Buoy C: WATER:
Over 70% of the Earth’s surface is water (and 96% of that is salt water). Water in the sea is very powerful and that causes considerable problems for coastal towns.
Plants depend on a source of fresh water, which is a very precious commodity. With global warming and increasing populations, fresh water around the globe is becoming more scarce. Climate change has not greatly impacted the amount of rain that falls annually in the UK, however, its distribution has changed markedly with wetter winters and drier summers and with increasing spells without rain. This has produced challenges to agriculture with a series of low wheat harvests and to the parching of grassland.
This uneven distribution has also affected the ability to collect and store water with heavy winter rains leading to run off from the land and major flooding. There is an additional problem of pollution if we use water, we have to dispose of it. Our rivers and waterways need protecting from hazardous chemicals, sewage and agricultural run-off polluting them so that they cannot support life and biodiversity. Water use for domestic, business, industrial and agricultural purposes will need to change. This has huge political and social implications. For more information see: https://www.worldometers.info/water/uk-water/