Lets talk water: The Global Pressures of Population and Access to Clean Water

Venezuelans Thirsty in a Land of Abundant Water:  Since 2008 Venezuela has boasted that it met the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people who do not have access to safe drinking water, reporting that clean water now reaches 96 percent of the population of 30 million.

But in 2003, 2009 and  2014, with the changes in rainfall patterns caused by the El Niño and La Niña climate phenomena, large segments of the urban and rural populations have found that the taps are dry, or running only sporadically, or the water is brown because of the mud, or green due to organic material. “Since 2011, the taps almost always run dry. Families here pay 1,000 bolivars each [20 dollars, one-quarter of the minimum monthly wage] to pay the tanker trucks that bring us water,” street vendor Dulce Hernández from Carayaca, a town on the Caribbean coast north west of Caracas, told Tierramérica.


The Global Pressures of Population and Access to Clean Water: The US Census Bureau’s World Clock says that the population of the world today is estimated at 7.008 billion people, while projections show that the world could reach the 9 billion marker by 2050. In the last of its series called “7 Billion: Conversations That Matter,” Aspen Institute’s Global Health and Development today hosted a panel of experts based in Africa and the United States on the interconnectedness of gender issues, family planning, population and access to safe water.
The point of the series was to ask questions about why it mattered that the world was passing the 7 billion mark, and the questions today in Washington were appropriately big: Will water wars replace oil wars? What are the solutions to expand water and sanitation to the 2.5 billion people who don’t have it? And just how many people can the world support in an equitable fashion?

Freshwater rivers and lakes are subject to seasonal floods and droughts that can limit their availability for people and for agriculture. At present only 5% of arable land is irrigated. Now scientists have for the first time been able to carry out a continent-wide analysis of the water that is hidden under the surface in aquifers. Researchers from the British Geological Survey and University College London (UCL) have mapped in detail the amount and potential yield of this groundwater resource across the continent. 

"Where there's greatest ground water storage is in northern Africa, in the large sedimentary basins, in Libya, Algeria and Chad," she said. "The amount of storage in those basins is equivalent to 75m thickness of water across that area - it's a huge amount." Who would have thought? Water, Water, Water — Libya’s Hidden Asset: The Great Man-Made River, as the largest water transport project ever undertaken, has been described as the “eighth wonder of the world”. It carries more than five million cubic metres of water per day across the desert to coastal areas, vastly increasing the amount of arable land. The total cost of the huge project is expected to exceed $25 billion (US).

The Life and Secrets of Water: Experts in the scientific communities as well as homeopathy and holistic sciences have proven the “Memory” of water; the carrying capacity of water for “energy,” and the ability of water to “remember”.

Experts realize that water retains information, even after the most stringent purification and filtration processes. This is termed the energy signature or vibrational imprint. The vibrational imprint of toxins (mercury, lead, chromium, etc.) can be picked up by the water molecule and are in turn passed on to living organisms. As you see from the pictures below, words, thoughts and sounds directly affect the water in your body and all living organisms.

Clean water for the entire world an ambitious goal but thanks to man an impossible endeavor

Water, water everywhere and not enough to drink or use

We will survive however with growing climatic destruction and a growing permanent hungry nomadic world population remember the Movie Soylent Green?

The end result has long been here! Growing worlds water wars




James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

China's obsession with Tibet is all about controlling Asia's water source for the future

China will "smash" any plan to undermine Tibet's place within China because the Himalaya's are China and Asia's water supply. Control that and you control Asia or start a war?

