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Tibetan Glacial Melt Threatens Billions
November 30th, 2015
Via Voice of America, a report on the risk that the Tibetan Plateau might soon lose most of its glacier and permafrost, affecting water supplies throughout Asia: With temperatures rising four times faster than anywhere else in Asia, the Tibetan Plateau might soon lose most of its glacier and permafrost, affecting water supplies throughout Asia, Chinese […]
Read more »Water Scarcity: A Global Economic And Security Threat
November 30th, 2015
Via the Globe and Mail, an article on the world’s global water crisis: Conflict over scarce water resources is as old as human history, but in the 21st century, rapidly rising demand for water and threats to supply pose nightmarish risks for people around the globe. The U.S. Defence Department, United Nations’ agencies and the […]
Read more »The Mekong: River Rising Or Troubled Waters?
November 26th, 2015
Via The Guardian, an in-depth look at the Mekong River, where the hydro-political stakes grow as the waters flow south to richer Cambodia and Vietnam: Troubled waters Khamlouvilaivong Vanthong’s first job as a civil engineer was on the Nam Ngum dam. It was 1968 and as he helped cut down the dense jungles to build […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China’s Rush To Dam Rivers Flowing To Other Nations
November 26th, 2015
Via Brahma Chellaney’s Statecraft blog, an interesting look at how China’s rush to dam rivers is flowing to other nations: As if to underscore the contrast between an autocracy and a democracy, China’s recent announcement that all six power-generating units at the world’s highest-elevation dam in Zangmu, Tibet, are now fully operational coincided with protesters stalling movement […]
Read more »The Water Wars Waged By The Islamic State
November 25th, 2015
Courtesy of STRATFOR (subscription required), detailed analysis of the Islamic State’s use of water in its fight to establish a caliphate: The Islamic State’s use of natural resources to achieve its strategic goals is nothing new. Oil, one of the group’s biggest sources of funding, plays an especially important role in its calculations — something […]
Read more »Tensions Boil: Turkey, Northern Cyprus And Greek-Cypriots Argue Over Water Pipeline
November 25th, 2015
Via Future Directions International, a report on increasing tensions related to management of the Northern Cyprus water pipeline: Background In August, the Northern Cyprus Water Supply Project began transferring water from Turkey to Northern Cyprus. In a bid to increase water security to drought-prone Cyprus, this water pipeline has been heralded as a major step […]
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