When looking at water surplus and deficit, look at latitudes - desert, rainforest, equator...
Water surplus
- Mainly Northern hemisphere
- countries such as USA and Russia
Physical water scarcity
- Northern African countries
- countries in the Middle East
- Saudi Arabia and parts of India
- Forms a horizontal slab across the Tropic of Cancer
- South Africa is an anomaly
Most areas with low rainfall levels (500mm annually) have physical water scarcity.
Correlation between rainfall levels and scarcity - low rainfall (<500mm annually) - physical water scarcity
eg South Africa
- We know most areas with water surplus are in the Northern hemisphere, but there is little connection to rainfall levels
- Both USA and Russia have areas with low rainfall levels, but have water surplus.
- Have water surplus due to high level of development