China stands firm against Tibet separatism: The man destined to take over the leadership of China said he will "smash" any plan to undermine Tibet's place within China. Xi Jinping made the statement during a major trip to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, where he and his entourage of nearly 60 senior central government ... China will "smash" any plan to undermine Tibet's place within China because the Himalaya's are China and Asia's water supply. Control that and you control Asia or start a war? We first discussed it 4 years ago

Droughts and water shortages already been driving conflict around the globe: The potential for conflict is more than theoretical. Turkey, Syria and Iraq bristle over the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt trade threats over the Nile. The United Nations has said water scarcity is behind the bloody wars in Sudan’s Darfur region. In Somalia, drought has spawned warlords and armies. Already, the World Health Organization says, 1 billion people lack access to potable water. In northern China, retreating glaciers and shrinking wetlands that feed the Yangtze River prompted researchers to warn that water supplies for hundreds of millions of people may be at risk. Water wars will worsen

Water has emerged as a key issue that could determine if Asia is headed toward cooperation or competition. No country would influence that direction more than China, which controls the Tibetan plateau, the source of most major rivers of Asia. Tibet's vast glaciers and high altitude have endowed it with the world's greatest river systems. Its rivers are a lifeline to the world's two most-populous states - China and India - as well as to Bangladesh, Burma, Bhutan, Nepal, Cambodia, Pakistan, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. These countries make up 47 percent of the global population.

Yet Asia is a water-deficient continent. Although home to more than half of the human population, Asia has less fresh water - 3,920 cubic meters per person - than any continent other than the Antarctica and China is taking it. The looming struggle over water resources in Asia has been underscored by the spread of irrigated farming, water-intensive industries and a growing middle class that wants high water-consuming comforts like washing machines and dishwashers. Household water consumption in Asia is rising rapidly, although several major economies there are acutely water-stressed.

The specter of water wars in Asia is also being highlighted by climate change and environmental degradation in the form of shrinking forests and swamps that foster a cycle of chronic flooding and droughts. The Himalayan snow melt that feeds Asia's great rivers could be accelerated by global warming. Man am I naive! I couldn't understand China's wanting to control Tibet, the Himalaya's, and the Dali Lama, now I know. Asia's water wars It is all about the water period!

This is a crisis that will only worsen every day around the world . Tens of millions of Americans have or are migrating to the southern and western states where there are many areas of chronic water shortages (duh). Remember when then Governor Bill Richardson fired the first shot, suggesting a national water policy, which is shorthand for stealing water from the Great Lakes. Rust belters were outraged, some suggesting we sell Richardson water at $80.00 a barrel.

Vegas, probably the fastest growing area in the country, is sucking as much from the Colorado as it can, and will still have major shortages, perhaps within months. The Great Lakes are in a low cycle and any diversion would probably be an ecological disaster. I was looking at the links that follow and the Great lakes are being fought over as we speak and America is already experiencing water wars as well as much of the world. Please look at the overwhelming amount of stories on The worlds water wars

The world is already at war with our shrinking changing environment. A war we are bound to lose. I cannot comprehend the world racing to another world war that will only serve to seal all of their demise even sooner. What is wrong with us?

James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

War capabilities are building on our northern and southern Borders and now North Korea

* Putin: Russia, China help build new world order

Something real bad for the US and the world just dawned on me. I did not think much of it when I discussed the fact that Russia is going to put 2 battalions in the Arctic to defend her interests beyond the obvious build up to war in the Arctic over oil and other resources.  

Russia's Defense minister said he planned on forming two specialist Army Brigades to be based in the Arctic.  The announcement came days after Prime minister Vladimir Putin said Russia would strongly Defend its interest. I see that they are still training and preparing equipment to fight in the cold and will be stationed by Norway by 2015.

Then I remembered our discussion 5 years ago as to how we were being squeezed from the north and the south while we were off war mongering around the world under Bush. It is only getting worse. I want you to read this as most do not have a clue and put 2 battalions of Russian troops at our doorstep into perspective. The big picture here is not good.

War was building on our northern and southern Borders by the rest of the world as Bush was in their yards doing his instigating. It continues under Obama. 2 stories must be reiterated!

May 4 2008 we discussed: As we watch Bush interfere in every area of the world as he raced to instigate world war before his time was up a story I responded to about whether or not Alaska was going to become the next middle east made me realize many do not realize what is happening in our northern yard and for that matter our southern Backyard as Bush tried to instigate the world to war everywhere he could we were and are being squeezed from both ends right here in America. I find it necessary to repeat 2 of the many stories I have done on this as many still do not realize how bad it is right here societal issues, gas and food aside!

