Water

resources
Water
resources

Andrew J. Milson, Ph.D.

Content Consultant
University of Texas at Arlington
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IntroducIng the Issue
Water World ................................................................................... 4

World hot s pots Map

Industrial Water Pollution .......................................................... 8

cas e study one

So u t h Am e r i c A
Protecting the Amazon .............................................................10

cas e study tWo

eASt And S o u t he ASt A Si A
China’s Powerful Rivers .............................................................16

at Work
SylviA e A r l e & e n r i c SA lA
Marine-Protected Areas & Water Pollution ...................... 22

What can I do?

Rescue a River ..............................................................................26

r esearch & Wr I te: e xplan atory

co m m o n co r e StAndA r d S
Write an Informative Article ................................................... 28

V I s ua l g lo s sa ry ................................................................ 30

I n d e x ............................................................................................... 32

3
 ing
ro duc
S U E
IS
In t
the

4
How is pollution tHreatening
water qualit y around tHe world?
Since water covers two-thirds of Earth’s surface, no
one needs to worry about wasting it, right? Wrong!
About 97 percent of the world’s water is saline, or
salty. That leaves only 3 percent for drinking and
growing crops—and 2 percent of this freshwater is
frozen in polar ice or trapped in underground rock
layers called aquifers . Yet even freshwater isn’t
usable if it’s polluted. If we want to preserve what
little water we’ve got, we have to clean up our act.

w H e r e wat e r i s F o u n d o n e a rt H

Oceans
96.5%
Freshwater
3.5%

Source: U.S. Geological Survey

5
Dirty water
Pollutants are substances that make the environment and
our water dirty. Drinking these substances can make people
very sick. In fact, an estimated 3.3 million people die from
water-related health problems every year. Most are children
under the age of five.
Sometimes water pollutants come from natural sources,
such as rotting plant material. Natural disasters—including
earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis—can
contaminate water sources by sweeping huge amounts
of waste into them.
Animal and human waste can foul water too. Without
adequate treatment, this waste can carry bacteria into water
supplies. Bacteria are one-celled organisms that can cause
diseases. In developing countries, waterborne diseases cause
four-fifths of all illnesses.

This bacteria carries

cholera, a disease
caused by drinking
contaminated water.

If not disposed of correctly, almost

everything we throw away can end up in
the sea—including rusty old bicycles.

6
HUMaN actioNS
Other sources of pollution are human-made. Chemicals,
including pesticides and fertilizers, are among the largest
sources of pollution. Scientists say that the world’s water
supplies contain more than a million different chemicals.
Pollution also comes from
burning fossil fuels, such
as coal and oil. These
energy sources are formed
by the fossilized remains
of plants and animals that
have been buried in the
earth for millions of years.
When coal and oil are
burned for energy, gases
are released that mix with
water vapor in the air. This
It may take years to undo the
vapor condenses and falls
damage to wildlife caused by the
to Earth as acid rain, which
2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
pollutes lakes, streams, and
rivers. In addition, accidents that occur when companies
drill for oil can damage our waters. An oil spill at sea can
contaminate sea life, beaches, and birds.
Developing countries that do not have clean water and
adequate sanitation suffer high rates of disease, poverty,
and hunger. Many countries are determined to fight water
pollution. They’ve found ways to treat dirty water and clean
up their polluted waterways.
In the following pages, you will read about two places—
South America’s Amazon River and China’s Lake Tai—that have
had serious water pollution problems. People in both places
are trying to clean up their waterways. Their efforts show that
we can do something about water pollution.

Explore the Issue

1. Summarize What are some of the sources of
water pollution?
2. Analyze Cause and Effect What impact does
water pollution have on humans?
WORLD Hot Spots

Industrial Water

united states The Columbia River

in the Pacific Northwest region has
traces of 92 toxic chemicals that harm
fish and the people who eat them.

CASE STUDY 1
amazon river More than 100 tons of
mercury and thousands of tons of human
and animal waste are dumped into the
Amazon River every year.

