Supervisors info:
Βοργιάς Κωνσταντίνος, Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Βιολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ, Επιβλέπων
Νικολοπούλου-Σταμάτη Πολυξένη, Ομότιμη Καθηγήτρια, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Καβαντζάς Νικόλαος, Καθηγητής, Ιατρική Σχολή, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
Water is the source of life, life has emerged from it and is absolutely necessary in order to preserve life as we know it on earth. This is due to its very important properties, which allow it to act as a dipole and react with too many chemical compounds. The total amount of water in the earth is large, but a small percentage of it is suitable for the living organisms, which becomes available to them through the hydrological cycle with the processes of precipitation, evaporation and transpiration. Water is a social, economic and cultural good since it is indispensable for agriculture, industry and domestic use, while it is the medium close to which the first civilizations flourished. The lack of water in many areas of our planet is responsible for the starvation of groups of people deprived of it and for the provoking of conflicts between states.
Water plays an important role for all the living organisms. Changes in the global climate have a negative impact on the living organisms of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Human activities affect the hydrological cycle and the amount of available water, so a number of agreements and laws have been signed globally to protect the quantity and quality of available water.
Human activities cause water pollution. Pollution is caused by high temperature, toxic organic substances, heavy metals and radioactive materials from industries, agriculture and urban activity. Water pollution further reduces the available amount of water and can cause serious risks to human health and to the conservation of ecosystems.
These activities can also provoke water contamination by pathogenic microorganisms that cause diseases. Over the centuries, many epidemics have been caused by contaminated water and were responsible for thousands of deaths, while in the present time, by improving the conditions for clean water supply, they have been significantly reduced. However, even today, millions of people die every year because they have no access to clean water. Water is essential to maintaining human health, but at the same time it also plays an important role in mental health.
Therefore, the implementation of water resource management methods is an important key in restoring the quality of water. Maintaining sufficient quantity and good water quality is a prerequisite for improving the living conditions of both the current and the future generations.
Keywords:
Water, Environment, Pollution, Health
