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Water Squabbles Irrigate Tensions in Central Asia
June 17th, 2008
Via Reuters, more on water-related tensions in Central Asia: “…Gulbakhor’s despair, shared by millions of Tajiks in this tiny ex-Soviet nation north of Afghanistan, reflects a growing sense of alarm throughout Central Asia where stability depends on the region’s scarcest and most precious commodity: water. From tiny irrigation canals to the powerful Soviet-era hydroelectric plants, […]
Read more »Emerging Water Shortages
June 8th, 2008
Via YubaNet.com, an insightful adaptation of Chapter 4, “Emerging Water Shortages,” from Lester R. Brown’s Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization. It details a number of countries that are overpumping aquifers as they struggle to satisfy their growing water needs, including the big three grain producers–China, India, and the United States. But, as the […]
Read more »The Global Water Threat
June 7th, 2008
Via The Telegraph, a report that a catastrophic water shortage could prove an even bigger threat to mankind this century than soaring food prices and the relentless exhaustion of energy reserves. As the article notes, according to a panel of global experts at the Goldman Sachs “Top Five Risks” conference: “…Nicholas (Lord) Stern, author of […]
Read more »Water Scarcity and the Global Food Crisis
June 6th, 2008
As reported in an interesting new online magazine, Yale’s Environment 360, there is a firm connection between the world’s current food shortages and both the over consumption of water & its increasing scarcity, As the article notes: “…After decades in the doldrums, food prices have been soaring this year, causing more misery for the world’s […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: The Iron Dust Bowl & The Great Green Wall
June 3rd, 2008
Via Walrus Magazine, a starting look at the Chinese Dust Bowl, probably the largest conversion of productive land into sand anywhere in the world. As the article notes: “…Deserts cover 18 percent of China today. Of those, 78 percent are natural, while 22 percent were created by humans. Almost all of them lie along the […]
Read more »Water: Oil of this Century (2)
June 3rd, 2008
Via The Christian Science Monitor, an interesting report on whether water – as Dow Chemical Chairman Andrew Liveris told the World Economic Forum in February – “is the oil of this century.†As the article notes: “…Cyprus will ferry water from Greece this summer. Australian cities are buying water from that nation’s farmers and building […]
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