This is really bad! First Russia building Venezuela Refineries, China Building Mexican ports, what about the myriad of problems in our own backyard?

I know we have much to be paying attention to and be concerned with around the world. Most of it is due to Bush now Obama. However as I have written many times about Chavez's hate for Bush and America and watching their ever growing connections with Iran, China, and Russia, I am becoming increasingly concerned about what is happening right here in our own backyard while our attention seems to be everywhere but in our immediate area.

We have Russia building up to 13 refineries in Venezuela. Very interesting as Iran is experiencing gas shortages and riots as a result of a lack of refineries.and our sanctions. Anyway Venezuela has to build four refineries to process heavy crude from fields in the Orinoco Belt and is considering establishing a joint venture with Russia to satisfy these goals, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said during a business conference at the Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce.

"Orinoco, where Lukoil is now working, there are demonstrated reserves of 300 billion tons of heavy crude in two new fields," Chavez said before he died. "Therefore we have decided to build four refineries, and in the future, accounting for the interests of countries in the Caribbean region, 13 refineries altogether."

Chavez said that at present, Venezuela is considering establishing a joint venture with Russia in pursuit of these aims. He said that Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and other South American countries could also found such ventures. they will build a pipeline to Argentina and buy $5 Billion worth of equipment figuring why not Russia?

I have learned through a conversation on the clandestine efforts in creating A North American union that China is funding and clandestinely building ports in Mexico. A friend pointed out to us that Lázaro Cárdenas is home to a deep-water seaport that handles container, dry bulk, and liquid cargo.

The port handled 160,000 TEU in 2005 but is expanding to a capacity of 2.2 million TEU annually. Cargo is moved to and from the port by road and rail equally, with rail service provided exclusively by Kansas City Southern Railway. The port is expected to become a major container facility due to congestion at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and its relative proximity to major cities such as Chicago, Kansas City, and Houston.

Also our LA and Long Beach ports handle 6.7 million TEU and 3.8 million and they are very congested. Due to a lot of reasons, they can't expand as you can see, the Mexican port is not to replace the US ports, (it couldn't) but to add more ports so we get more crap we don't need from China. Also there are plans for another deep water port in Baja. A Los Angeles firm, fronting for Chinese and Korean concerns, is lobbying the Mexican government to be granted permission to build a $1 billion dollar port in the agricultural area of Punta Colonet, 150 miles south of Tijuana.

The downside is the obvious environmental impact. The LA Times described the intended area as ‘deserted farmland’ This is far from fact. Punta Colonet south San Quintin is one of the most productive agricultural areas in Baja. Its proximity to Hwy. 1 and the US have spurred the growth of large commercial farming in the area. Having anchored in Punta Colonet, it is a beautiful, unspoiled area where orchards and farms run right to the oceans edge. There has been tremendous growth in the region over the last 6 years Meanwhile because of our war mongering. I do not expect any difference from his predecessor.

President Hugo Chavez urged soldiers to prepare for a guerrilla-style war against the United States, saying that Washington is using psychological and economic warfare as part of an unconventional campaign aimed at derailing his government. Declaring that it is not just armed warfare, Under Chavez, Venezuela had recently purchased some $3 billion worth of arms from Russia, including 53 military helicopters, 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles, 24 SU-30 Sukhoi fighter jets. Chavez said he was considering arms purchases, including submarines and a missile-equipped air defense system, as he prepared for his tour of Russia, Belarus and Iran a year ago.

A Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine armed with long-range cruise missiles operated undetected in the Gulf of Mexico for several weeks and its travel in strategic U.S. waters was only confirmed after it left the region, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

  It is only the second time since 2009 that a Russian attack submarine has patrolled so close to U.S. shores. The stealth underwater incursion in the Gulf took place at the same time Russian strategic bombers made incursions into restricted U.S. airspace near Alaska and California in June and July, and highlights a growing military assertiveness by Moscow.

