What does the Arab world do when its water runs out? | Environment | The Observer

A camel takes a drink in Jordan. The Middle East faces conflict if its water shortage is not tackled.

Photograph: Neal Clark/Robert Harding Collection

Poverty, repression, decades of injustice and mass unemployment have all been cited as causes of the political convulsions in the Middle East and north Africa these last weeks. But a less recognised reason for the turmoil in Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Yemen, Jordan and now Iran has been rising food prices, directly linked to a growing regional water crisis.

The diverse states that make up the Arab world, stretching from the Atlantic coast to Iraq, have some of the world's greatest oil reserves, but this disguises the fact that they mostly occupy hyper-arid places. Rivers are few, water demand is increasing as populations grow, underground reserves are shrinking and nearly all depend on imported staple foods that are now trading at record prices.

[...]

Full article at guardian.co.uk

It's always been water. Oil is incidental but makes a great distraction. We don't need it, but we really really want it. We think water is a renewable resource, when in fact it's been at the heart of the downfall of many a society (and the prosperity of others).

Posted via email from Moments of Awareness