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View Full Version : Previous Water wars - H20 will become the new flashpoint



Satellite Weapon
10-24-2006, 11:41 PM
Living in States like Alabama, Oregon or New Jersey you'd never think the world was short on water but you'd be wrong. In some parts of the world fresh-water is becoming more valuable than oil or gold. Back in the old days the Spanish expanded their Kingdom and went to war for Gold, the British went to war to extend their Empire and promote what they called superior British values upon the people of the world, and during the Gulf war conflict the dictator Saddam took Kuwait's valuable oil fields, soon on January 1991 the world would see full scale war. Many people consider control of water was one of the issues in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Syria invade the Sea of Galilee and occupied the lake's northeastern shore. Syria still claims the northeastern shore of the sea saying it is a part of the Golan Heights. In 1964, Syria began construction on the Headwater Diversion Plan that would have blocked the flow of water into the Sea of Galilee, sharply reducing the capacity of the carrier many people believe this helped spark the Six-Day War.
http://www.jeffiscool.com/pictures/IndiaTrain.jpg
The world's populations are rapidly expanding in some areas and some nations have little or no birth control, the planet's resources are being rapidly eaten up and a world water crisis looms.
http://www.ezthemes.com/previews/d/desert_skull.jpg
Populations in Latin America, Africa and Asia are rapildy rising as families have more children but there are fewer resources to go around. Recently the Islamic state's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said he wanted the country's 70 million strong population to almost double in an effort to ensure the country's "dominance". In Sri Lanka refusal of Tamil Tiger rebels to open a sluice gate for canals that supply water to rice farmers sparked a full-scale military assault that claimed the lives of 17 aid workers. In Africa we have the Nile, Niger, Volta and Zambezi basins.Water covers about two-thirds of the Earth's surface, but it ain't fresh or most is too salty for use. We must also consider the possible consequence of climate change or global warming. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Uganda, India, Ethiopia are all expected to have major population increases over the next few months and years.

Here are some of the possible major flash points

1 Many people in Syria and Iraq think Turkish dams are a threat to hundreds of thousands of people, Syria and Iraq, Turkish dams are a threat to hundreds of thousands of livelihoods. In 2003 radical islamics carried out the Istanbul bombings, someday soon they bomb the series of dams along the Euphrates and Tigris. Turkey is also embarking on an ambitious project to sell water from its Manavgat river

2 The Nile, it runs through Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt right now there ain't barely enough to keep people alive. As the populations of Sudan and Ethiopia rise there will be intense competition for increasingly limited water resources. Egypt is unlikely to take kindly to losing out to Ethiopia - a country with one-tenth of its income.

3 The battle for H20 at Bangladesh, India, Burma (Myanmar). sacred Hindu river, the Ganges, is really badly depleted, today the wetlands and mangrove forests of Bangladesh are seriously threatened. Many Burmese villages and lands remain uncultivated due to water shortages. It may also lead to civil war within India were where Indians already have problems with their own radical India Muslims, Hindu extremists and Indian Maoist or Naxalite rebels. The citizens of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states in India are enmeshed in bloody skirmishes over the waters of the Carvery River.Terrorist actions have been taking place in Jammu and Kashmir but also in locations that extend from Uttaranchal in the North, to Andhra Pradesh in the South, and from Gujarat in the West to West Bengal in the East.
Some of the demands of various groups engaged in violence in the Northeast have varied from autonomy to secession. Terrorist attacks by Pakistan-backed groups have occurred in places as far as Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Varanasi. The militant outfits operating in the N.East regions and in various Northern provinces have usually found refuge in the neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar. One other problem for India is that they also have an unfinished conflcit with Pakistan, who knows where they'll side in such a future conflict but today they've got Nukes aimed at New Delhi.

4 Much of the area around the Aral Sea has turned into a toxic desert. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (neighbors of Afghanistan) often get their way by threatening to choke their richer neighbors, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan - and by actually cutting them off from the nourishing rivers that traverse their territories. A-Stan is already a mess its may be only a matter of time before war breaks out other areas near here.

5 Texas versus Mexico, today Mexico city is sinking because of the amount of water being pumped out from beneath its foundations, the Mexican drainage systems have failed and rainwater mixes with open sewage. Can't see this war lasting too long.

Lov3ll
10-24-2006, 11:51 PM
Looks like Europe will have to be nice to Canada p-)

Satellite Weapon
10-24-2006, 11:57 PM
Looks like Europe will have to be nice to Canada p-)

They don't know how lucky they are to have access to this H-2-O stuff, I can see Turkey getting bombed because of water shortages.

bigjeff
10-25-2006, 10:02 AM
Someday water will be mre valuable than gold...

winchester_down
10-25-2006, 10:37 AM
ive pondered this scenario alot lately.

