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Running Dry – A Water Shortage, Not Food Shortage
September 23rd, 2008
From The Economist, an interesting suggestion that the world is facing a water shortage, not a food shortage. As the article notes: “MOST people may drink only two litres of water a day, but they consume about 3,000 if the water that goes into their food is taken into account. The rich gulp down far […]
Read more »Need to Deal With the Water Crisis Now
September 23rd, 2008
From Wired, an interesting set of slides on the unsustainable global demands on fresh water supplies from Peter Gleick, president and cofounder of the Pacific Institute. As the hypothetical presentation to the new U.S. president notes, sources are drying up in the US and worldwide, raising the specters of hunger, disease, and international conflict. The […]
Read more »A Data Driven Look at Global Water Stress
September 22nd, 2008
Via Bangladesh’s The New Nation, a strong reminder of the water challenges facing the world today. “Water is not distributed evenly over the globe. Fewer than 10 countries possess 60% of the world’s available fresh water supply: Brazil, Russia, China, Canada, Indonesia, U.S., India, Columbia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. However, local variations within […]
Read more »Every Last Drop
September 21st, 2008
Via The Boston Review, an excellent analysis of the impending water crisis and ways in which we can manage our way of this predicament. While a bit long, I recommend reading it through. Below, I have noted a few of the most important points: “…Salinization remains a serious threat to irrigated lands, but we are […]
Read more »Water Wars Forthcoming?
August 29th, 2008
Several recent articles from the UK with opinions on how wars of the next few decades could be fought over access to water, according to some analysts. First, The View offered a look at the British government’s response to a recent WWF call to action on water issues: “…Countries need to act quickly to resolve […]
Read more »Serious Regional Water Crisis Looming: Central Asia
August 1st, 2008
A highly informative piece recently published by Brookings examines the current and coming water ‘crisis’ facing Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as Afghanistan, Mongolia and the Western most province of China, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The article details the complicated dance between the region’s countries, with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan upstream […]
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