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Benno Hansen

Do nations go to war over water? : Article : Nature - 1 views

www.nature.com/...458282a.html

war nature climate change water israel palestine nile egypt sudan ethiopia india pakistan conflict

shared by Benno Hansen on 25 Mar 09 - Cached
  • There are 263 cross-boundary waterways in the world. Between 1948 and 1999, cooperation over water, including the signing of treaties, far outweighed conflict over water and violent conflict in particular. Of 1,831 instances of interactions over international freshwater resources tallied over that time period (including everything from unofficial verbal exchanges to economic agreements or military action), 67% were cooperative, only 28% were conflictive, and the remaining 5% were neutral or insignificant. In those five decades, there were no formal declarations of war over water2.
  • it is foolish for Israel, a water-short country, to grow and then export products such as oranges and avocados, which require a lot of water to cultivate
  • water 'embedded' in traded products could be important in explaining the absence of conflict over water
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  • as poor countries diversify their economies, they turn away from agriculture and create wealth from industries that use less water. As a country becomes richer, it may require more water overall to sustain its booming population, but it can afford to import food to make up the shortfall
  • Israel ran out of water in the 1950s: it has not since then produced enough water to meet all of its needs, including food production. Jordan has been in the same situation since the 1960s; Egypt since the 1970s. Although it is true that these countries have fought wars with each other, they have not fought over water. Instead they all import grain.
  • Palestinian and Israeli water professionals interact on a Joint Water Committee, established by the Oslo-II Accords in 1995. It is not an equal partnership: Israel has de facto veto power on the committee.
  • Inequitable access to water resources is a result of the broader conflict and power dynamics: it does not itself cause war.
    • Benno Hansen
      Benno Hansen on 25 Mar 09
       
      From causation to hen/egg
  • although India and Pakistan have fought three wars and frequently find themselves in eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation, the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, arbitrated by the World Bank, has more than once helped to defuse tensions over water
  • predictions of armed conflict come from the media and from popular, non-peer-reviewed work
  • I offered to revise its thesis, but my publishers pointed out that predicting an absence of war over water would not sell.
  • most importantly, improve the conditions of trade for developing countries to strengthen their economies
Benno Hansen

IRIN Middle East | Middle East | Lebanon | LEBANON: Climate change and politics threate... - 0 views

www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx

water palestine drought israel

shared by Benno Hansen on 02 Feb 09 - Cached
  • rising temperatures, spiralling population growth and inefficient irrigation are severely straining resources and threatening renewed economic and social breakdown.
  • Lebanon has the highest annual rainfall in the region, averaging 827mm compared to 630mm in Israel, 252mm in Syria and just 154mm in Iraq
  • Yet experts estimate that demand for water in Lebanon will have increased by more than 80 percent by 2025 as Lebanon’s population is expected to grow from four to 7.6 million. In the same period, as a result of climate change, average summer temperatures in the country are predicted to increase by 1.2 degrees centigrade.
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  • Across areas of the northern Bekaa with better irrigation, many farmers have turned land over to growing water-thirsty but economically lucrative hashish plants – totalling some 16,000 acres of land
  • The valley is an economically underdeveloped area where more than 40 percent of residents are dependent on agriculture as their main source of living
Alex Parker

Demolition of power plant deepens humanitarian crisis in Gaza - 1 views

www.power-technology.com/...itarian-crisis-in-gaza-4331401

environment sustainability energy climate change environmentalism green

shared by Alex Parker on 07 Aug 14 - No Cached
  • Alex Parker on 07 Aug 14
     
    The Gaza Power Plant exploded into flames on 29th July. It is believed to have been hit by multiple shells fired by an Israeli tank, though Israel have yet to accept responsibility for it.
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