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There is no consensus among water analysts on whether there will be global wars over water ownership.
According to UNESCO, globally there are 262 international river basins: 59 in Africa, 52 in Asia, 73 in Europe, 61 in Latin America and the Caribbean and 17 in North America — overall, 145 countries have territories that include at least one shared river basin.
UNESCO states that between 1948 and 1999, there have been 1,831 “international interactions” recorded, including 507 conflicts, 96 neutral or non-significant events and, most importantly, 1,228 instances of cooperation around water-related issues.
As a result, some experts argue that the idea of water wars is rather farfetched given the precedent of water cooperation that has been exhibited by many of the countries around the world.
“Despite the potential problem, history has demonstrated that cooperation, rather than conflict, is likely in shared basins,” says UNESCO.
A report released by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, has showcased facts that suggest Australia will suffer more extreme temperatures in the years to come, thanks all to climate change.
The report forecasted heat waves, less rain and a subsequent increased drought. It predicted that exceptionally hot years, which had originally only occurred every 20 to 25 years, were now more likely to hit every one or two years. And the report noted that all of this could start as soon as 2010.
Here’s a little bit of good, common-sense news to celebrate this Independence Day: city officials in drought-stricken Sacramento have decided against fining a local couple for not watering their lawn. Guess the ongoing news coverage embarrassed the right people into doing the right thing.
A little background: after California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared emergency drought conditions in the state early last month, homeowners Matt George and Anne Hartridge decided that lavishing grass with a precious liquid wasn’t the right way to deal with the crisis. So they stopped watering their lawn. Naturally, the grass responded by turning a crisp, dead brown. And, naturally, some disapproving lawn-lover complained.
We have heard about China’s air quality and pollution woes recently in the media , especially as the start of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games approaches. A new report released last week adds yet another dimension to China’s environmental concerns.
According to a report entitled Beijing’s Water Crisis: 1949—2008 Olympics, published by Probe International, China’s policy of transferring water from draught-ridden neighborhoods to the nation’s capital in order to meet water needs for the upcoming Olympics is harming China’s environment and local farming economies.
Moreover, the abuse of water supplies contradicts the games’ “green” theme and supposed commitment to sustainability.
Their science is impressive, but their timing is dead on. It doesn’t quite seem fair that California has been blessed with the perfect growing climate for some of the world’s best agriculture (and of course, wine) but saddled with a water shortage.
To help the Napa winemakers and wineries worldwide oversee their crop irrigation and management, Sebastian Payen and Thibaut Scholasch, of Fruition Sciences have turned the science of hydration [...]
By Carol Gulyas •
June 15, 2008
Though many states and localities are waking up to their water shortages and taking steps to plan for “peak water”, people generally continue to waste water and to ignore the energy-water link. In 2004 the Natural Resources Defense Council did a study in conjunction with the Pacific Institute called “Energy Down the Drain” on how saving water saves energy. We need to do more to spread the word. [...]
A new study suggests that geysers, like Old Faithful, are affected by climate conditions, such as droughts. Shaul Hurwitz, a researcher with the U.S. Geological Survey, Ashish Kumar, a Stanford University statistician, and two National Park Service scientists have discovered that changes in the supply of underground water to a geyser can influence the amount of time between eruptions. “Coupled with this decrease in precipitation, we see an increase in eruption [...]
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought today, following two straight years of below-average rainfall, very low snowmelt runoff and the largest court-ordered water transfer restrictions of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in state history.
The governor also issued an Executive Order meant to address related problems caused by the water shortages, such as extreme fire danger due to dry conditions, economic harm to urban and rural communities, loss of crops and the potential to degrade water [...]
A Great Lakes compact that would prevent the region’s water from being siphoned off into the thirsty Southwest and other dry parts of the country is a little closer to taking effect, now that lawmakers in Michigan have OK’d the deal.
The Great Lakes Water Resources Compact aims to protect the water rights of the eight states bordering the lakes: Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Michigan’s approval of the agreement brings the number of states signed on so far to five: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and New York.
Spurred by shrinking freshwater supplies, U.S. states could begin “water wars” in the next years to claim rights to Great Lakes water, warned American and Canadian scientists at a water conference in Toronto last week.
Nations around the world, such as India and Australia, are already experiencing drought and its effects on access to clean water and increases in food prices–and states in the American South and West are bracing themselves for a [...]
In yet another ludicrous example of people being punished for conserving (see a previous instance here), water-strapped Atlanta and Fulton County are mulling a 15-percent water rate hike to offset revenue losses caused by residents trying to reduce their consumption.
