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Student 1: Low Excellence
Plan for factors and processes that contribute to the pattern;
[A]
There are many factors which contribute to the pattern of concentrations of poor access to
safe water and more dispersal of areas with 100% of the population accessing safe water.
Three factors that will be examined are key elements of climate, poverty and population
growth or more specifically population growth to an extent that it puts pressure of available
water supplies. The three major concentrations shown on the map are in Northern Africa,
China and South East Asia’; each of these regions also experience extreme climatic
extremes and high levels of poverty.
There are obvious links between the climate zones shown on map 1 with the global
patterns of access to safe water. Extreme climatic conditions like droughts and flooding
clearly contribute to the spatial pattern of concentrations.
The concentration in northern Africa, including Ethiopia, Chad across the Sahel region to
Mauritania is a region that experiences infrequent precipitation; ranging from 200mm to
600mm a year
In arid areas (steppe and desert) there is simply a shortage of water and people have to
often survive off lake water, wells, and remaining shallow rivers etc. which do not provide
safe water… In some of the countries located in the arid regions irrigation systems and
reservoirs have been built, but they are unable to provide safe water during the extended
periods of drought. A countries infrastructure can be a significant cause of the poor access
to safe water. Chad for example is ranked in the top five counties in the world for this
indicator. This area experiences low rainfall and suffers regular drought during the dry
season. The people rely almost entirely on wells, but due to the extreme poverty of this
country the quality of the wells is poor and consequently many contain unsafe water, if any
at all in the dry season. Heavy reliance on ground water in some regions has depleted
these sources of safe water. Early civilisations in the Sahara accessed the vast supplies of
ground water through sophisticated well systems, but as population grew the demand
outran the supply and the wells dried up. As the rainfall declined in the regions the
underground water sources were not replenished. This example shows a direct interaction
between population pressure, infrastructure and available safe water contributing to the
spatial concentrations of poor access to safe water in the arid regions.
When rain does occur it can be in isolated areas and very intense often causing flooding…
Much of Ethiopia experiences very low rainfalls with the lowlands receiving only 250mm
annually. In an area that also receives high temperatures, often in excess of 30ºC much of
the available water is evaporated. The interaction between these two climate elements, low
rainfall together with high evaporation rates results in a lack of safe water… A consequence
of low levels of development and lack of investment capital is that appropriate water storage
is not available to prevent loss by evaporation resulting in loss of a valuable and limited
resource. Arid climates with unreliable rainfall are a major factor contributing to the
concentration in Northern Africa. …
Other areas experience monsoon climates where excesses of water lead to flooding and
clean water sources become polluted. If infrastructure is not maintained to a high standard
e.g. sewage systems, during flood events sources of safe water can become contaminated.
In areas like Bangladesh and Cambodia where monsoonal flooding is a common
occurrence, the flooding destroys wells, rivers carry a lot of debris and silt and the options
for saving clean water are nil…
There is both concentrated and dispersed patterns of high rates of access to safe water
which are closely related to the more temperate regions and nations that experience higher
rates of development…The Netherlands has 116,000 km of water pipes allowing 100%
distribution of safe water to the entire country. They have a stable economy and can ensure
that all water is sanitised… The level of development is a primary factor contributing to the
pattern of access to safe water evident throughout the developed world with concentrations
in North America and Western Europe and more dispersed through parts of South America
and the Pacific…
[B]