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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 »China, Tibet, and the strategic power of water
May 23rd, 2008
As reported by Circle of Blue, a number of experts say that control and management of an even more vital resource – the Tibetan Plateau’s vast supply of freshwater – is also emerging at the center of the increasingly tense political and cultural strife between China and Tibet. As the article notes: “…the Tibetan Plateau […]
Read more »Water & Politics in Bangladesh’s “Waterworld”
January 21st, 2008
An excellent article by Robert Kaplan in the January/February ’08 edition of The Atlantic Monthly, examining the catastrophic threats that global warming & climate change hold for Bangladesh, a nation already with too little land for its 150 million people. While the majority of the report focuses on the massive impacts that rising sea levels […]
Read more »Poised For A Future Diplomatic Meltdown? Indo-Chinese Tensions over Use of Tibet’s Water
January 20th, 2008
Lost in the generally enthusiastic media coverage of the recent Indo-Chinese bilateral meetings is the long-standing issue of water resource management between the two emerging giants. Given its presence in Tibet, China controls India’s river water and flooding. Even without any fully completed projects in place to tap into this source, many Indians feel this […]
Read more »Averting Water Wars in Asia – Will Tibet’s Waters Really Save China?
January 15th, 2008
Several months ago, The International Herald Tribune presciently (in our opinion) noted that sharpening Asian competition over energy resources had obscured a far more critical threat that water shortages pose for the region’s rapid economic modernization. Water, in fact, has emerged as a key issue that could determine if Asia is headed toward cooperation or […]
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