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17 Countries, Home to One-Quarter of the World’s Population, Face Extremely High Water Stress
August 6th, 2019
Via the World Resources Institute, a look at the regions of the world facing extreme water stress: Once-unthinkable water crises are becoming commonplace. Reservoirs in Chennai, India’s sixth-largest city, are nearly dry right now. Last year, residents of Cape Town, South Africa narrowly avoided their own “Day Zero” water shut-off. And the year before that, Rome rationed water to […]
Read more »Beyond Water Wars?
July 29th, 2019
Courtesy of The Wilson Quarterly, an interesting look at that, while dire predictions of nations battling over water have not come true, the most bitter conflicts over water are closer to home: Former World Bank Vice-President Ismail Serageldin predicted in 1995 that “the wars of the next century will be about water.” It was a […]
Read more »How Climate Change Can Fuel Wars
June 6th, 2019
Courtesy of The Economist, commentary on the fact that droughts are already making conflict more likely and – as the world gets hotter – mayhem could spread: On the outskirts of Baga Sola, a small town in Chad not far from the border with Nigeria, is a refugee camp called Dar es Salaam. The name […]
Read more »Global Freshwater Supplies Threatened by Overuse
May 8th, 2019
Via Future Directions International, a sobering look at global freshwater supplies: As global demand for food and water grows, there is increasing pressure on the world’s freshwater supplies. Climate change is responsible for some surface water loss, as weather patterns become hotter and dryer in some regions, prolonging droughts and accelerating evaporation. Although climate change has […]
Read more »Worsening Drought and Conflict Loom in Southeast Asia
April 29th, 2019
Courtesy of Circle of Blue, a look at worsening drought in southeast Asia: More than 66 million Southeast Asians had their lives disrupted by drought in the past three decades. Dry conditions aggravated poverty and inequality, and inflamed regional conflicts. Unless governments take decisive action soon, the future could be worse, a new report warns. […]
Read more »England: Could Run Short of Water Within 25 Years
March 27th, 2019
Courtesy of The Guardian, an article on how England could run short of water within 25 years: England is set to run short of water within 25 years, the chief executive of the Environment Agency has warned. The country is facing the ‘‘jaws of death”, Sir James Bevan said, at the point where water demand from […]
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