The next Global conflict

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Originally Posted by greynotsoold

Interesting article in this months Smithsonian about water issues in the mid-east. Apparently, between 2003 and 2009 the area comprised of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and western Iran went through 117 million acre feet of groundwater, more than any other place besides northern India. In Iraq there have been murders of irrigation officials and clan conflicts over water. In Syria, a drought that began in 06 drove 80,000 farmers and unhappy, unemployed guys = conflict. Meanwhile, Turkey's dam and hydropower construction has cut the flow downstream to Iraq by 80% and Syria by 40%.

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Tribal Clan conflicts......ya don't say ;D....and here I was thinking those people were the nice ones and us Westerners were the heartless murderers. Missy, Kirkland, Miles....you lied to me!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by greynotsoold

Interesting article in this months Smithsonian about water issues in the mid-east. Apparently, between 2003 and 2009 the area comprised of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and western Iran went through 117 million acre feet of groundwater, more than any other place besides northern India. In Iraq there have been murders of irrigation officials and clan conflicts over water. In Syria, a drought that began in 06 drove 80,000 farmers and unhappy, unemployed guys = conflict. Meanwhile, Turkey's dam and hydropower construction has cut the flow downstream to Iraq by 80% and Syria by 40%.

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It's even worse in Yemen. This kind of problemis going to happen all over the place though.

It's like with any other natural resource. We (civilization) use it, abuse it, and misuse it. Then... when shortages start peeking around the corner, we start wringing our hands, fighting with each other, and we can't even agree on whether it's a problem or not. Unfortunately, foresight sometimes isn't one of our strong points as a society in general. If it won't be a problem by next week... then screw it. It's not important enough to worry about.

I've been to small, tropical islands, such as Aruba, where all their water comes from desalination plants. Aruba has no natural fresh water supplies, so this is their only source of fresh water. Obviously, this is not the answer for everyone.

I agree with Kirk in that it will likely become the cause of regional conflicts, if not global ones.

People living in the English Lake District, have got it made. It never stops Raining

The next "Global Conflict" will more than likely be a showdown of Persians vs Arabs vs nonmuslims.....after the "Arab Spring" and given the continuous growth of riots across the Middle East I think some huge shit is about to go down between Saudi Arabia and Iran and with Israel nearby it's not going to be safe. Also the Saudis are tied with the West and the Iranians are tied to the Russians and Chinese....there's always the thought that we're one catastrophe away from a true World War