Explore the Issue

1. Interpret Maps Which regions have the most industrial
pollutants? Which regions have the least amounts?
2. Analyze Causes What economic activities described
on this map have led to increases in water pollution?
Pollution Study the map below to learn about the
industrial pollutants that are damaging
water throughout the world.

russia An estimated
75 percent of Russia’s surface
water is polluted, and
50 percent of all water in the
country is not drinkable.

CASE STUDY 2
lake tai Nearly 700 million
people in China drink contaminated
water, such as that found in Lake
Tai. Factories and farmers have
contributed to the lake’s pollution.

india Cities produce 80 percent

of the waste that pollutes India’s
rivers. Between 1993 and 2005,
the amount of pollution in the
Yamuna River doubled.
indonesia Dirty water causes
more than 50,000 deaths and
infects millions of people in
Indonesia every year.

9
 tud y
e S
Cas
O N E

Protecting the

The Amazon River basin, the largest

drainage basin in the world, covers
about 40 percent of South America.

10
a MigHty river
The Amazon is the second longest river in the world. It starts
high in the Andes Mountains, flows across Peru and Brazil,
and empties into the Atlantic Ocean.
The Amazon River basin consists of the whole area drained
by the river. The basin is enormous—more than 2.7 million
square miles. It is also one of Earth’s most diverse ecosystems.
An ecosystem is a community of living organisms and their
natural environment.
The Amazon River basin is home to approximately 10 million
people and more than 30,000 plant species and 1,300 kinds
of birds. It is also the world’s pharmacy. Many medicines
come from rare plants that grow only in the Amazon basin.
We rely on the Amazon’s vast rain forest to pump oxygen into
the atmosphere—and freshen the planet’s air.

aMazoN golD rUSH

Yet for years, the Amazon has faced several threats. For
example, did you know that you can mine rivers for gold?
Deep in the Amazon rain forest, miners scoop dirt from the
riverbed. Then they treat the dirt with mercury, a highly
toxic element that attaches to tiny gold flakes in the mud
and makes the gold easier to collect.
After using the mercury, some of the mining companies
dump it into the Amazon. The poisonous elements in
mercury do not dissolve in water. When mercury flows
downstream, it leaves destruction in its path.
Fish are the first to die. Tons of dead fish
have washed up onto the banks of the
Amazon. Then the animals that eat these
fish are poisoned. Finally, people who drink
polluted water or eat the poisoned fish and
animals become sick. The mercury attacks
people’s brains and nervous systems and
can injure unborn children.

This once fertile bank along

the Amazon has been
devastated by gold mining.

11
water Not Fit to DriNk
The global demand for energy also causes pollution woes
for the Amazon. South America is rich in oil and natural
gas. Companies drilling for these resources, though, have
left behind huge messes. In Peru and Ecuador, oil spills and
dumped toxic waste have contaminated the Amazon.
This pollution has threatened the native Achuar (osh–wahr)
people of Peru, who depend on the river for food and water.
One Achuar leader said, “The water in our streams is not fit
to drink, and we can no longer eat the fish in our rivers or the
animals in our forests.”
Tribal leaders claim that the pollution has sickened native
peoples in these areas. Those people who have been exposed
report more illnesses, tumors, and skin ailments. The Achuar
say these medical problems come from drinking water and
eating fish from sites contaminated by industry.

12
 In September 2010, a drought
left this boat stranded in the
Amazon basin and uncovered
piles of trash and debris.

How caN growiNg FooD

caUSe PollUtioN?
Oil drilling isn’t the only practice that causes
pollution in the Amazon. Growing food in How mucH water
the Amazon rain forest has also harmed the does it take?
region. The rain forest covers about 1.4 billion type oF amount oF Food amount oF
acres of the Amazon basin, but it was once Food produced water required

