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Subterranean Blues: The Global Groundwater Crisis
March 4th, 2019
Courtesy of The Economist, a report on groundwater: In 2004, when Danmanti Devi was four years old, her mother took her to see a doctor because of pains in her legs. The doctor wrongly diagnosed polio. He could do no more than prescribe painkillers. Danmanti’s legs are now deformed. Many others in Churaman Nagar, her 140-household […]
Read more »Controlling The Source: Water Related Conflict On The Rise
March 4th, 2019
Via The Economist, an article on how violence of access to water is on the rise: It has become a cliché of doom-mongering: future wars will be over water. The forecast is old enough to face a sceptical backlash. Whatever happened, people ask, to the water wars? One answer emphasises the role water has played in […]
Read more »Water As A Weapon: A Historical Look
February 17th, 2019
Via The Smithsonian, an article on the history of water being used as a weapon: It was a sultry-hot Sunday in August 2014 when ISIS came to the Iraqi town of Snune. Roaring around the flanks of Sinjar Mountain in the country’s far northwest, the black-clad fighters quickly seized whatever men, women and children hadn’t been able […]
Read more »Groundwater: Take More Than A Century To Adapt To Climate Change?
February 13th, 2019
Via The Conversation, commentary on the state of the world’s groundwater: Groundwater is the biggest store of accessible freshwater in the world, providing billions of people with water for drinking and crop irrigation. That’s all despite the fact that most will never see groundwater at its source – it’s stored naturally below ground within the Earth’s pores and […]
Read more »Images Of A Thirsty World
February 1st, 2019
Via Quartz, some striking images of our thirsty world: Predictions of catastrophic water shortages may seem like apocalyptic visions of the future, but water crises are indeed a fact of modern life already. Natural factors like drought have left some reservoirs depleted, while siphoning of historical water sources have transformed freshwater bodies into dusty shadows […]
Read more »Drought + Conflict = Climate Refugees
January 28th, 2019
Via Eco Business, an article on statistical examination of whether – in a context of poor governance and a medium level of democracy – severe climate conditions can create conflict over scarce resources: Austrian researchers have made it simpler to identify climate refugees, claiming to have established a direct causal link between climate change, conflict and the […]
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