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The (In)Fertile Crescent?
October 14th, 2010
Courtesy of The New York Times, a report on the increasingly dire situation facing Syria and Iraq due to shortages on the Euphrates. As the article notes: “…The farmlands spreading north and east of this Euphrates River town were once the breadbasket of the region, a vast expanse of golden wheat fields and bucolic sheep […]
Read more »Melting Glaciers = Rising Tensions: Peruvians Fight for Their Right to Water
October 10th, 2010
Courtesy of Columbia University’s Earth Institute, a report on recent violence which erupted in Peru over water. As the article notes: A Peruvian man sits in front a lake fed by melt from the Andean glaciers, seen in the background. (Source: Wikimedia, September 2008) Last week, on September 17, one man was killed and 18 […]
Read more »A Perfect Drought…
October 10th, 2010
Courtesy of Terra Daily, a report on the likelihood of unprecedented drought in the U.S. Southwest and the concerns that the severe decline in Lake Mead and resulting reductions in Colorado River allocations could pit states against one another. As the article notes: “…The convergence in the coming year of three cyclical conditions affecting ocean […]
Read more »Thirsty Dragon: Moving Heaven & Earth To Bring Water To Beijing
October 1st, 2010
Via Terra Daily, an updated look at China’s $62-billion South-North Water Diversion, which will bring water to the parched capital via three major phases: 1) the 885-mile eastern line from Hangzhou to Beijing, which mostly follows the route of the Grand Canal and is hoped to be ready by 2013; 2) the middle line, which […]
Read more »Egypt and Thirsty Neighbors At Odds Over Nile
September 25th, 2010
Courtesy of The New York Times, an interesting article on the increasing tensions between Egypt and its neighbors over the Nile’s waters. As the article notes: The New York Times “…One place to begin to understand why this parched country has nearly ruptured relations with its upstream neighbors on the Nile is ankle-deep in mud […]
Read more »Hijacking A River: Peru’s Water Tensions Boil Over Into Climate Change Strikes
September 21st, 2010
Courtesy of The Guardian, a report on an unfolding in the Peruvian region of Espinar, where people are outraged about a proposed irrigation scheme that will deprive them of water. As the article notes: “…The plan was to go from the Four Lakes district in Peru’s Cusco province up to the communities in the Espinar […]
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