it can be described as the most
important resource on earth but with
supply dwindling on some parts of the
planet it’s also providing inspiration
for conflict in the 21st century
welcome to watchmojo.com 10 crucial
facts you should know about global water
wars
number 10 what does the term water war
mean basic science says it’s imperative
for humankind to have regular access to
clean water in order to survive but
clean water is becoming increasingly
difficult to find in some parts of the
world which provokes political tension
and can ignite a so called water war
experts and analysts remain skeptical
that problems over water will bring
about a world war but there is evidence
that regional conflicts are rising and
that they will continue to increase
unless the situation changes as leading
hydrologist James family Ettie observes
in terms of the world water supply quote
we are standing on a precipice number
nine who controls the water for areas
less directly affected by shortages it
can be easy to take water for granted
however when in 2008 investment-banking
leader goldman sachs referred to water
as quote the petroleum for the next
century they underlined a financially
clinical nature to its regulation and
distribution it might be assumed that
local governments control water supply
and in many cases that remains true but
there is an increasing trend for local
authorities to sell off water utilities
the big businesses stumping up the cash
are now known as water barons as the
industry becomes increasingly privatized
number eight which areas are at the
greatest risk North Africa South Asia
and the Middle East are considered the
most likely areas to experience severe
shortages over the coming decades making
them most susceptible to water wars as
an example according to the Guardian
newspaper between the years 2003 and
2010 Turkey Syria Iraq and Iran jointly
lost over 35 cubic miles of stored fresh
water along the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers mostly due to poor past
management and overuse Family Eddie says
that middle latitude regions do and will
struggle most he says quote arid and
semi-arid parts of the world are getting
drier while quote countries at northern
latitudes and in the tropics are getting
wetter number seven
how will water be used as a tool as
water becomes a rarer commodity it
inevitably becomes more valuable
particularly if privatization increases
to that end a recent American
intelligence investigation has
identified water as a future tool for
political leverage wielded especially
between nations states and territories
that have shared a water source the
Office of the Director of National
Intelligence or odni report predicts
that States will quote support major
water projects to obtain regional
influence and that upstream nations may
quote impede or cut off downstream flow
even more concerning though is the
suggestion that water terrorism will
naturally follow with physical
infrastructure and dams becoming major
targets for attacks that could affect
millions of lives number six what is the
impact of climate change while water
disputes have occurred throughout
history the modern-day situation is
greatly intensified by the ever-present
threat of climate change in the area’s
most under threat droughts are happening
more often their lasting longer carrying
greater severity and they prompt
increasingly desperate drilling for
groundwater the scramble for water
leaves thousands of families displaced
and angry breeding a section of society
which analysts believe
is more likely to enter into a dispute
or be swayed by rebel mentalities number
5 how important is desalination
desalination is the process by which
salt is removed from water to create a
fresh drinkable supply moving forward
the technique could become crucial also
used to purify wastewater desalination
allows humankind to turn to the oceans
in order to quench its increasing thirst
especially as demand for fresh water is
set to be rising by over 160 billion
gallons a year
despite initial concerns regarding high
energy use these salination techniques
are now being adopted the world over in
some places such as Britain plants are
built largely as a precautionary measure
but in Saudi Arabia and the u.s. the
world’s two most prominent users the
reliance on desalinated water is growing
China is expected to emerge as a
desalination leader within the next
decade though a country which holds
around 1/5 of the world’s population but
just 7% of its fresh water China aims to
quadruple at sea water desalination by
2020 producing 940 million gallons a day
number 4 what is the current state of
drinkable water current statistics are a
source for major concern according to
the water project one in nine people
worldwide do not have access to clean
drinking water and 37% of those people
live in sub-saharan Africa
internationally half of all hospital
beds are filled with people suffering a
water related disease and in developing
countries around 80% of illness can be
linked to poor water conditions the
Global Water partnership says that only
two and a half percent of the total
volume of water on earth is drinkable
and that only 0.3 percent of that is
located in rivers and lakes finally
National Geographic predicts that by
