiencing stress on water availability (or water scarcity). Due to the accelerated pace of population growth and an increase in the amount of water a single person uses, it is expected that this situation will continue to get worse. Areas on a planet with dry climates or hot weather such as deserts may not have access to as much freshwater as areas with a more cool or tropical climate. Nearing the year 2050 almost half of the world's population will have very little access to freshwater. A shortage of water in the future would be detrimental to the human population as it would affect everything from sanitation, to overall health and the production of grain.

Fresh water distribution has become a problem the past years and is now becoming a public health problem and starting many political arguments. Issues with distribution of freshwater can as well begin from activities conducted upstream from a river which will affect how people are communities living downstream will receive the water and in what condition it will be.

Water pollution
Main article: Water pollution

Pollution from human activity, including oil spills and also presents a problem for freshwater resources. The largest petroleum spill that has ever occurred in fresh water was caused by a Royal Dutch Shell tank ship in Magdalena, Argentina, on 15 January 1999, polluting the environment, drinkable water, plants and animals. Chemical contamination of fresh water can also seriously damage eco-systems.

Of all the water that there is on Earth only 1% of it is fresh water. And from that 1% it all has to provide for us and they mostly come from the atmosphere, lakes, rivers, and underground areas. And due to industrial plants, agricultural farming, and many other operations this causes pollutants or chemicals to reach spots that do contain fresh water to be contaminated.

Since water is called a “Universal solvent” I say what a breakdown and many chemicals or substances and any other type of liquid on Earth and that is why it can easily get polluted so quickly due to its solvent ability.