even bigger. Over the last 40 years, nearly 1,000

20 percent of the rain forest was destroyed milk 1 gallon
gallons
to make way for farms and ranches. 1,978
rice 1 pound
In Brazil, the increased number of farms and gallons
ranches has enriched the country’s economy. 9,304
beef 1 pound
Today Brazil is one of the world’s leading gallons
suppliers of soybeans and beef products. Yet
Source: National Geographic Society
success has come at a price. Soybeans need
a steady diet of fertilizers and pesticides to
thrive. In addition, the cattle produce a great
deal of waste. Many of these pollutants end
up in the Amazon River.
13
Battle to Save a Fragile giaNt
In the 1960s and 1970s, people began to understand that
the Amazon River and rain forest were being harmed. They
started to see the effects of water pollution on all forms of
life. They also began to appreciate how vast and vulnerable
the Amazon’s ecosystem is.
As a result, indigenous people, or those who live in the
Amazon basin, started fighting to preserve the rain forest
and battle polluters and illegal loggers. In the last 45 years
more than 300 local environmental organizations have
formed in the Amazon River basin.
Today protecting the Amazon River is a global concern. The
United Nations is involved as are many other multinational
organizations. Why? Scientists now think that conditions
around the Amazon may affect climate as far away as Europe.
It is in everyone’s best interest to keep this region healthy.

tUrNiNg tHe tiDe

The fight to protect the Amazon is far from over, but
progress is being made. Fewer trees are being cut down now
as countries punish illegal loggers and set limits on how land
is used. At the same time, stricter mining laws now forbid the
use of mercury in mining.
Meanwhile, the Achuar people have united to demand a stop
to oil drilling in their region. They insist that the oil companies
clean up the Amazon and its tributaries, which are the
smaller rivers and streams that flow into a larger river.
Because of the Achuar people and others, parts of the
Amazon are cleaner today than many other rivers. This shows
that when people band together to clean up waterways,
they can make their own lives better. What’s more, they can
have an impact far beyond their own communities.

Explore the Issue

1. Analyze Problems What activities have polluted the
water of the Amazon River?
2. Analyze Solutions What steps have South Americans
taken to fight water pollution? How successful have their
efforts been?
Achuar men travel by canoe along the
Amazon. The river has long been a
source of food and water for the Achuar.

15
 tud y
e S
Cas
T W O
China’s
POWERF
China’s

POWERF

tHe coStS oF iNDUStrializatioN

Since the 1980s, China’s economy has grown quickly. New
industries have developed, and new factories have been built.
By 2010, the country had become the largest exporter of goods
and the second largest economy in the world.
China’s booming economy has brought prosperity to many of
its people, but it has also had some negative effects. The new
industries have led to increased levels of pollution. In fact, today
about three out of every four of the country’s lakes are polluted.
Of course, China, like other emerging economies, is in the early
stages of industrialization. As its economy develops, the country
will undoubtedly take steps to deal with its pollution problem.
In fact, it has already begun to do so. Meanwhile, however,
pollution is harming China’s rivers and lakes.

16
 Algae blooms completely
cover the water as a young
boy tries to swim in Lake Tai.

FUL
Rivers
FUL

Rivers
tHe DecliNe oF lake tai
Factories cause some of China’s water pollution problems.
Many dump chemical waste into nearby waterways. As
a result, harmful chemicals such as arsenic and ammonia
show up in lakes and rivers.
Pollution from factories and other causes resulted in the
decline of Lake Tai, China’s third-largest body of freshwater.
In the 1950s, the Chinese built dams near the lake to
control floods. However, the dams also reduced the lake’s
ability to clean and protect itself from harmful pollutants.
When factories dumped massive amounts of chemicals
into the lake, the pollution caused algae, or plantlike
Algae stains this man’s hands green
organisms, to grow. So much algae grew that it sucked the
and makes the water in Lake Tai
oxygen out of the lake and suffocated its plants and fish.
undrinkable for local residents.

17
DaMageD DriNkiNg water
Although Chinese officials knew their country had a
pollution problem, for years they only studied the effects
of industrial pollution on bodies of water. Then in 2007,
they began to record the discharge from farms and landfills.
Based on this information, Chinese officials realized that
water pollution levels were more than twice as high as they
had originally thought.
Some of this pollution is caused when cities dump raw
sewage, or human and animal waste, into lakes and
streams. People who drink this water are taking in disease-
causing bacteria.
Sewage has also damaged China’s coastline. In 2006,
about 8.3 billion tons of raw sewage were dumped off the
southern coast of the country. Oil pipeline leaks and spills
further pollute China’s coastline and seas.

tHe coNSeqUeNceS oF
water PollUtioN
All of this pollution takes a terrible toll on human health.
In China, millions of people have become sick from drinking
dirty water. Experts estimate that water pollution kills nearly
100,000 Chinese people each year. Scientists believe that
more people may suffer from stomach and liver cancer in
China than anywhere else in the world. They put at least
part of the blame on water pollution. Furthermore, water
pollution is thought to cause thousands of birth defects.
In addition to health concerns, nearly half of China’s
660 major cities face water shortages as a result of the
country’s polluted waterways. Because so many of China’s
lakes, rivers, and streams are polluted, more than 300 million
Chinese people lack water that is clean enough to use
for irrigating crops, drinking, or washing clothes. Instead
these people are turning to underground water supplies.
However, they risk using up those too. The World Bank has
warned China that water pollution could have “catastrophic
consequences for future generations.”

18
cHina’s water pollution By tHe numBers

278
Number of cities in China without water-treatment facilities

450
Number of people in southern China who were poisoned by
arsenic in the drinking water in 2008

22 thousand
Tons of red dye water that a T-shirt factory dumped into a
river every day

700 million
Number of Chinese who drink polluted water every day
Sources: British Broadcasting Corporation, 2008; Wall Street Journal, 2007

People wash their clothes in a highly

polluted river in the city of Guiyu
(GWAY-yoo), China. Countries around
the world send used computers and
other electronic waste to Guiyu for
disposal. The waste causes severe
pollution problems for the city.

19
SPeakiNg oUt
aBoUt PollUtioN
In 2006, the Chinese government
acknowledged that the country
has a big water pollution problem.
Officials recognized the problem
after people began speaking out.
For more than a decade, Wu Lihong
snapped photographs of factories
dumping chemicals into Lake
Tai. He mailed the photos to the
government. Eventually, officials These bottles are filled
cracked down on the factories, and with contaminated water
pollution eased in Lake Tai. from Lake Tai.

Today more Chinese citizens are concerned about pollution.

They are talking to the media and leading protests. In response,
China has spent billions on new wastewater treatment plants.
The plants clean the water that is taken from lakes and rivers
in a process similar to the one shown at right. In 2007, 126
treatment plants dotted the upper stretches of the Chang Jiang.
By the end of 2009, the river had 240 treatment plants.

a HealtHy eNviroNMeNt
For right now, the Chinese people face a difficult choice.
On the one hand, they want to do a better job protecting the
environment. On the other hand, the Chinese want to keep
growing their economy. Chinese citizens can afford more cars,
homes, and electronic devices than ever before. Yet continued
growth depends on expanding industry, which often has meant
worsening pollution. Can the Chinese build business while
cleaning up their water? Can they have both health and wealth?
Time will tell.

Explore the Issue

1. Analyze Causes What are some of the different sources of
water pollution in China?
2. Analyze Effects What has been the impact of water pollution
on the Chinese people?
Water Purification Process
Water treatment plants in China help clean up the water in the
Chang Jiang. Follow the water through the purification process.

1 coagulation
Safe chemicals are added
to water from lakes or rivers
to attract dirt particles.

2 sedimentation
The heavy particles settle to the bottom of the basins.

3 Filtration
Clear water passes
through filters
that remove even
smaller particles of
dirt. A small amount
of disinfectant is
then added to kill
remaining bacteria.

4 storage
Water flows to tanks where
disinfection is completed
and is then piped to homes.
Source: U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency

21
 AT WORK

Marine
Protected Areas
&
Pollution
Water

Smoke rises from the surface of

the Gulf of Mexico as cleanup
crews burn oil spilled in 2010.

