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The Thirsty Dragon: China’s New Silk Road Causing Regional Water Stress
June 23rd, 2016
Via Third Pole.net, a report on a recent decision by the Chinese to put temporary halt on a dam which could destroy the Siberian lake ecosystem, highlighting lack of environmental safeguards along the New Silk Road: Every Chinese person knows about one place in Siberia – Lake Baikal. It is not necessarily famous for its […]
Read more »Dams Power Turkey’s Conflict With the Kurds
June 23rd, 2016
Courtesy of STRATFOR (subscription required), a look at how, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cracks down on the country’s Kurds, rivers and dams will be central to his strategy — and Kurdish militants’ reprisals: Forecast Hydropower projects and dam building will continue to be important components of Turkey’s strategy for managing its Kurdish population. […]
Read more »The Parched Tiger: Drought and Water Security in India
June 21st, 2016
Via Future Directions International, a look at India Key Points India faces national water scarcity by 2050 if current trends continue. States that usually have surplus water, such as Latur and Uttarakhan, currently experience acute water scarcity. Two consecutive drought years have served as a catalyst to long-standing water mismanagement issues. Poor infrastructure, a lack […]
Read more »“Doha Has Just Three Days’ Supply”: Are Water Shortages The Biggest Threat To The Middle East?
June 20th, 2016
Courtesy of CityMetric, a sobering look at water shortages in the Middle East: Date farms at Liwa Oasis, United Arab Emirates. Those who visit the Middle East and North Africa from more temperate climates are often struck with how hot and dry the region is, and how scarce its rainfall. Some wonder why cities became […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Water-nomic Trade-offs Along The Yangtze
June 17th, 2016
Courtesy of China Water Risk, an interesting report on the linkages between water use and allocation, as well as pollution control and economic development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB): For centuries, the Yangtze River has been considered a ‘golden waterway’ for transporting goods between cities and villages along the river. Now, many of these […]
Read more »When Nations Wilt Away…
June 17th, 2016
Via Bloomberg, an article on how environmental stress can tips weak nations into chaos: Venezuela was unraveling even before Hugo Chávez died in 2013. The situation has only gotten worse since. Despite having the world’s largest oil reserves, inflation has soared to 500 percent, the murder rate is the highest in the world, and chronic […]
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