India's IT giants left gasping after water shortage IT execs from some of India’s biggest tech firms are set to meet government officials this week after crippling water shortages almost shut down a large chunk of the country’s multi-billion pound industry last week. Businesses in Chennai’s Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) district apparently account for around three-quarters of …
All the fighting at the moment is linked to oil reserves, but with a growing population, many of whom are in warmer countries, potential climate change, extremely poor resource management in every country, future wars will be water wars.
Some Middle Eastern countries have something like 97% of water from desalination, and so really briny shorelines where they pump out the waste, that's only going to compound. Once they run out of free oil to desalinate sea water then the vast cities of huge Tower blocks and ski ramps will get deserted and desertified in a heartbeat. And considering how much water is squirted onto motorway trees the whole way through the scorching desert, that time is going to come.
We're damn lucky here in the UK to have so much water, no matter how poorly we manage it. Maybe we'll become a super power again...
Yes, pretty much all wars are for control of resources of some sort and yes, water is going to be one of the big future ones. I don't think the gulf states will be particularly affected though. They're mostly spending a lot of oil money to build up alternative services and investment portfolios / sovereign wealth funds, so they'll still have money after the oil runs out. And they're prime locations for vast solar arrays that can generate electricity for desalination. So sure, they might not be Vegas on steroids any more but they will still be perfectly good places to live and do business.
On the other hand, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China... places with huge populations and population densities and mostly dependent on rivers (which can be dried up / siphoned off by those upstream) will have their growth crawling to a halt unless they address the problem
The same can also be said for some parts of the USA, the South Western states are water poor and rely on the Colorado river, which is practically dry when it gets to the Sea of Cortez.
The growth in population and agriculture depending of Lakes Powell and Mead is approaching the limit, and there is already some talk of piping water in from the north and Canada.
Some Canadians reckon that the US won't want to pay Canada for that, and will annex it later this century. I suspect the Merkins will get a big a surprise if they do. Canada is a bit bigger than the USA, with 10% of the population, the bush war that would follow would be fun, at least for the Canadians.
We worked on a Canadian water management project several years ago and there is more than a little concern from the Canadian govt that the U.S. could be a significant threat in the future. We (U.S.) have plenty of water, but buying it from Canada, or potentially taking it one day, are thought to be more financially viable options than building infrastructure here.
The physical size differences of the countries are negligible and while the overall population density is about 10x higher in the U.S. the highly localized urban density of the Canadians is considered a weakness as is the general urbanization of the Canadian population. The blockade of one or two cities near the border is generally considered the start and stop of any U.S. aggression pointed at them. Canada is simply too close to the U.S. to realistically defend itself. The biggest expansionist threat Canada faces is from the north anyway.
Canada is already working on a deep water port at Baffin Island and and building hundreds of new vessels. The U.S. is gearing up for an Arctic port as well. Canada considers the Northwest passage internal waters while the other Arctic nations see it as an international strait. As the ice melts and the navigable season of the passage continues to grow so will conflicts in that area. It will be good for Canada to have the big bully that is the U.S. next door when the time comes.
Eh?
We are surrounded by water but not a drop to drink.
I fully expect that the Scots and Welsh will start charging us heathen English 100% duty on the water they supply us not too far in the future.
If you aren't investing in a rainwater collection system then perhaps it is time you did. Using drinking water to flush the bog will soon be a luxury none of us can afford.
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