Why do people say we're running out of water when it's a cycle?

Question

OK, we learn this in school, about how the water cycle is just that: a cycle. It falls to the ground, evaporates, forms clouds, etc., then precipitates (rain, hail, etc.) So why are people saying that we're running out of water? Don't get me wrong. I understand the whole "running water=money wasted" ideology, and this isn't to bash out environmentalists because I believe in saving our planet and recycling too, but this water cycle...I mean, really.

Answer 1

The way u get water is threw catchment areas. When it rains the catchment areas catch the water and then it all goes to were the dam is but some times the rain misses the catchment areas and just goes straight to the ocean or the ground soakes it up. The reason were running out of water is that the goverments a to lazy and tight to make bigger ones and to expand the dam cappacities so more water can be stored. Take townsville australia for example 2 years ago the dam was over flowing 77 miliion litres a minute because of the dam was full, now if we had a bigger dam none of that water would of gone to waste.

Answer 2

we are not running out of water

we are running out of potable water ,there is a vast difference

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 3

As the population grows more and more by the DAY the amount of water we use becomes larger and larger. For example, I live in Florida and our main source of usable water is from our underground aquifers, the water that we use is more than the amount that is put back in from precipitation and the amount becomes less and less. Also, a lot of canals were we get are water lead to the ocean and we cant use the water if it salt water.

Answer 4

It's funny that this topic come up because I did a lot of research about global climate change last year and the year before. The weather on Earth is a cycle in general. In fact, we don't run out of water, rather water runs out on us. In other terms, it relocates. The amount of precipitation in one area changes over time. It can lessen in one spot, and become greater in another. It's all apart of the changing climates. I believe that it was discussed in Al Gore's documentary and I also read it in a book about earth's 1,000 year climatic cycle.

Answer 5

I totally agree with you, maybe the government expects us to be stupid,

Answer 6

Water isn't running out.  Usable water is running out with excess water being polluted and demand for fresh water rising.  Total water on the planet will change very little.

Answer 7

We could build desalination plants (as they do in Saudi Arabia) to create potable water from the ocean and pipelines can be built across the US to transport it (as we do with gas and oil pipelines) but Congress doesn't want to spend the money.

Answer 8

Though great reserves of water exist, there is a limited amount of fresh water.  Many areas over-tap into aquifers in the ground for water.  In some areas, this water is not readily replenished, such as by rivers or rain.  If the rate of drain is faster than this replenishment rate, it will eventually go dry and yield no fresh water (even without considering increasing population).

This can be an exceptionally large problem during droughts.  The replenish rate lowers while human consumption, even during water conservation, doesn't decrease in an equal or greater proportion.

So you are right when you say it is a cycle; however, this cycle is being diverted, and it doesn't speed up to match human demand.  Draining nature of this water is very destructive of the environment in the long run.

Usable fresh water only makes up a fraction of one percent of the world's water, so of course there is more than enough water to go around through desalination of salt water.  To do this on a large scale and pump it halfway across a large continent is difficult though, especially when compared to the simplicity of pumping water from the ground just below.

Right now, the vast majority of the United States, along with other nations, relies on groundwater, so there is a long way to go toward a solution.  We aren't going to wake up tomorrow to dry pipes, but the discussion about "running out of water" refers to the need to address this mounting issue well before it becomes a daily problem for all people.

Answer 9

Because if we're using all of what has fallen, then the cycle can't continue.  There will be nothing to evaporate, therefore, no clouds to form, and subsequently no precipitation.

Edit:

How could it evaporate, if it's not there?  If we use it before it can evaporate, how is it physically possible for it to get back into the air?

I guess you have the right to disagree, but that's like disagreeing about the sky being blue.

Answer 10

Why doesn't it rain on the deserts then?   Just because it rains doesn't mean it rains where its needed at the right time.   If there is a huge snow pack, but it melts all at once instead of over the summer releasing the water slowly, there is a water shortage.   A friends house in northern Maine has 5 feet of water in his yard.   When that all drains away and if no more rain comes by August, all that water that is there now isn't going to do him a bit of good for the lawn.