BLOG
Are African Land Grabs Really Water Grabs?
March 26th, 2013
Via CNN, an interesting article on whether overseas investors to Africa have been actually buying water rather than land access: Millions of hectares of land have been acquired in the past few years across Africa by investors who are moving into large-scale agriculture to take advantage of potential windfall gains. Popularly these deals have become […]
Read more »The Dam That Divides Ethiopians
March 26th, 2013
Courtesy of the BBC, a detailed analysis of the domestic Ethiopian conflict and controversy surrounding the Gilgel Gibe III Dam: Most people in Ethiopia’s lower Omo River Valley continue to exist much as they have done for hundreds of years with virtually no concession to the 21st Century, with one disturbing exception: automatic weapons. Almost […]
Read more »The Looming Threat Of Water Scarcity
March 26th, 2013
Via Worldwatch Institute, a new report on the global water scarcity crisis: Some 1.2 billion people—almost a fifth of the world—live in areas of physical water scarcity, while another 1.6 billion face what can be called economic water shortage. The situation is only expected to worsen as population growth, climate change, investment and management shortfalls, […]
Read more »Phoenix And LA Spar Over Colorado River Water
March 26th, 2013
Courtesy of National Geographic, an interesting article on the increasing tensions between Phoenix and Los Angeles over dwindling supplies of Colorado River water: In a recent volley between Phoenix and Los Angeles, newspapers in those two arid cities pointed fingers at each other over who has the least sustainable water supply. In the L.A. Times, […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China-Backed Dams Escalating Ethnic Tension In Myanmar
March 26th, 2013
Via China Dialogue, a look at the impact that China-backed dams are having in Myanmar: One month after the Chinese government lifted its ban on dams on the upper Salween River (known as the Nu in China), the Burmese government confirmed that it too will allow the construction of Chinese-backed hydropower projects along the lower […]
Read more »Middle East Faces Alarming Water Loss
March 18th, 2013
Via Terra Daily, a report on the Middle East’s water scarcity crisis: The Middle East, one of the most arid regions on Earth, is facing a critical water crisis because of poor management and a 2007 drought, the American Geophysical Union warns in a new report. It published a NASA study that showed in 2003-09 […]
Read more »