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Water Use Rising Faster Than World Population
October 26th, 2011
Courtesy of Reuters, a worrisome report that water use is rising faster than world population. As the article notes: Like oil in the 20th century, water could well be the essential commodity on which the 21st century will turn. Human beings have depended on access to water since the earliest days of civilization, but with […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Reducing Salt In Its Diet …Beijing Could Have Desalinated Water In Five Years
October 24th, 2011
Via China Daily, a report on Chinese plans to make desalinated seawater may be available for residents of Beijing within five years and use this as a main supply source in efforts to deal with the water shortage. As the article notes: The project, which desalinates seawater from the Bohai Bay and transports it to […]
Read more »High & Dry: Why The World May Be Running Out Of Clean Water
October 19th, 2011
Via Time, a report on the Pacific Institute’s recently released seventh volume of The World’s Water: Earlier this month, officials in the South Pacific island nation of Tuvalu had to confront a pretty dire problem: they were running out of water. Due to a severe and lasting drought, water reserves in this country of 11,000 […]
Read more »Water Management, Agriculture, and Population Growth in The Middle East
October 8th, 2011
Via New Security Beat, a look at Middle Eastern water challenges: In terms of groundwater depletion, “Yemen and Gaza are probably the two places worst off in the Middle East,†Aaron Wolf told ECSP in a recent interview. Wolf, a water expert and geography professor at Oregon State University, said population growth across the broader […]
Read more »Unresolved Conflicts In The Himalayan Region Dim Outlook For Hydropower
September 28th, 2011
Courtesy of ClimateWire (subscription required), an interesting report on the impact that unresolved conflicts in the Himalayan region are having upon the outlook for hydropower: “…The outlook on hydropower in the Himalayas looks gloomy as fast-developing countries scramble to meet their energy needs at the geographical heart of Asia’s 10 transboundary rivers. In a […]
Read more »The Thirsty Dragon: Shennongjia An Example of Unwise Development of China’s Water Resources?
September 19th, 2011
Via The Guardian, a report on how rapid and poorly regulated expansion in China’s Shennongjia region by small, hydroelectric power plants has choked rivers with dams, covered mountains in pipes and left locals without livelihoods. As the article notes: One of the hydroelectric power plants built within Shengnongjia natural reserve, Hubei province, China. Photograph: Jonathan […]
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