2025 about 66 of the world population
will live in water stressed regions as a
result of overuse and climate change
number three what issues have arisen so
far
UNESCO says that the majority of water
conflicts occur in the already
politically tense Middle East Syria
Turkey and Iraq dispute use of shared
rivers while the Jordan River conflict
involves Israel Lebanon Jordan and
Palestine the Nile River is also
contested between Egypt Sudan and
Ethiopia
while the Aral Sea is a source of
tension for surrounding nations in
Central Asia in East Asia political
pressure is predicted to rise over the
Mekong River as well China is expected
to Dam parts of the water source which
will impact downstream supply to Burma
Laos Thailand Vietnam and Cambodia India
and Pakistan also have a hostile history
that’s expected to continue regarding
their shared use of the Indus River
number two what factors have contributed
to this situation a leading reason for
water shortage and the subsequent water
wars
is rising population in a February 2015
article The New Yorker highlights how
quote water never technically disappears
when it leaves one place it goes
somewhere else and that quote the amount
of fresh water on earth has not changed
significantly in millions of years
however population growth means that
what was once an adequate supply has
become inadequate water shortage is also
a result of rising prosperity as
successful families ditch less
environmentally demanding vegetarian
lifestyles in favor of protein rich meat
based diets which require much more
water to maintain in the past century
the population has tripled but water use
has grown six-fold in short we have more
people using more water per person
number one how will this end
if the threat of water wars emphasizes
one thing it’s the importance of rain
water if rains were regular and reliable
tensions would not run so high but the
modern world reality is that drought is
in
climate change accelerating and the
population rising while there’s clearly
money to be made by private water firms
in the 21st century the onus is on local
governments and international bodies to
regulate water supply fairly branded by
analysts as the oil of our time the
water rush will continue to provoke
conflict until systems are installed to
suit all sides the first step involves
finalizing a definition of water is it a
regional luxury or an international
right did these facts get you thinking
to vote for which news story is covered
next
head over to watchmojo.com slash suggest
and be sure to hit that subscribe button
for more newsworthy top 10s published
every week
important resource on earth but with
supply dwindling on some parts of the
planet it’s also providing inspiration
for conflict in the 21st century
welcome to watchmojo.com 10 crucial
facts you should know about global water
wars
number 10 what does the term water war
mean basic science says it’s imperative
for humankind to have regular access to
clean water in order to survive but
clean water is becoming increasingly
difficult to find in some parts of the
world which provokes political tension
and can ignite a so called water war
experts and analysts remain skeptical
that problems over water will bring
about a world war but there is evidence
that regional conflicts are rising and
that they will continue to increase
unless the situation changes as leading
hydrologist James family Ettie observes
in terms of the world water supply quote
we are standing on a precipice number
nine who controls the water for areas
less directly affected by shortages it
can be easy to take water for granted
however when in 2008 investment-banking
leader goldman sachs referred to water
as quote the petroleum for the next
century they underlined a financially
clinical nature to its regulation and
distribution it might be assumed that
local governments control water supply
and in many cases that remains true but
there is an increasing trend for local
authorities to sell off water utilities
the big businesses stumping up the cash
are now known as water barons as the
industry becomes increasingly privatized
number eight which areas are at the
greatest risk North Africa South Asia
and the Middle East are considered the
most likely areas to experience severe
shortages over the coming decades making
them most susceptible to water wars as
an example according to the Guardian
newspaper between the years 2003 and
2010 Turkey Syria Iraq and Iran jointly
lost over 35 cubic miles of stored fresh
water along the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers mostly due to poor past
management and overuse Family Eddie says
that middle latitude regions do and will
struggle most he says quote arid and
semi-arid parts of the world are getting
drier while quote countries at northern
latitudes and in the tropics are getting
wetter number seven
how will water be used as a tool as
water becomes a rarer commodity it
inevitably becomes more valuable
particularly if privatization increases
to that end a recent American
intelligence investigation has
identified water as a future tool for
political leverage wielded especially
between nations states and territories
that have shared a water source the
Office of the Director of National
