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The Thirsty Dragon: Damming the Mother of Asian Civilization
November 29th, 2011
Via OnEarth magazine, an article looking at the impact of dams on Tibetan watersheds: Ten million years ago, Asia and the Indian subcontinent collided giving rise to the world’s highest mountains with the largest plateau, Tibet. Only recently have scientists pieced together the workings of the complex planetary engine that drives climate, in which the […]
Read more »Hydro-Hegemony: The Power Politics of Water Struggles
November 29th, 2011
Via The New York Times, an article on an innovative way of analyzing international water tensions, departing from the idea that water struggles are characterized either by peaceful cooperation or armed conflict: Israelis destroying a water reservoir used by Palestinian farmers in the West Bank town of Hebron. Israeli officials said the operation was aimed […]
Read more »Africa’s Great ‘Water Grab’
November 24th, 2011
Via The Guardian, an interesting look at what they term Africa’s great ‘water grab’. As the article notes: The banks of the Niger river, in southern Mali, have been flooded by a steady stream of foreigners. Coveted by foreign investors eager to snap up large tracts of fertile farmland, the river basin has been at […]
Read more »Regional Tensions Limit Bhutan Climate Summit Aims
November 23rd, 2011
Via CBS News, a report on the recent Bhutan Climate Summit: Four Himalayan nations, faced with erratic weather and the threat of melting glaciers and catastrophic floods, are hashing out a plan for preserving the vast mountain range and helping millions living in the foothills cope with climate change. But as India, Nepal, Bangladesh and […]
Read more »Water Fight: How South Asia’s Unquenchable Thirst May Threaten The Region’s Peace
November 23rd, 2011
Courtesy of The Economist, an excellent article reviewing how a growing rivalry between India, Pakistan, and China over the region’s great rivers may threaten South Asia’s peace: SONAULLAH PHAPHO has spent half a century picking a living from Wular lake high in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Today he is lucky if he scoops a fish or two […]
Read more »Drier and Hotter: Egypt’s Climate Future
November 23rd, 2011
Via The Guardian, a look at Egypt’s climate future which seems to be characterized by rising temperatures, coastal erosion, storms and water scarcity: “…Just a few miles north of where I am now standing, the Mediterranean Sea is remorselessly battering the Egyptian coastline. Salt is leaching into the rich soils and invading the drinking water […]
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