While all this is going on in our own backyard we had a very good discussion on the clandestine efforts to establish a security and Prosperity Partnership known as the North American Union. However there were a couple who said we were crazy. Remember that? It did not fully materialize but just keep watching. I was happy to receive confirmation from Canada and again from one of our members. He said: I wish more left-wingers would recognize this as There's a left-wing organization in Canada ("The Council of Canadians") that has been on top of this for several years now. They call it "Deep Integration" and talk about it as an extension of NAFTA.

Now even worse than all that! I did a series of 3 stories August 9th, 10th, and 11th, 2007. Feel free to check them out but here is the most critical as to what is happening in our northern yard as the world prepares for the upcoming war future! Anyway, I wanted to discuss when Russia declared that it had successfully planted their flag at the bottom of the Arctic claiming it as Russian territory.

Russia was disturbed that Canada the US and others dismissed it as a joke saying that is worthless in the 21st Century. Myself I wasn't so sure as it seems like a scary ratcheting up of the race for future resources and world domination. Well attitudes are changing when recent events are taken into account.

It has been noted that Russian nostalgia for past greatness has been seen stretching from the North Pole to the Mediterranean via the Caucasus. First the Russians planted a flag on the bottom of the Arctic. Then they promised to return to the Mediterranean. For good measure, a Russian-made bomb fell (but did not explode) into a vegetable field in Georgia. That the three events came close together may be a coincidence. That they all testify to Russia's new assertiveness is not. Then there are the ongoing threats of re-targeting missiles, and dropping existing arms treaties because of the U.S. insisting on putting the missile shield in Poland and Czechoslovakia.


*Kremlin Criticizes Georgian-U.S. Military Exercises Remember that Georgia wants to be part of NATO but Russia does not want us too close.




Russia's naval commander proposed "to restore its permanent presence" in the Mediterranean, using the Baltic and Black Sea fleets and they have. Now we hear Iran has managed to get a war ship there. For years a Russian naval base in Syria had been standing empty. The return of their ships to Syria was a dream come true to Russia's admirals and a nightmare for Israel, which fears renewed Russian co-operation with Syria.

In my mind Russia's Mediterranean plans pale in comparison with its audacious foray into the Arctic where they collected soil samples and planted the Russian flag two and a half miles below the sea. The official purpose of this first-ever manned mission was "to prove that the North Pole is an extension of the Russian coastal shelf." Geologists say the region could have big oil, gas and mineral reserves.

Knowing that the Arctic features prominently in Russian Imperial mythology and the rising desire for Russia to regain prominence as a world power you have to be very concerned about this and Canada now is. Canada's prime minister went on a three-day trip to the Arctic in an effort to assert sovereignty over the region a week after Russia symbolically staked a claim to the North Pole by sending submarines.

Five countries -- Canada, Russia, the United States, Norway and Denmark -- are competing to secure subsurface rights to the Arctic seabed. One study by the U.S. Geological Survey estimates the Arctic has as much as 25 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas. PM Harper, who has pledged to spend billions defending Canada's sovereignty over the Arctic, is expected to announce the location of a planned military deep water port later in the week.

"Economic development -- unleashing the resource-based potential of the North, environmental protection -- protecting the unique Northern environment, national sovereignty -- protecting our land, airspace and territorial waters." Last month, Harper announced that six to eight new patrol ships will be built to guard the Northwest Passage sea route in the Arctic, which the United States insists does not belong to Canada.

U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins has criticized Harper's promise to defend the Arctic, calling the Northwest Passage "neutral waters." This is all very troubling as we watch the ratcheting up of tensions around the world as we try to move into the future. The increased militarism around the world is tenuous but throw all the recent developments in with what is shaping up to be a fight over the Arctic and its resources which will only serve to ecologically destroy another very important part of the Ocean's and world's ecosystem in what is increasingly appearing Russia, Denmark, Norway, claim the arctic challenge Canada and us

*Now what do you think about those 2 Battalions of Russian troops being stationed in the Arctic and everything else going on in South America and to the North of military worth to Russia and China while we are concentrating on future war in the middle east and Asia?

