The Health of the Water Planet: Challenges and Opportunities in the Mediterranean Area. An Overview

Abstract

According to the United Nations (2020), since the 1980s, the global overall rate of water use has grown by 1% per year, and it is projected that, by 2050, humanity’s water footprint could exceed 30% of current levels. This situation is in stark contrast to the path toward the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 6, “clean water and sanitation”, which also influences Goal 14, “life below water”, and Goal 15, “life on land”. This is because the availability of water directly affects the food security and production capacity of each Country, and therefore its management is a crucial issue worthy of particular attention. Problems related to water security are particularly evident in the Mediterranean area, which is already facing high environmental challenges. It is an area severely affected by global warming; thus, it is one of the most vulnerable environments to climate change globally. It follows that the improper management of water resources could further worsen an already alarming situation. This research aims to study the main water-related challenges that Mediterranean Countries face, highlighting the significant problems that weaken each Country. In this regard, the indicators relating to Goal 6 were considered, to define each Country’s current state. However, for a correct understanding, the main problems these Countries face were researched through a critical review of the literature (Scopus, Google Scholar, Web of Science). In this way, we were able to underline the effects of human activities on the hydrosphere and the repercussions on various ecosystems, following the drivers-pressures-state-impact-response causal framework. The results suggest that there is still a long way for Mediterranean Countries to progress toward Agenda 2030, as they face problems related to chemical (nitrate, microplastics, heavy metals, pesticides, etc.) and biological (E. coli and other microorganisms) pollution, as well as saline aquifers, absent or obsolete infrastructures, and transboundary basins. Hence, this study aims to provide valuable tools for a better evaluation of water management in Mediterranean Countries.

Environmental Benefit of Eco-Industrial Development: Effective Approach of Europe to Climate Change and Mitigation

“…Increasing stress on water resources, competition between water users-industrial, agricultural, and municipal users, as well as nations that share water bodies-is growing (Becken, 2014;Cosgrove & Loucks 2015). Previously published data showed that Qatar, Israel, and Lebanon are experiencing -extremely high‖ levels of water stress, with irrigated agriculture, industries, and municipalities consuming over 80% of their available supply each year on average (Frumkin et al, 2020;Vinci et al, 2021). Pakistan is estimated to reach absolute water scarcity by 2025.…”

Comparison of EO4Agri Recommendations With In-Depth Literature Review

“…216 [27], [28], [29], [30] Data for producing maps of basic fertilizers 1600 [31] Data for production maps of fertilizer in the phenophase 30-34 3 -Data for determining heights of crops 846 [32], [33], [34], [35] Data for estimating the extent of diseases or damages (losses) 2 850 [36], [37] Data for monitoring hydrological stresses 426 [38], [39], [40] Data for producing exact information about climatic changes 2650 [18], [41], [42], [43], [44] Data for identification parcels for potential land for biomass production 146 -Data for creating flood maps (for Q5,25,50,100years) 1230 [45], [46], [47] Data for annual soil erosion risk maps 250 if special search "soil erosion" [48], [49] Data to produce maps of the occurrence of diseases 1750 special search [50], [51] Data for the production of actual calamities map (droughts, flood, fires, earthquakes, ...) 37 [45], [52], [53] Data for production maps of relevant information for biofuel production 248 [54], [55], [56], [57] Data for determining productivity of grassland and pastures. 205 [58], [59], [60] Data for support of the Common Agricultural Policy new 'greening' rules, crop, ecologically sensitive areas 127 [61] Data for the identification of crops to control subsidies 1110 -Data for water protection against nitrates 1130 …”

Cellulose-Based Hydrogels for Wastewater Treatment: A Focus on Metal Ions Removal

“…Most conventional strategies used for wastewater treatment, such as chemical precipitation, membrane separation, ion exchange, and electrochemical treatments, present limitations which make their scaling up difficult, thus discouraging their application in real contexts in which large water volumes have to be treated, preferably with simple and low-cost procedures based on reusable materials, allowing for reductions in the required time and costs [9][10][11][12][13]. Chemical precipitation, for example, despite being an economical method, requires additional costs for the disposal of the large quantities of sludge produced during the purification process itself [14].…”