22
gUlF oil SPill
In November 2010, scientists diving deep in the Gulf of Mexico
saw something disturbing on the ocean floor. Massive coral
formations were dead or dying and covered with a strange,
thick black substance.
The scientists weren’t sure what the black substance was, but
they had a theory—oil from the huge spill caused when the
Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform exploded in April 2010.
It was another example of the pollution caused by humans.
In this case, human carelessness damaged one of the world’s
richest ecosystems.
For all their power, oceans are fragile. They give us food, oxygen,
and predictable weather. In return we give them trash, carbon
dioxide, and agricultural runoff. That’s not a very fair trade,
and now the oceans are showing the effects. In some of these
waters, fish are disappearing, and all marine life is suffering.

S.o.S. = Save oUr SeaS

We need to protect our seas, and National Geographic is
answering the call. The organization is now teaming with
scientists concerned about ocean health. Two of those
scientists are Sylvia Earle and Enric Sala, Explorers-in-Residence
at National Geographic. Earle and Sala are working with
government agencies around the world to help establish
marine protected areas, or MPAs. Marine protected areas
are regions in or near oceans where human activity is limited in
order to preserve marine life.
Some MPAs are focused on restoring our oceans’ fish
populations. Others nurture a fragile ecosystem or preserve a
historical site. Some scientists are also using MPAs to research
and document how healthy seas function in order to learn how
to preserve them.
Marine protected areas are one way people can help fight
the effects of pollution, overfishing, and habitat destruction.
Overfishing occurs when fish are caught faster than they can
be replaced by the marine population in a body of water. Of
course, more efforts are needed, but MPAs give environmental
groups and governments a good place to start.

23
reStoriNg oUr oceaNS’ HealtH
Both Earle and Sala are passionate about preserving our
oceans. Earle is an oceanographer, or scientist who studies
oceans and marine life. In 2010, the Sylvia Earle Alliance teamed
with the National Geographic Society and the Waitt Foundation
to found Mission Blue. Mission Blue is a global partnership
dedicated to restoring the oceans’ health and productivity and
establishing more MPAs.
Sala is a marine ecologist who grew up exploring the sea off
Spain’s coast. Today he heads the Pristine Seas project. The
project works to find, study, and preserve healthy, undisturbed
ocean sites. Along with establishing MPAs in the Mediterranean,
Sala hopes to use this knowledge to help restore damaged
marine environments.
Our planet’s health starts—or ends—with the state of the oceans’
health. You can join National Geographic in making a positive
difference. First, learn all you can about the issues. Read up
on water pollution, overfishing, and climate change. Then get
involved. The activity on the next two pages can help you get
started and inspire your own passion for preserving our water.

The dots on this map represent the MPAs—Hope Spots—

Hope spots
that Earle has helped establish through Mission Blue.

Explore the Issue

1. Analyze Causes What are three causes of pollution in
the ocean?
2. Explain Why are Sylvia Earle and Enric Sala helping to
establish marine protected areas?
 “ Wit h eve r y
breat h we t ake,
eve r y drop of
wate r we drink ,
we’re conne c te d
to t he ocean.”
—Sy lvia E arle

National Geographic Explorer-

in-Residence Sylvia Earle
explores the sea off the coast of
Honduras in Central America.

25
What Can
I DO?
Rescue a
River—and report your results
You don’t have to be a marine scientist to fight for our water
sources. You just have to care—and get involved. One way
to help is to identify a polluted river, lake, pond, or stream
in your community and clean it up. With a little bit of work,
you can make a big difference.

identiF y organize
• Find out about the quality of the water • Advertise in your school paper or
sources in your community. place posters in your neighborhood
to recruit volunteers.
• Talk to experts at your local museum,
university, or local water department to • Gather the supplies you’ll need to clean
identify a body of water that needs help. up: gloves, garbage bags, shovels, and
water-testing kits.
• Ask what steps you can take to clean up
the water or improve it in other ways. • Identify an appropriate place to dispose
of the garbage.

