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South Asia: 25% of The World’s Population Accesses <5% of The World's Freshwater
February 16th, 2009
Via Celsias, details of a startling new UN report indicating that hundreds of millions of South Asians face growing water stress due to over exploitation, climate change and inadequate cooperation among countries. As the article notes: “…South Asia is home to one-fourth of the global population, including some of the world’s poorest people, who have […]
Read more »The Tibetan Plateau: A Freshwater Bank In Crisis
January 5th, 2009
The Asia Society has produced a documentary about the impact of global warming on the Tibetan plateau, the rivers which originate there, and the people who depend on them to live. From the introduction: As the source of most of the major river systems in Asia from China to Pakistan, including the Yellow, the Yangtze, […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Turning On The Tibetan Tap At The Expense of South Asia?
December 9th, 2008
Via The Circle of Blue and The Asia Times, two articles (one here and the other here) noting that – as China becomes increasingly stressed for water, it comes closer to slaking its thirst with Tibet’s Yalong Tsangpo River, known in India as the Brahmaputra. But international interests downstream worry about the impact on the […]
Read more »Pakistan Accuses India of “Stealing” Water
October 9th, 2008
Via The Hindu, a report of increased tension between Pakistan and India over water. As the article notes: “…Accusing India of having “stolen” its share of Chenab river water, Pakistan on Monday threatened to seek arbitration by neutral experts over it even as the two countries prepared to discuss the issue later this month. “India […]
Read more »Battle at the Top of The World Threatens Indian & Pakistan Water Supply
September 24th, 2008
From Abu Dhabi’s The National, a disturbing report on the environmental havoc that India and Pakistan’s 24-year battle for the Siachen Glacier along the disputed border above Kashmir is wreaking, namely the acceleration of glacial melting which feeds the Nubra River, which drains into the Shyok River – a key tributary of the Indus River […]
Read more »Energy, Water, Food: Geopolitical Linkages & Conflicts
September 23rd, 2008
As reported by The Circle of Blue, a new Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington-based bipartisan think-tank, report states that the U.S. needs integrated international water strategy to avert global conflicts over water which could threaten geopolitical stability. As the article notes, 40 percent of the world’s population lives in watersheds shared […]
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