How can Earth have a water shortage if 70% of it is covered in water ?

Question

How can Earth have a water shortage if 70% of it is covered in water ?

Answer 1

Its a matter of poor engineering that so little water is available for use. We depend completely on nature to supply the water we need and nature does not care about our problems. Good engineering could be used and water could be available for everyone.

Answer 2

When discussing water shortages, they are referring to non-salt water.  Water shortages can happen if there is not enough non-salt water (3% of all the water) for life to be sustained.  It not only is needed for us to drink, but for us to grow crops, support plant life on our planet (which produce our oxygen), and support wildlife.  Ours is a very finely tuned planet, and pollution has seriously threatened the balance of nature that allows for adequate non-salt water that can be used to sustain life on planet earth.

Answer 3

And, to add to the other answers, most of the non-salty water (drinkable) is tied up in ice in the Antarctic and Artic.

Answer 4

It is not the Earth that has a water shortage, it is people. Very little of the water on Earth is drinkable.

Answer 5

While 70% of the Earth is covered in water, not even 1% of that is usable. It is a highly expensive process to turn seawater into a form usable by humans. In addition, there are many people that live far away from any water source (such as Arizona, for example) where the accessibility of water is a problem. And then there's places like Middle America, where water is considered a non-renewable resource because the water table there takes so long to replenish itself.