26
 Volunteers pick up trash
along the Rahway River
in New Jersey.

document sHare
• Take before-and-after photos of the site • Use your photos and videos to create a
and perform before-and-after water tests to multimedia presentation of your cleanup
measure the results of your work. Have an effort and show it to your class.
adult help you take the tests and dispose of
• Describe your efforts—and the difference
the water.
you made—in an article for your school
• List the pollutants you find and the or community paper.
strategies you use to deal with them.
• Inspire others to take up the battle by
• Videotape and interview the volunteers sharing your story and your ideas for
about their experiences. reclaiming water sources in a talk at your
local library.

27
Research &

WRITE
Explanatory

Write an
Informative Article
Lake Erie, which is one of the Great Lakes, was in
terrible shape during the 1960s. But in an amazing
turnaround, much of Lake Erie is clean today, and
fish and vegetation are thriving. How did people
bring Lake Erie back to life? That is the topic you
will research and write about.

ReseaRch
Use the Internet, books, and articles to research and answer the
following questions:
• What condition was Lake Erie in during the 1960s?
• How had the lake become so polluted?
• How was the lake cleaned up?
As you conduct your research, be sure to take notes in your own
words and keep a list of the sources you use.
DRaFT
Review your notes and then write a first draft.
• Introduce your topic—the pollution of Lake Erie—in the first paragraph.
Organize your ideas using strategies such as cause and effect and
chronological order.
• Develop your topic in the second paragraph with relevant facts from
credible sources to explain how people cleaned up Lake Erie. Use
transitions and precise language and maintain a formal style.
• Provide a concluding section in the third paragraph to explain what
the effects of the cleanup of Lake Erie have been.

ReVIse & eDIT

Read your first draft to make sure that it gives solid information about
the cleanup of Lake Erie.
• Does your first paragraph introduce your topic?
• Does the second paragraph develop your topic and clearly explain
how people cleaned up Lake Erie?
• Have you described the effects of the cleanup effort in your conclusion
in the third paragraph?
Revise the article to make sure you have covered all the bases. Then
check your paper for errors in spelling and punctuation. Are names
spelled correctly? Are quotations accurate? Be sure you have the
information in a logical order.

PublIsh & PResenT

Now you are ready to publish and present your article. Add any images
or graphs that will help illustrate or support your ideas. Then print
out the article or write a clean copy by hand. Post the article in your
classroom to share with the class.

29
Visual
GLOSSARY algae

algae n., plantlike organisms

aquifer n., an underground rock
layer containing water
bacteria n., one-celled organisms
that can cause diseases
basin n., the area drained by a river
ecosystem n., a community of
living organisms and their natural
environment
fossil fuel n., an energy source such
as coal, oil, and natural gas, formed
by the fossilized remains of plants
and animals
marine protected area n., a region
in or near an ocean where human
activity is limited in order to preserve
marine life
mercury n., a highly toxic silver-
white element that is liquid at
room temperature mercury
oceanographer n., a scientist who
studies oceans and marine life
pollutant n., a substance that makes
the environment and water dirty
sewage n., human and animal waste
tributary n., a smaller river or
stream that flows into a larger river

