The War Over Water

[Lisa Davis]

http://www.newsweek.com/2015/05/01/world-will-soon-be-war-over-water-324328.html

Above is an interesting article that Newsweek put out last year that talks about how parts of the world will without a doubt be fighting over water in the not-so-distant future. We're not talking about waterways and the like, we're really talking about access to CLEAN WATER. Particularly areas like Turkey, Afghanistan, and possibly China could be involved in various conflicts that are detailed throughout the article. What do you think about the possibility of this and is there a viable solution so this doesn't happen?

 

[vash]

The first place might have wars over water would be the Middle East. Most areas in that part of the world is desert. So the access to clean freshwater is important for the people who live there.

Solution to prevent war over water resource? Give out help to countries in need to build up water reserve, and perhaps help them to set up plants to turn sea water to freshwater.

I doubt China would be involved as they are in perfect control of their freshwater source. Both major rivers are originated from within China. On the other hand, a few river go down stream to Southeast Asia are also originated in China. Just last year in 2015, when Vietnam and others had a drought, China released more water from their dam. So what if China doesn't release more water to downstream countries? Nobody will attack a nuclear power.

 

[remnant]

Nations should aspire to use brain over brawn to solve besetting problems. There is no limit to human imagination where determination and goodwill apply. I don't think the Middle East is the foremost likely conflict flashpoint based on the fact that some countries have access to the sea there and the challenging issue is how to recover usable water through the process of desalinisation. The most likely cause of wars is over construction of dams upstream as well as diversion of river courses.

 

[vash]

Nations should aspire to use brain over brawn to solve besetting problems. There is no limit to human imagination where determination and goodwill apply. I don't think the Middle East is the foremost likely conflict flashpoint based on the fact that some countries have access to the sea there and the challenging issue is how to recover usable water through the process of desalinisation. The most likely cause of wars is over construction of dams upstream as well as diversion of river courses.

I agree.
Problems like drought can be fixed or at least improved by better managing of existing water resources. ex: Build more water reserve, and build channels to pull water from one place to another.

One example of it was a satellite photo I saw a while back. It was taken from the border of China and North Korea. On the side of China, everything was green. On the side of North Korea, it was all dirt. Poor managing of water resources can make such huge difference.

Rather than put the resources to start a war, it can be put to better uses to solve the problem.

 

[explorerx7]

I become very concerned about the diminishing availability of water throughout the world in recent times. However in this case I would expect that there could possibly be a crisis in the Middle East, however I am not sure that China would be affected.

 

[vegito12]

I think it can be sad that some countries don't have full access to clean drinking water like India as some rural areas are far away from the cities and some people have to pay money and sometimes, there is no gurantee that the water will be clean and the person who gets the money can get greedy as well. It is going to be a issue in countries which have deserts or the use of water is limited and this can happen due to the supply of water and also it can mean people will have to use water when needed and try and save it as well. Politicians will be involved which can mean they will profit and try and make money for themselevws before caring about the country and people which can be sad to see in some countries and this can be stressful for the people who are suffering.