James Joiner

Gardner, Ma

http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

Quote Of the Day: Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. -Blaise Pascal!

Quote Of the Day! Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction. -Blaise Pascal!

Religion, provocation, fanaticism:

We all see this and know it first hand but we can not harp on it enough as we must put an end to what is happening today!

I have been saying this for years now. Extreme unbridled religiosity is the most powerful dangerous weapon in the world. It doesn't matter what religion it is. We have it being expressed in the Muslim world by the Islamists being accused of hijacking their Nation and religion.

Worse is that we have it on the other side of the argument today. It was being pushed by Bush and his warped sense of Christian fundamentalism and corrupt democracy. the worse part is that Bush had hijacked Christianity and America and was in control of the most powerful country on the planet.

I want to say thankfully Obama is in control now but I can't in this context. He is still being pushed by Christians. We are rapidly racing towards WW3. This at a time when the planet and man can no longer survive the terrible effects of world or worse, nuclear war. This would be turning back the clock of time, and the planet like man and all of nature only run in one direction, forward.

We are acutely aware as to the increased fragility of our planet, it’s necessary for our survival ecosystems, and the fact that the planet is now capable of destroying mans life as we know it without his help!

Worse is that we appear to be ignoring all this and purposely seem to be bringing man and the planet down the wrong road as pointed out by Nostradamus. That is the road to world conflict and man’s end as we know it.

Even worse is that Both sides of the equation are bent on the destruction of man and the planet, and the U.S., Russia, and China,seem to be recklessly, willingly, and wantonly leading the way instead of acting like responsible world leaders.

James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

Talk of the Himalaya's and the Dalai Lama rekindles thoughts of the world's growing water wars!

     More than nine years ago we talked about the race to war and looking at Atlanta, Georgia and around the world I had to ask what the hell is wrong with the world? We were and are already in the fight of our lives! Water wars and the environment!

     I wrote about the world allying themselves against Bush and the Forever Wars he started in Iraq and threatened to spread throughout the entire middle east before it encompasses the entire world. That is more real today than ever. I dwelled on the terrible prospect of running out of water and the prospect of water wars after thinking of Atlanta facing the prospect of running dry with no rain in sight and 9 million people. This is one city! This was and is happening around Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North and South Carolina, as well as throughout the middle east, and the Great Lakes, while floods and horrific storms cover Texas and much of the rest of the country.

This morning I was thinking about that while replying to comments I received after I got off line last night. Many are concerned as to what the future will bring to us and the world. Noting the world is racing to another world war and knowing our weapons are too powerful for man or the planet to survive it and the fact that the environment is turning on us and much of the world is running out of water, fresh water I first wondered why Areas such as Georgia and many of the areas around the ocean and world do not turn to desalinization as this problem did not crop up over night.

I then decided to Google water wars as I know there are many problems developing daily around the world as countries harness water sources running through their land and was horrified at what I was finding. There were 136,000 stories encompassing water wars around the world. Let alone within ones own boundaries.

What the hell is wrong with the world? We are already at war! We are already in the fight of our lives, why are we racing to end them? The Washington Post had a good article. " remember, this is more than two years ago and as you know, it is getting worse. Global warming will intensify drought, and it will intensify floods: As the air gets warmer, there will be more water in the atmosphere. That’s settled science. Where the atmosphere is configured to have high pressure and droughts, global warming will mean long, dry periods. Where the atmosphere is configured to be wet, you will get more rain, more gully washers.” It is happening why is this denied?

The droughts will be especially bad. How bad? Richard Seager, a senior researcher at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, looked at 19 computer models of the future under current global warming trends. He found remarkable consistency: Sometime before 2050, the models predicted, the Southwest will be gripped in a dry spell akin to the Great Dust Bowl drought that lasted through most of the 1930s.

