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A Thirsty, Violent World?
March 9th, 2015
Courtesy of the New Yorker, a detailed article on the potential for water related conflict: Angry protesters filled the streets of Karachi last week, clogging traffic lanes and public squares until police and paratroopers were forced to intervene. That’s not rare in Pakistan, which is often a site of political and religious violence. But last […]
Read more »Water: Worldwide Threat Assessment
March 9th, 2015
Water again holds a prominent place in the U.S. Director of National Intelligence’s annual worldwide threat assessment: Extreme weather, climate change, and public policies that affect food and water supplies will probably create or exacerbate humanitarian crises and instability risks. Globally averaged surface temperature rose approximately 0.8 degrees Celsius (about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit) from 1951 to […]
Read more »Nile Dam Talks: Preliminary Agreement
March 6th, 2015
Via Reuters, a report on the three-party discussions over the Renaissance Dam: The three main countries that share the Nile River’s waters have reached a preliminary agreement on a mechanism for operating the Renaissance Dam, the Egyptian water minister said on Friday. The planned $4 billion Renaissance Dam will be Africa’s biggest dam and aims […]
Read more »Drought: Trigger For Syria’s Civil War?
March 3rd, 2015
Via Mashable, a detailed look at how global warming sparked Syria’s civil war: Manmade global warming helped spark the brutal civil war in Syria by doubling to tripling the odds that a crippling drought in the Fertile Crescent would occur shortly before the fighting broke out, according to a groundbreaking new study published on March […]
Read more »The Parched Tiger: 3 Maps Explain India’s Growing Water Risks
February 27th, 2015
Via the World Resources Institute, an interesting look at India’s water stress: India is one of the most water-challenged countries in the world, from its deepest aquifers to its largest rivers. Groundwater levels are falling as India’s farmers, city residents and industries drain wells and aquifers. What water is available is often severely polluted. And […]
Read more »Yemen: Food, Water And The ‘Slow Motion Coup’
February 26th, 2015
Courtesy of Future Directions International, a look at the intrinsic link between Yemen’s food and water insecurity and its political and social instability: Key Points Yemen is the most food insecure country in the Middle East and has the eighth-worst hunger rate globally. Currently, over 10 million Yemenis, or 42.5 per cent of the population, are […]
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