30
pollutant

oceanographer

basin

31
INDEX
Achuar people (Peru), 12, 14, 15 health issues, 6, 12, 18 Waitt Foundation, 24
acid rain, 7 Hope Spots, 24 waste, animal, 6, 8
activism, 20 waste, chemical, 17
India, 9
algae, 17, 30 waste, human, 6, 8
Indonesia, 9 water
Amazon River, South America, 7,
industrial pollution, 8–9, 16 amount of, in world, 5
8, 10–16
industrialization, 16 polluted, 5, 6
causes of pollution in, 11–13
conservation efforts, 14 Lake Erie, 28–29 saline, 5
aquifers, 5, 30 Lake Tai, China, 7, 9, 17, 20, 21 where is it found, 5
activism and cleanup plans, 20–21 water shortages, 18
bacteria, 6, 18, 30 water treatment, 18, 19, 20–21
causes of pollution in, 16–18
basin, 11, 30, 31 Wen Jaibao, 20
birth defects, 18 marine protected areas (MPAs), World Bank, 18
Brazil, 13 23, 24, 30 Wu Lihong, 20
medical problems, 6, 12, 18
Chang Jiang River, China, 16–21, Yamuna River, India, 9
mercury, 8, 11, 14, 30
20, 21
Mission Blue, 24
chemicals, 7, 8, 17, 20
China, 7, 9, 16–21 National Geographic, 22–25
cholera bacteria, 6 natural disasters, 6 SKILLS
climate, 14
coagulation, 21 oceanographer, 24, 30, 31 analyze cause and effect, 7
Columbia River, U.S., 8 oceans, protecting, 24–25 analyze causes, 8, 20, 24
conservation and cleanup oil drilling, 14 analyze effects, 20
in Amazon, 14 oil spills and leaks, 7, 12, 13, 18, analyze problems, 14
in Gulf of Mexico, 23–25 22–23 analyze solutions, 14
in Lake Tai, 20 document projects, 27
Peru, 12
rescue a river, 26–27 draft, 29
pesticides, 13
explain, 24
Deepwater Horizon oil spill, pollutants, 6–7, 8–9, 30, 31
identify problems, 26
22–23 Pristine Seas project, 24
interpret maps, 8
developing countries, 7 Rahway River, NJ, 26–27 organize projects, 26
disasters, natural, 6 rain forest, 11, 13, 14 publish and present, 29
drinking water, 5, 7, 18, 19, 20 rivers, cleaning, 26–27 research, 28
drought, 12–13 Russia, 9 revise and edit, 29
Earle, Sylvia, 23–25 share, 27, 29
Sala, Enric, 23–24
economic development, 16, 20 summarize, 7
saline water, 5
ecosystem, 11, 14, 30 take notes, 28
sanitation, 7
Ecuador, 12 write an explanatory article,
sedimentation, 21
28–29
farming, and pollution, 13 sewage, 18, 30
fertilizers, 13 storage, 21
filtration, 21 treatment plants, 20–21
fish, 23 tributaries, 14, 30
fish, dying, 11
fossil fuels, 7, 30 underground water, 18
see also aquifers
gold mining, 11, 14 United Nations, 14
Gulf of Mexico oil spill, 7, 22–23
volunteering, 26–29

32
THE

The Global Issues series explores relevant

and compelling issues in the world today.
SERIES

Climate Change human rights

Many scientists have observed increasing The United Nations passed the Declaration of
temperatures, melting glaciers, and other Human Rights in 1948. Millions of people around
possible effects of changing climate. How the world are gaining rights like democracy,
are countries dealing with the impact? education, and economic security.

energy resourCes migration

Providing energy to an industrialized world Because of modern transportation and
is a tremendous challenge. Countries around economic opportunity, people can migrate more
the world are experimenting with renewable easily from one country to another. Migration
energy resources. creates both challenges and opportunities for
countries.
Food supply
People are using their creativity and ingenuity pollution
to improve the ability to grow food for the Pollution of the air, water, and soil has
expanding global population. been a problem since industrialization in
the 19th century, but countries are trying some
globalization interesting new approaches to solving this
Free trade, migration, media, and other problem.
cultural influences are having a worldwide
impact on every aspect of modern life, from population growth
food to fashion. Explore how different countries are meeting
the challenges of growing populations through
habitat preservation education and economic opportunity.
The natural habitats for animals and plants are
threatened around the world, but people are standard oF living
taking extraordinary steps to preserve those Countries around the world are working to
habitats before it is too late. increase the standard of living for their
populations.
health
Providing quality health care and medicine is a water resourCes
challenge. Science and technology are finding Water is essential for life. Many countries
new ways to care for people across the globe. have developed innovative ways to improve
the availability and quality of water.
 THE

SERIES

ISBN 978-0-7362-9748-6

888-915-3276 NGL.Cengage.com