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Archive for 2015

The Water Wars Waged By The Islamic State

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 […]

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Tensions Boil: Turkey, Northern Cyprus And Greek-Cypriots Argue Over Water Pipeline

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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Blue Planet, Thirsty World

Courtesy of Foreign Affairs, an interesting report on some innovative ways to help meet’s the world’s rising water demand: When seen from space, the earth is a blue gem, a water planet. But when it comes to the amount of its water that humans can actually drink—a mere one percent of the total—it is an increasingly […]

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The Thirsty Dragon: China’s Bottled Water Industry Eyes The Tibetan Plateau

Via The Guardian, an article on how Tibet is encouraging companies to tap the Himalayan glaciers for premium drinking water, but the environmental stakes are high: Qomolangma Glacier Water bottles water from a national reserve located 80 km from Everest Base Camp  In the last two decades China has become the world’s largest bottled water […]

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ISIS Wages The World’s First Water War

Via the Wall Street Daily, a look at water crises in the Middle East: “Water is the single most important determination of civilization.” Famed international and commodities investor Jim Rogers said that in an interview with marketing agency Sinclair & Co. And he’s right… History shows that no civilization can survive without water – no […]

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Mennonite Farmers Prepare To Leave Mexico To Avoid Competition For Water

Courtesy of the New York Times, an interesting report on Chihuahua is a study in the costs of overusing a resource and the tensions that flare as it becomes scarce: On the edge of a high plain fringed by craggy sandstone hills, Johan Friesen’s small farm is a testament to the rural providence of his Mennonite […]

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