Water use and the water cycle

Introduction

Most of us are probably more familiar with the Earth’s physical resources than we realise. They are basically those non-biological parts of our natural world that we can put to good use. In this unit we will help you to appreciate aspects of one particular physical resource - water use and the water cycle.

Water is arguably the most important physical resource as it is the one that is essential to human survival. Understanding the global water cycle and how we use water is essential to planning a sustainable source of water for the future.

In the UK there are areas where water supplies are limited, shown by recent droughts. Globally, there are many areas that do not have enough water to support the current population adequately.

Decisions will have to be made on the best way to use water in a world where there is climate change.

This unit is from our archive and is an adapted extract from Earth's physical resources: origin, use and environmental impact (S278) which is no longer taught by The Open University. If you want to study formally with us, you may wish to explore other courses we offer in this subject area [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .