Are the Water Wars Coming?
Al Jazeera / By Chris Arsenault
Almost half of humanity will face water scarcity by 2030 and strategists from Israel to Central Asia prepare for strife.
In March, a report from the office of the US Director of National Intelligence said the risk of conflict would grow as water demand is set to outstrip sustainable current supplies by 40 per cent by 2030.
"These threats are real and they do raise serious national security concerns," Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said after the report's release.
Internationally, 780 million people lack access to safe drinking water, according to the United Nations. By 2030, 47 percent of the worlds population will be living in areas of high water stress, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Environmental Outlook to 2030 report.
cont'd: http://www.alternet.org/water/are-water-wars-coming
JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)There are going to be big problems and probably sooner than 2030.
Julie
Journeyman
(15,036 posts)In an ongoing effort to understand the connections between water resources, water systems, and international security and conflict, the Pacific Institute initiated a project in the late 1980s to track and categorize events related to water and conflict, which has been continuously updated since. The newly revised format, updated November 2009, presents the information three ways, to better illustrate how conflicts over water impact history:
A list format that can be filtered by region, conflict type, and date range.
A timeline showing when conflicts over water occured that can be filtered by region, conflict type, and date range.
An interactive map showing the geographic location where conflicts over water have occured, and information about each conflict.
It's a fascinating look at the history and potential future of conflicts over one of our most precious resources.
Politicalboi
(15,189 posts)Only smaller, we could supply our own water to our homes. We may still need public water from time to time, but in the long run we will be more self sufficient.
http://www.businessinsider.com/new-wind-turbine-creates-drinking-water-from-humid-air-2012-5?op=1
Confusious
(8,317 posts)I wish we could get it to work in arizona, but it's a dry heat. It's only humid during the monsoon season, so we'd have to make a year's worth during that July-Nov period.
The only other problem is that if it's say, 10 times smaller, it would only produce 100 liters a day, which is around 26 gallons. The average person uses 80-100 gallons a day.
But still, any stress taken off natural sources would be a good thing.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)Brilliant combination.
bloomington-lib
(946 posts)They say it produces 1000 liters per day which can supply a town of 2000-3000 people every day for 20yrs. Unless I'm looking at this wrong, these numbers don't add up. Even with a village of 1000 people, each person would only get one liter and that isn't enough to survive on, especially in a desert.