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Global Water Use: An Environmental Ponzi Scheme
June 30th, 2011
Courtesy of The Guardian, two excellent articles on water scarcity around the world. The first looks at what it aptly describes as an environmental ponzi scheme as Earth’s water-stressed nations are borrowing against the future, as rising populations use stocks faster than they are replaced: Find water and you find life. This simple maxim guides […]
Read more »Water Grabbing? The Coming Conflict Over The (Re)appropriation of Finite Water Resources
May 28th, 2011
Via Water Alternatives, an interesting call for papers on water grabbing: In many river basins in the world, water resources have become the object of increasing competition between food production and other sectors. The rush to acquire new lands as sources of alternative energy, food crops, and environmental services have led to the so called […]
Read more »Water As A Hidden Weapon In Libya?
May 28th, 2011
Via The Guardian, an interesting article on the potential that Libya’s enormous aquatic reserves could become a new weapon of choice if government forces opt to starve coastal cities that heavily rely on free flowing freshwater. As the article notes: With only five percent of the country getting at least 100 millimetres of rainfall per […]
Read more »African Land Grabs May Lead To Water Conflicts
May 26th, 2011
Via New Scientist, a report on how African land “grabs” may lead to future water conflicts: IS THIS the face of future water conflicts? China, India and Saudi Arabia have lately leased vast tracts of land in sub-Saharan Africa at knockdown prices. Their primary aim is to grow food abroad using the water that African […]
Read more »Middle East Nations At ‘Extreme Risk’ of Water Shortages
May 19th, 2011
Via Arabian Business, a look at the water scarcity risk facing a number of Middle East nations: Gulf states the UAE, Oman and Kuwait have been named among the 10 nations with the “most extreme risk†of interruptions to water supply, risk-assessment consultants Maplecroft said. After Mauritania, which has the highest risk ranking of the […]
Read more »When The Arab World Dries Up
May 19th, 2011
Via China Dialogue, a detailed report on how water usage in north Africa and the Middle East is unsustainable and how shortages are likely to lead to further instability – unless governments take action to solve the impending crisis. As the article notes: “…Poverty, repression, decades of injustice and mass unemployment have all been cited […]
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