Droughts and water shortages already been driving conflict around the globe: The potential for conflict is more than theoretical. Turkey, Syria and Iraq bristle over the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt trade threats over the Nile. The United Nations has said water scarcity is behind the bloody wars in Sudan’s Darfur region. In Somalia, drought has spawned warlords and armies. Already, the World Health Organization says, 1 billion people lack access to potable water. In northern China, retreating glaciers and shrinking wetlands that feed the Yangtze River prompted researchers to warn that water supplies for hundreds of millions of people may be at risk. Water wars will worsen

Water has emerged as a key issue that could determine if Asia is headed toward cooperation or competition. No country would influence that direction more than China, which controls the Tibetan plateau, the source of most major rivers of Asia. Tibet's vast glaciers and high altitude have endowed it with the world's greatest river systems. Its rivers are a lifeline to the world's two most-populous states - China and India - as well as to Bangladesh, Burma, Bhutan, Nepal, Cambodia, Pakistan, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. These countries make up 47 percent of the global population.

Yet Asia is a water-deficient continent. Although home to more than half of the human population, Asia has less fresh water - 3,920 cubic meters per person - than any continent other than the Antarctica and China is taking it. The looming struggle over water resources in Asia has been underscored by the spread of irrigated farming, water-intensive industries and a growing middle class that wants high water-consuming comforts like washing machines and dishwashers. Household water consumption in Asia is rising rapidly, although several major economies there are acutely water-stressed.

The specter of water wars in Asia is also being highlighted by climate change and environmental degradation in the form of shrinking forests and swamps that foster a cycle of chronic flooding and droughts. The Himalayan snow melt that feeds Asia's great rivers could be accelerated by global warming. Man am I naive! I couldn't understand China's wanting to control Tibet, the Himalaya's, and the Dali Lama, now I know. Asia's water wars

This is a crisis that will only worsen every day around the world . Tens of millions of Americans have or are migrating to the southern and western states where there are many areas of chronic water shortages (duh). Remember when then Governor Bill Richardson fired the first shot, suggesting a national water policy, which is shorthand for stealing water from the Great Lakes. Rust belters were outraged, some suggesting we sell Richardson water at $80.00 a barrel.

Vegas, probably the fastest growing area in the country, is sucking as much from the Colorado as it can, and will still have major shortages, perhaps within months. The Great Lakes are in a low cycle and any diversion would probably be an ecological disaster. I was looking at the links that follow and the Great lakes are being fought over as we speak and America is already experiencing water wars as well as much of the world. Please look at the overwhelming amount of stories on The worlds water wars

The world is already at war with our shrinking changing environment. A war we are bound to lose. I cannot comprehend the world racing to another world war that will only serve to seal all of their demise even sooner. What is wrong with us?

James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com

Growing water wars around the world

 

         

           More than five years ago now we talked about the race to war and looking at Atlanta, Georgia and around the world I had to ask what the hell is wrong with the world? We were and are already in the fight of our lives! Water wars and the environment! What has changed? The environment is getting worse as is the global war situation. Wake up! What the hell is wrong with us?

I dwelled on the terrible prospect of running out of water and the prospect of water wars after thinking of Atlanta facing the prospect of running dry with no rain in sight and 9 million people. This is one city! This was happening around Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North and South Carolina, as well as throughout the middle east, and the Great Lakes, while floods and horrific storms covered Texas and much of the rest of the country.

I was thinking about that while replying to comments I received after I got off line. Many were concerned as to what the future will bring to us and the world. Noting the world is racing to another world war and knowing our weapons are too powerful for man or the planet to survive it and the fact that the environment is turning on us and much of the world is running out of water, fresh water I first wondered why Areas such as Georgia and many of the areas around the ocean and world do not turn to desalinization as this problem did not crop up over night.