Intelligence or odni report predicts
that States will quote support major
water projects to obtain regional
influence and that upstream nations may
quote impede or cut off downstream flow
even more concerning though is the
suggestion that water terrorism will
naturally follow with physical
infrastructure and dams becoming major
targets for attacks that could affect
millions of lives number six what is the
impact of climate change while water
disputes have occurred throughout
history the modern-day situation is
greatly intensified by the ever-present
threat of climate change in the area’s
most under threat droughts are happening
more often their lasting longer carrying
greater severity and they prompt
increasingly desperate drilling for
groundwater the scramble for water
leaves thousands of families displaced
and angry breeding a section of society
which analysts believe
is more likely to enter into a dispute
or be swayed by rebel mentalities number
5 how important is desalination
desalination is the process by which
salt is removed from water to create a
fresh drinkable supply moving forward
the technique could become crucial also
used to purify wastewater desalination
allows humankind to turn to the oceans
in order to quench its increasing thirst
especially as demand for fresh water is
set to be rising by over 160 billion
gallons a year
despite initial concerns regarding high
energy use these salination techniques
are now being adopted the world over in
some places such as Britain plants are
built largely as a precautionary measure
but in Saudi Arabia and the u.s. the
world’s two most prominent users the
reliance on desalinated water is growing
China is expected to emerge as a
desalination leader within the next
decade though a country which holds
around 1/5 of the world’s population but
just 7% of its fresh water China aims to
quadruple at sea water desalination by
2020 producing 940 million gallons a day
number 4 what is the current state of
drinkable water current statistics are a
source for major concern according to
the water project one in nine people
worldwide do not have access to clean
drinking water and 37% of those people
live in sub-saharan Africa
internationally half of all hospital
beds are filled with people suffering a
water related disease and in developing
countries around 80% of illness can be
linked to poor water conditions the
Global Water partnership says that only
two and a half percent of the total
volume of water on earth is drinkable
and that only 0.3 percent of that is
located in rivers and lakes finally
National Geographic predicts that by
2025 about 66 of the world population
will live in water stressed regions as a
result of overuse and climate change
number three what issues have arisen so
far
UNESCO says that the majority of water
conflicts occur in the already
politically tense Middle East Syria
Turkey and Iraq dispute use of shared
rivers while the Jordan River conflict
involves Israel Lebanon Jordan and
Palestine the Nile River is also
contested between Egypt Sudan and
Ethiopia
while the Aral Sea is a source of
tension for surrounding nations in
Central Asia in East Asia political
pressure is predicted to rise over the
Mekong River as well China is expected
to Dam parts of the water source which
will impact downstream supply to Burma
Laos Thailand Vietnam and Cambodia India
and Pakistan also have a hostile history
that’s expected to continue regarding
their shared use of the Indus River
number two what factors have contributed
to this situation a leading reason for
water shortage and the subsequent water
wars
is rising population in a February 2015
article The New Yorker highlights how
quote water never technically disappears
when it leaves one place it goes
somewhere else and that quote the amount
of fresh water on earth has not changed
significantly in millions of years
however population growth means that
what was once an adequate supply has
become inadequate water shortage is also
a result of rising prosperity as
successful families ditch less
environmentally demanding vegetarian
lifestyles in favor of protein rich meat
based diets which require much more
water to maintain in the past century
the population has tripled but water use
has grown six-fold in short we have more
people using more water per person
number one how will this end
if the threat of water wars emphasizes
one thing it’s the importance of rain
water if rains were regular and reliable
tensions would not run so high but the
modern world reality is that drought is
in
climate change accelerating and the
population rising while there’s clearly
money to be made by private water firms
in the 21st century the onus is on local
governments and international bodies to
regulate water supply fairly branded by
analysts as the oil of our time the
water rush will continue to provoke
conflict until systems are installed to
suit all sides the first step involves
finalizing a definition of water is it a
regional luxury or an international
right did these facts get you thinking
to vote for which news story is covered
next
head over to watchmojo.com slash suggest
and be sure to hit that subscribe button
for more newsworthy top 10s published
every week
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