# Asian Water War



## waltky (Apr 17, 2011)

Water war in Asia points to China...

*Water wars? Thirsty, energy-short China stirs fear*
_4/17/2011 - Remapping of rivers in world's most heavily populated region is happening on a gigantic scale, with potentially strategic implications_


> The wall of water raced through narrow Himalayan gorges in northeast India, gathering speed as it raked the banks of towering trees and boulders. When the torrent struck their island in the Brahmaputra river, the villagers remember, it took only moments to obliterate their houses, possessions and livestock.  No one knows exactly how the disaster happened, but everyone knows whom to blame: neighboring China.
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> "We don't trust the Chinese," says fisherman Akshay Sarkar at the resettlement site where he has lived since the 2000 flood. "They gave us no warning. They may do it again."  About 500 miles east, in northern Thailand, Chamlong Saengphet stands in the Mekong river, in water that comes only up to her shins. She is collecting edible river weeds from dwindling beds. A neighbor has hung up his fishing nets, his catches now too meager.  Using words bordering on curses, they point upstream, toward China.
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## waltky (Mar 30, 2013)

Purt soon Vietnamese won't be able to fish inna Mekong river...

*Scientists say Climate Change, Dams Threaten Mekong Livelihoods*
_ March 29, 2013  Scientists meeting in the Thai capital have warned extreme weather caused by climate change will reduce fish stocks and major crops in the Mekong River Basin if countries in Southeast Asia fail to adapt. However, they also warn dam building, much of it for hydropower, is the largest single threat to fisheries that sustain millions of people._


> An estimated 60 million fishermen and farmers depend on the Mekong River for its rich nutrients and abundant fish.  A new study by a group of scientists said by 2050 climate change could raise temperatures in parts of the Mekong basin twice as fast as the global average.  That would intensify extreme weather events, such as flooding, and reduce fish and crop production says study leader Jeremy Carew-Reid. He said, "In Laos alone there are some 700 species that are used by families to sustain their livelihoods. We know so little about them."
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> While some species will benefit from hotter climates, important crops such as coffee in Vietnam and rice in Thailand could be forced to move.  But fish in the Mekong system, the largest inland fishery in the world, cannot relocate so easily and fish farming has already reached its environmentally sustainable capacity.  Some 30,000 man-made barriers, such as hydropower dams, compound the effects of climate change, said Carew-Reid.  When you take those in concert with climate change, we're looking at a pretty, a pretty negative scenario for fisheries in the basin, he said.  Scientists at the study's release in Bangkok said dams and other barriers constitute the single largest threat to fish diversity and production.
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## Samson (Mar 30, 2013)

Over 700+ views and I'm the only one to reply.




I'd better get some rep outta this, damnit.


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## Unkotare (Apr 1, 2013)

You're all wet.


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## waltky (May 6, 2013)

Asian rainforest and river system at risk...

*Forests at Risk in Southeast Asia's Lower Mekong Region*
_ May 02, 2013  Southeast Asia's Lower Mekong region is set to lose a third of its natural forests in the next two decades, according to a report by the Worldwide Fund for Nature.  Forestry experts blame the current pace of deforestation on governments undervaluing forestry resources._


> The Worldwide Fund for Nature report, titled "Ecosystems in the Greater Mekong," said between 1973 and 2009 lower Mekong countries chopped down almost a third of their forests for timber and to clear land for agriculture.  Burma and Laos lost 24 percent of their forest cover. Cambodia lost 22 percent of their forests, while Thailand and Vietnam cleared 43 percent of their trees.  "Core forests," a three-kilometer square area of uninterrupted forest, have dropped from 70 to 20 percent of total forest area.  The conservation group says the pace of deforestation is accelerating, and countries risk losing a third of their remaining trees by 2030.
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> Geoffrey Blate is a regional advisor on ecology for the Worldwide Fund for Nature in Bangkok and contributor to the report. He said it appears the overall highest amount of forest clearing happened where there were the most trees -- in Burma, also known as Myanmar.  "It appears that Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos are really, you know, sort of the hot spots for deforestation right now," he said. "That's where most of the remaining large expanses of forest are and that's where we have seen the highest deforestation rates as well."  The report's findings were based on analysis of satellite data and are in contrast to some official figures from those countries.
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## Steelplate (May 6, 2013)

It's starting to happen here too...look up Lake Mead water levels, and the Ogallala Aquifer.

At present rates of consumption, Lake Mead could be depleted in 10-15 years....that's the water supply and a huge energy supplier to the Southwestern US.

Ogallala is the vast underground aquifier that provides the fresh water to the Midwest farming communities.... this, at present rate of consumption, could be depleted in 25 years.


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## editec (May 6, 2013)

Water is already becoming the next precious resource that men will fight and die for.

International corporations like Nestle are buying up water resources the world over.