What has changed? In five years the environment has gotten worse, the mississippi is even running out of water, and we appear to be heading towards a world war because of China in Asia and Syria in the middle east. I decided to Google water wars as I know there are many problems developing daily around the world as countries harness water sources running through their land and was horrified at what I was finding. There were 136,000 stories encompassing water wars around the world. Let alone within ones own boundaries.

What the hell is wrong with the world? We are already at war! We are already in the fight of our lives, why are we racing to end them? The Washington Post had a good article. " remember, this is more than four years ago and as you know, it is getting worse. Global warming will intensify drought, and it will intensify floods: As the air gets warmer, there will be more water in the atmosphere. 

That’s settled science. Where the atmosphere is configured to have high pressure and droughts, global warming will mean long, dry periods. Where the atmosphere is configured to be wet, you will get more rain, more gully washers.” It is happening why is this denied? We can only hope Obama can get by Republicans and start doing something about this.

The droughts will be especially bad. How bad? Richard Seager, a senior researcher at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, looked at 19 computer models of the future under current global warming trends. He found remarkable consistency: Sometime before 2050, the models predicted, the Southwest will be gripped in a dry spell akin to the Great Dust Bowl drought that lasted through most of the 1930s. Well?

Droughts and water shortages have already been driving conflict around the globe: The potential for conflict is more than theoretical. Turkey, Syria and Iraq bristle over the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt trade threats over the Nile. The United Nations has said water scarcity is behind the bloody wars in Sudan’s Darfur region. In Somalia, drought has spawned warlords and armies. Already, the World Health Organization says, 1 billion people lack access to potable water. In northern China, retreating glaciers and shrinking wetlands that feed the Yangtze River prompted researchers to warn that water supplies for hundreds of millions of people may be at risk. Water wars will worsen

Water has emerged as a key issue that could determine if Asia is headed toward cooperation or competition. No country would influence that direction more than China, which controls the Tibetan plateau, the source of most major rivers of Asia. Tibet's vast glaciers and high altitude have endowed it with the world's greatest river systems. Its rivers are a lifeline to the world's two most-populous states - China and India - as well as to Bangladesh, Burma, Bhutan, Nepal, Cambodia, Pakistan, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. These countries make up 47 percent of the global population.

Yet Asia is a water-deficient continent. Although home to more than half of the human population, Asia has less fresh water - 3,920 cubic meters per person - than any continent other than the Antarctica and China is taking it. The looming struggle over water resources in Asia has been underscored by the spread of irrigated farming, water-intensive industries and a growing middle class that wants high water-consuming comforts like washing machines and dishwashers. Household water consumption in Asia is rising rapidly, although several major economies there are acutely water-stressed.

The specter of water wars in Asia is also being highlighted by climate change and environmental degradation in the form of shrinking forests and swamps that foster a cycle of chronic flooding and droughts. The Himalayan snow melt that feeds Asia's great rivers could be accelerated by global warming. Man am I naive! I couldn't understand China's wanting to control Tibet, the Himalaya's, and the Dali Lama, now I know. Asia's water wars

This is a crisis that will only worsen every day around the world . Tens of millions of Americans have or are migrating to the southern and western states where there are many areas of chronic water shortages (duh). Remember when then Governor Bill Richardson fired the first shot, suggesting a national water policy, which is shorthand for stealing water from the Great Lakes. Rust belters were outraged, some suggesting we sell Richardson water at $80.00 a barrel.

Vegas, probably the fastest growing area in the country, is sucking as much from the Colorado as it can, and will still have major shortages. Las Vegas Accused of Engineering Massive Water Grab: Is This the Future of the West? [With Photo Slideshow]


The Great Lakes are in a low cycle and any diversion would probably be an ecological disaster. I was looking at the links that follow and the Great lakes are being fought over as we speak and America is already experiencing water wars as well as much of the world. Please look at the overwhelming amount of stories on The worlds water wars

The world is already at war with our shrinking changing environment. A war we are bound to lose. I cannot comprehend the world racing to another world war that will only serve to seal all of their demise even sooner. What is wrong with us?

James Joiner
Gardner, Ma

http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com