Here are some useful resources for #IBDP #ibess topic 4.2 access to fresh #water. #conservation #ecology #climatechange and human #population growth. via @bradleymkremer
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Significant ideas:
- The supplies of freshwater resources are inequitably available and unevenly distributed, which can lead to conflict and concerns over water security.
- Freshwater resources can be sustainably managed using a variety of different approaches.
Knowledge and understanding:
- Access to an adequate freshwater supply varies widely.
- Climate change may disrupt rainfall patterns and further affect this access.
- As populations, irrigation and industrialization increase, the demand for fresh water increases.
- Freshwater supplies may become limited through contamination and unsustainable abstraction.
- Water supplies can be enhanced through reservoirs, redistribution, desalination, artificial recharge of aquifers and rainwater harvesting schemes. Water conservation (including grey-water recycling) can help to reduce demand but often requires a change in attitude by the water consumers.
- The scarcity of water resources can lead to conflict between human populations, particularly where sources are shared.
Applications and skills:
- Evaluate the strategies that can be used to meet an increasing demand for fresh water.
- Discuss, with reference to a case study, how shared freshwater resources have given rise to international conflict.
Here are a couple of water scarcity case studies developed by my students at the Australian International School Phnom Penh (AISPP) in Cambodia. Used with permission.
International-mindedness:
- Unequal access to fresh water can cause conflict between countries that have an abundance of fresh water and those that do not.
Theory of knowledge:
- Aid agencies often use emotive advertisements around the water security issue— to what extent can emotion be used to manipulate knowledge and actions?