Climate change is one of the world's major problems, and its impact becomes more serious than ever. Climate change creates a severe impact on reducing biodiversity in the wildlife, melting the glacier, and increasing the carbon ratio in the air, unstable weather conditions. These are all global effects in people's lives, and it is serious for the continuation of life. Although every element in nature is significant in climate change, water has a vital influence on humanity.
When a one-degree increase in average air temperature causes natural disasters such as floods and droughts worldwide, to briefly remind, the water cycle is an endless circle. The water in the oceans in liquid form mixes with the atmosphere by evaporating, condenses from there, and descends to the surface as rainfall. It is then mixed with streamflow water into the oceans and merges with groundwater. People generally forget the groundwater sources, but its importance was reminded again with NASA's latest warning. NASA has published a map showing Turkey's underground water reserves late last week.
This map demonstrates Turkey's groundwater resistance and the level of danger. Since 2019, Turkey is experiencing severe drought, and NASA explains that numerous reservoirs around Istanbul and Ankara have reached their lowest water storage in 15 years. NASA states that since July 2020, nearly all provinces in Turkey have received below-average rainfall almost every month.
From October to December, precipitation across the country was 48 percent lower than the average for 1981-20. Turkey is living driest season in the last five seasons with the beginning of 2021. The decrease in precipitation is below the average across the country. Without seasonal raining conditions, dams are not enough to provide long-term water to the mains water with insufficient groundwater reservoirs. If this situation continues and measures are not taken, agricultural production conditions also may be in severe danger. With NASA showing the decline in underground resources, the task is left to the people's conscious and responsible behavior in the scenario where the amount of precipitation does not increase.
After NASA shared the map, WWF (World Wide Foundation) started an awareness campaign to draw attention to the decrease in water reservoirs. Among the countries experiencing water scarcity, Turkey ranks 32 in the world.
WWF claims that the lack of planning plays a massive role in the drought and warns water scarcity in 10 cities included Istanbul and Ankara. WWF releases the video of 'Water's Journey,' the video demonstrates the dams, farmland, Lake of Bafa, and Basin of Büyük Menderes to show remarkable water connection in Turkey. WWF urges people to watch this video, share it, and raise awareness with the hashtag that everyone becomes quiet if the water runs out (#SuBiterseHerkesSusar).
Of course, water scarcity is a serious problem globally, and serious planning needs to be made by government policies. Still, people can create significant differences with tiny changes in their daily habits. A person can save tons of water with a few changes to save water. What are the measures and changes that can be taken in everyday life?
In the houses, washing machines, bathrooms, and kitchen are places to use most of the water. A person can use a washing machine or dishwasher when the machines filled. Do not use machines when it is almost empty, so you can save 9 tons of water per year by operating fewer machines once a week. Washing the dishes without rinsing beforehand will also save an average of 9 liters of water per minute. Energy-saving machine choices will also make it easier for you to save water.
While you are waiting for the water to warm up in the bathroom, filling a container with water can allow you to use this water later in places such as cleaning. When one person takes a shower a minute shorter, one causes to saves 18 tons of water a year.
If you have a car, you can wipe your car instead of washing it, and it saves tons of water by extending the intervals of washing.
At the same time, you can prevent liters of water from flowing in vain by choosing water-saving nozzles in your bathrooms and kitchens.
An average of 7600 liters of water is consumed in the production of 1 pair of jeans, and an average of 2500 liters of water is used for a t-shirt, one of the most significant water savings you can make to reduce your shopping frequency. These are only a few examples to make a reminder actually to show how tiny solutions can create big differences when we are experiencing drought and water scarcity.