BLOG
The Thirsty Dragon and Parched Tiger: China Risks A Himalayan Water War With India
January 30th, 2021
Via Asia Times, a look at how China’s plan to dam the Yarlung Zangbao, the world’s highest river, threatens to spark conflict with downstream India: China-India tensions in the Himalayas is shifting from confrontation and saber-rattling over contested border territory to a potentially more destabilizing conflict over water flows from the world’s highest mountain range. The […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: China’s Water Challenges in 2021
January 28th, 2021
Courtesy of Circle of Blue, an interesting interview on China’s water challenges in 2021: What are the trends, hurdles, and big ideas for water in China in 2021? Domestically, the country’s leaders will respond to record-breaking floods in the southern provinces, advocate for water-absorbing “green” infrastructure, and contend with polluted water. In foreign affairs, tensions […]
Read more »China: At The Heart of Rising Nile River Conflict
January 19th, 2021
Via Asia Times, a report on the China-financed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam which is Africa’s largest and most divisive development project: The Chinese-financed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), despite a recent breakdown in talks on Africa’s largest development project, risks powering up a range of downstream tensions and rivalries. These run from rising rivalry between Egypt […]
Read more »Mountain Water Supply to Two Billion People Could Change
January 18th, 2021
Courtesy of Scientific American (subscription required), a detailed look at how data about Earth’s 78 most important mountaintops foretell changes in the amount and timing of snowmelt: The nights are long inside a tent 5,300 meters above sea level at the snout of Nepal’s Yala Glacier. At 8:00 P.M., after a meal of Nepali dal bhat (lentils […]
Read more »Asian Water Towers On Tighter Budget: More Runoff Won’t Quench Indus or Ganges Thirst
January 11th, 2021
Via Eureka Alert, notice of a new study on the Asian Water Towers: The Third Pole centered on the Tibetan Plateau is home to headwaters of over 10 major Asian rivers. These glacier-based water systems, also known as the Asian Water Towers, will have to struggle to quench the thirst of downstream communities despite more […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Mekong Levels Reportedly Plummet Due to Chinese Dam Activity
January 6th, 2021
Via The Diplomat, an article on Chinese dam withdrawals on the Mekong: Water levels on the Mekong River have fallen due to the filling of a Chinese dam on the upper reaches of the river in Yunnan province, according to locals and river monitors. The fall was reported on January 4, when locals in the […]
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