Studio Brief 02 - Product, Range & Distribution - Initial Research

When I initially thought about social, political, and ethical problems there is a few that standout to me that I think need to be addressed and explained to a younger audience as the younger audience are the ones who can have an impact on such issues. 

• Poverty 
• The global water crisis 
• Climate change
• Nuclear weapons 
• War 
• Increase in global population 
• Availability of energy 
• Hunger

All of these are some of the biggest problems that we are faced with currently and graphic design does have the power to change the way people think and act on these problems. I am going to choose of these problems to investigate and try and show a young audience what they can do to help slow down these problems. 

I have do some basic reading into all of these problems as well as making a judgement about what I already know about them from reading the news and wanting to stay aware of what is happening to our currently environment. I felt that the post relevant to me to everyone that not enough people know about especially in this country is the global water crisis. 

The global water crisis 

As part of this brief I have to present my initial finds in a presentation. This is what I discovered when I researched into the water crisis. 

• The world doesn't stand a chance without water
• Many experts believe that in the near future water will become a commodity just like Gold and Oil. Some experts say that wars will be fought over who owns the water supply.
• Currently, one third of humans have inadequate access to clean, fresh water. The number is expected to increase by to up to two thirds by 2050. That means two thirds of the worlds population will not have access to clean water. Over population, demand and pollution from industry is to blame. 
• In most developed nations, we take access to safe water and sanitation for granted
• 1 in 10 - lack access to safe water 663 million people 

What are the effects of water shortages?

Health 

• Developing countries people are forced to drink low quality water, there are many waterborne diseases that people die from. 
• Less water means sewage doesn’t flow - mosquitoes breed on stagnant dirty water, this can result in diseases like malaria to effect a large amount of people.
• Lack of water causes huge sanitation issues. 

Hunger 

• 70% of our water is used for agriculture (growing food and caring for animals) - only 10% for domestic uses. Less water then means a lower yield, which will result in famine which is already an issue in East Africa as they are having the biggest famine since 1945. 

Poverty 

• It is as simple as, if people don’t have water it mens no economic activities will happen and the people will be in constant poverty.

How can this be prevented? 

Awareness 

• If you understand and acknowledge the problem, there is a better chance of coming to a solution. Many people don’t realise the scale of the problem as it doesn’t really effect developed countries but there are millions of people that it does effect every day and we can change that by bringing awareness to the issue. 
• There are many charities that are trying to rise awareness of the ever growing problem. Many people don’t relive the scale but it does not cost or take much to help make a difference.
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