"Water is the fundamental pillar on which life is premised today", said Penn State's and MIT's Professor Rick Schuhman in a recent interview. "I can go for a month without eating, he comments, but after three days, I as an individual, I begin to die without water. When it comes to our society, we use 70-90% of our water across the world for agriculture. Not for potable purposes, but for agriculture. So without water, we lose our ability to engage in agricultural production. Energy production is very water intensive and we're going to see in the future, probably, greater conflicts between the use of water for agricultural reasons for food production and the use of water for the production of biofuels. So there's this real tension; without water human health disappears, energy disappears, food disappears."
We now begin to realize just too well how the problem of scarcity and can lead to local and international
conflict. Now imagine we did find solutions to water scarcity. This could reverse the equation: resolving the issue of water scarcity could create peace and prosperity.
In March 2005, the United Nations proclaimed the "International Decade on Water and Development". As we approach the end of this 2005-2015, it is only legitimate to ask ourselves what has been accomplished. What should we fear in terms of water scarcity and conflicts over water? What can we hope for in the near future for new business opportunities, new jobs, new ways of enriching communities or entire nations with more abundant yet sustainable water supply and hopefully end conflict?
We now begin to realize just too well how the problem of scarcity and can lead to local and international
conflict. Now imagine we did find solutions to water scarcity. This could reverse the equation: resolving the issue of water scarcity could create peace and prosperity.
The good news is that solutions already exist.
"Waters of the Globe" as a virtual research center, explores those solutions while helping the public and decision-makers to understand all the implications of hydropolitics - the political geography of water.
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left: an ancient aqueduct in Cappadocia, Turkey, over a dried-out river. Photo by O. Kobtzeff.
"Waters of the Globe" as a virtual research center, explores those solutions while helping the public and decision-makers to understand all the implications of hydropolitics - the political geography of water.
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left: an ancient aqueduct in Cappadocia, Turkey, over a dried-out river. Photo by O. Kobtzeff.
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In March 2005, the United Nations proclaimed the "International Decade on Water and Development". As we approach the end of this 2005-2015, it is only legitimate to ask ourselves what has been accomplished. What should we fear in terms of water scarcity and conflicts over water? What can we hope for in the near future for new business opportunities, new jobs, new ways of enriching communities or entire nations with more abundant yet sustainable water supply and hopefully end conflict?
The following is a list of answers to these questions, a list of facts that should make us understand how important is the issue of water.
WATER FACTS
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| Photo: Bureau of Land Management, State or Field Office |
2 billion people without (...)
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(This site is under construction)
