global warming has severe impact on water supplies

Climate change is already affecting water access for people around the world, causing more severe droughts and floods. Increasing global temperatures are one of the main contributors to tướng this problem. Climate change impacts the water cycle by influencing when, where, and how much precipitation falls. It also leads to tướng more severe weather events over time. Increasing global temperatures cause water to tướng evaporate in larger amounts, which will lead to tướng higher levels of atmospheric water vapor and more frequent, heavy, and intense rains in the coming years.

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Climate scientists predict that this shift will lead to tướng more floods since more water will fall kêu ca vegetation and soil can absorb. The remaining water, or runoff, drains into nearby waterways, picking up contaminants lượt thích fertilizer on the way. Excess runoff eventually travels to tướng larger bodies of water lượt thích lakes, estuaries, and the ocean, polluting the water supply and limiting water access for humans and ecosystems.

When fertilizers from farming wash into lakes and the ocean, they promote the rapid growth of algae. These resulting algal blooms clog coasts and waterways with clouds of green, blue-green, red, or brown algae. The blooms block sunlight from reaching underwater life and diminish oxygen levels within the water. Toxins from the blooms can kill off fish and other aquatic animals, make people sick, and even kill humans. These toxins are especially dangerous because they can survive purification processes, making tap water unfit to tướng consume once contaminated. Algal blooms also impact industries that rely on the water for business, and often cause local waterfronts to tướng shut down during blooms. As the climate warms, harmful algal blooms happen more often and become more severe.

As the ocean warms, freshwater glaciers around Earth begin to tướng melt at an unsustainable rate, which results in rising sea levels. The freshwater from the melted glaciers eventually runs into the ocean. With the rising of sea levels, salt water can more easily contaminate underground freshwater-bearing rocks, called aquifers. A process called desalination removes salt from salt water, but it is a last-resort, energy-intensive, costly process for places where there are persistent droughts and freshwater is lacking. The Middle East, North Africa, and the Caribbean use desalination to tướng produce freshwater out of necessity.

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In the Northern Hemisphere—where snow, a freshwater source, typically accumulates—warmer temperatures mean less snowfall, which leaves less water available in local reservoirs after winter. This negatively impacts farmers, who are left without enough water to tướng irrigate their crops in the growing season.

There are many things that everyone can bởi to tướng lessen the impact of climate change. Some measures include growing your own fruits and vegetables or buying locally grown produce, since produce is often transported to tướng grocery stores from far away by trucks, which add more carbon dioxide to tướng the atmosphere. You could also walk or ride a xe đạp instead of driving a xế hộp. On a larger scale, industries that are dependent on fossil fuels need to tướng make the switch to tướng renewable, cleaner energy sources to tướng influence our planet for the better.

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