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## Vikrant (May 10, 2013)

The Tibetan plateau holds the world&#8217;s third largest store of fresh water in glacier form, and feeds Asia&#8217;s largest rivers. One billion people rely on this water source, which is under threat because of China&#8217;s policies of strip mining, deforestation, damming and diversion of rivers.

10 facts about Tibet | Free Tibet


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## Unkotare (May 11, 2013)

The Tibetan people are "under threat" from the PRC in many ways.


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## waltky (Mar 23, 2017)

Lil' kids may suffer water shortages by 2040...




*UNICEF: One in Four Children May Face Severe Water Shortages by 2040*
_March 22, 2017  — One in four children — 600 million in total — may live in areas with severely limited water resources by 2040, putting them at risk of deadly diseases like cholera and diarrhea, the U.N. children's agency UNICEF said on Wednesday._


> Already some 500 million children live in areas with limited water supplies, and the demand for water today far exceeds available resources in 36 countries, UNICEF said.  Supplies are expected to shrink further due to droughts, rising temperatures, flooding, population growth and urbanization, the U.N. agency said in a report.  If no action is taken to clean up and conserve water supplies, more children will be forced to drink potentially unsafe water as a result, UNICEF said.
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> Climate change plays a part
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See also:

*Drought, Political Maneuvering Blamed for Central Kenya's Unrest*
_March 22, 2017  — The smell of rotting animals permeates the air in parts of central Kenya's Laikipia area, as lurking vultures and hyenas seem to be the only ones benefiting from the drought._


> Dead elephants, buffaloes, zebras, giraffes, cattle, sheep and goats dot the landscape. While some died from the drought, some of the wildlife was shot or speared to death by armed herders in search of pasture and water for their tens of thousands of cattle, sheep and goats.  Ranch and conservancy owners say these herders are invading their private property — breaking fences, stealing cattle, using grass and water meant for their livestock and their neighbors' livestock, cutting down olive trees for the leaves, even killing the owner of Sosian ranch in March when he went to check on burned houses. About 35 people have died in the unrest.  "This is not the first dry season we've had," said Martin Evans, chairman of the Laikipia Farmers' Association and the owner of Ol Maisor farm. "And when this thing happened, it wasn't a matter of drought. It was a normal rainy season when they came in. This is a politically instigated invasion, as far as we can see. They're using the cattle as a tool, as a battering ram, to just take over private property."
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## heil hitler (Mar 30, 2017)

The Chinese are not good for SE Asia. Laos has been especially hurt by Chinese dam construction.


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## waltky (Apr 3, 2017)

Pakistan runnin' outta water...




*Pakistan on Verge of Disastrous Water Shortage*
_April 03, 2017  — Two weeks ago a minor water crisis hit Pakistan. The flow in rivers fell below agricultural requirements. Then temperatures rose, glaciers melted, and river flows increased threefold, evading a disaster._


> “Had the temperatures not increased for another 10-15 days, we wouldn’t have been able to give the required amount of water to the provinces,” said Mohammad Khalid Rana, the Indus Water Regulatory Authority spokesman.  That would have meant a delay in planting crops like cotton, sugarcane, and rice.  The fluctuation in river flows, blamed mostly on climate change, was not unprecedented. Nor was it unexpected. Yet its solution does not appear to be in the works, for the near future.  “If we want to ensure our food security and meet our climate change challenges, we’ll have to increase our water storage on a war footing,” warns Rana.
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> Even though Rana works for a government agency, his warnings appear to be making little difference in policy, according to independent water experts.  Pakistan started off as a water affluent country in 1947, with per capita availability of renewable water at more than 5,000 cubic meters, to the verge of becoming water stressed, with per capita availability down to almost 1,000 cubic meters. Mainly due to an explosive growth in population that now stands at an estimated 190 million people.  “Nobody in this country is doing anything to slow down the rate of population growth,” complained Shafqat Kakakhel, a former ambassador who has worked extensively on water related issues. “All other countries that were notorious for high population growth rates, Bangladesh, Subsaharan Africa, have done something ... we are doing absolutely nothing.”
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See also:

*Graphene-oxide Membranes Could Make Seawater Into Freshwater*
_April 03, 2017 - A new method could turn seawater into drinking water for millions around the world without access to clean water._


> Researchers at the University of Manchester in England say they’ve successfully used graphene-oxide membranes to filter common salts from seawater, turning it into drinking water more affordably than current desalination techniques.
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> Graphene-oxide membranes have already been shown to be effective at filtering small nanoparticles, organic molecules and large salts, but they had not yet been effective in filtering out common salts.  "This is the first clear-cut experiment in this regime,” said professor Rahul Nair, at the University of Manchester. “We also demonstrate that there are realistic possibilities to scale up the described approach and mass produce graphene-based membranes with required sieve sizes.  “Realization of scalable membranes with uniform pore size down to atomic scale is a significant step forward and will open new possibilities for improving the efficiency of desalination technology,” he said.
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