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How Climate Change, Dams, and Geopolitics Threaten The Mekong’s Future
November 7th, 2019
Via Foreign Affairs, an article on the troubles facing the Mekong River: On October 29, Laos unveiled a new dam in the country’s north. The 1.3-gigawatt Xayaburi dam sits on the Mekong River, which flows the length of the country. Laos plans to build nearly a hundred like it by 2020—many with direct funding and […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon and Parched Tiger: Tibet’s Rivers Will Determine Asia’s Future
November 3rd, 2019
Via The Diplomat, a look at the dawn of a new era of building dams on the Yarlung Tsangpo, where countless lives and ecosystems are being risked in the name of “development” and geopolitics: Over the last seven decades, the People’s Republic of China has constructed more than 87,000 dams. Collectively they generate 352.26 GW of […]
Read more »Laos Hydro Project Switched On Along Dried-Out Mekong
October 31st, 2019
Via Terra Daily, a report on a new hydropower project that was officially switched on in Laos: A multi-billion dollar hydro-electric power plant on the Mekong river in Laos was officially switched on Tuesday, as drone images of dried-up downstream areas stirred fresh outcry on one of the world’s great rivers. The Thai-owned Xayaburi dam […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: How Dams and China’s Might Imperil The Mekong
October 13th, 2019
Courtesy of The New York Times (subscription required), a sobering look at the future of the Mekong River: When the Chinese came to the village of Lat Thahae, perched on a muddy bend of a Mekong River tributary, they scrawled a Chinese character on the walls of homes, schools and Buddhist temples. No one in […]
Read more »Hydropower Construction Heightens Political Pressure Along Mekong River
August 30th, 2019
Via Circle of Blue, a report on plans by Laos to build big hydropower dams on the Mekong River which are seen by many villagers, the region’s environmental organizations, and some officials in neighboring countries as making a mockery of the river’s natural beauty and its central value as a source of fish, irrigation, and […]
Read more »US Warns Dams Give China ‘Control’ of Mekong River
August 5th, 2019
Via Terra Daily, a report on recent U.S. government officials remarks about China’s ‘control’ of the Mekong river: China is taking control of the flow of Southeast Asia’s most important river through a dam-building “spree”, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Wednesday, as water levels along the Mekong reach record lows. The famous waterway starts […]
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