A war for water, as compared to oil, wonder what the greenies will say???

:|

ChuckThunder
10-25-2006, 10:44 AM
this thread makes me thirsty

tsuri
10-25-2006, 11:20 AM
Water shortages will mostly be a serious problem of the developing world. The Industrial Nations are perfectly capable to access drinking water under the ocean and are able to artificially create it from sea water itself, it will only become more expensive.

It is already becoming an issue in southern Europe thanks to tourism and excessive farming however.

vrb
10-25-2006, 12:48 PM
Desalination is extremely expensive and requires huge amounts of power.

I see this thread and I keep seeing Kevin Costner in Waterworld.....eugh!!!!

CG51
10-25-2006, 12:56 PM
Good read. A major conflict in the middle east will most likely be over water or rights to potable water.

Get_It
10-25-2006, 01:33 PM
It is already becoming an issue in southern Europe thanks to tourism and excessive farming however.
Without any doubt, Portugal is already starting to be affected due to the lack of water in Spain, mainly because of the excessive farming, one example is their production of some vegetables and fruit just to not let the prices go down, another example is the amount of water used by the Spanish shoe industries.

An article about this subject: http://www.correiomanha.pt/noticia.asp?id=211701&idselect=9&idCanal=9&p=200

That article mentions that the WWF has suggested European governments to stop subsiding the agriculture.:roll:

Best regards,

HooyahCQB
10-25-2006, 01:54 PM
I know about water shortages. Those bastard in Florida don't have any so we have to drain our ****ing lakes and the damn Chattahoochee so those sunshine state pricks can drink ****. Until recently..that is....:)

Kingswat
10-25-2006, 05:42 PM
I drank a bottle of water while reading this thread, lol.


I could see it happening sooner or later and when it does, watch out.

Willy
10-25-2006, 06:13 PM
Finland is in the process of selling fresh water to Saudi-Arabia.

KillerBD
10-25-2006, 11:03 PM
this thread makes me thirsty

me too p-)

Müller
10-26-2006, 02:23 AM
In just a few years China will need to import HUGE amounts of water... Im thinkin the northern Europpean countries will make some easy dough... just walk up to neares iceblock, pick it of, freeze it in, and ship to china...

VOILA! you now have a lot of $$$ in the account woot

OldRecon
10-26-2006, 06:39 AM
In Sweden and Denmark (as well as some of the other Baltic states I also believe) there is a group of businessmen/lobbyists that want to close off the Baltic sea from the Atlantic/North Sea, in order to turn the Baltic sea into a gigantic fresh water reserve from which to export fresh water in super-tankers to the Arabian gulf countries (amongst others) :cantbeli:.

Müller
10-26-2006, 02:29 PM
I know, Im a Marine Biology student in Sweden, we were discussing that in class like 2 weeks ago...

I think it's a good Idea since the baltic sea has changed from fresh, to weakly salt, to really salt (oceanic) water every 3-400 years, and even with different water species and "climates" after each iceage...

so it really wouldnt matter to think ahead of time since it'll reset none-the-less

the only thing to really concider is money possible of earning, and cost to purify the water...p-)

Somalimafia
10-26-2006, 03:50 PM
Luckily we (Finland) have absolutely no worries about running out of fresh water. For those who dont know what I am talking about, check wikipedia or check out our map. :)

I think most other European nations are pretty well off too.

We had negotiations with Saudi Arabia to ship drinking water from Finland to them, but something bad happened at the meeting table.

(One of the beverages available for drinking at the negotiation table was an orange flavoured soft drink called "Jaffa". As soon as the Saudis saw the label, things went bad. "Jaffa" is a town in Israel that grows oranges.) :cantbeli:

Violet Fashion by Mindy
10-26-2006, 04:10 PM
Don't look to Australia either. Except for some isolated pockets most of Australia is in the middle of the worse drought in world history

Satellite Weapon
10-26-2006, 10:11 PM
Water shortages will mostly be a serious problem of the developing world. The Industrial Nations are perfectly capable to access drinking water under the ocean and are able to artificially create it from sea water itself, it will only become more expensive.

It is already becoming an issue in southern Europe thanks to tourism and excessive farming however.

I can't imagine the Euros going to war with each other for water, even if there are problems in Portugal or Spain the Europeans are very stongly tied economically...however Eastern Europe I'm not so sure about its stability.


I know about water shortages. Those bastard in Florida don't have any so we have to drain our ****ing lakes and the damn Chattahoochee so those sunshine state pricks can drink ****. Until recently..that is....:)

Florida, Georgia or Alabama shouldn't be without water they get lots of rain and has a load of lakes, it should not be a problem because the geography of the region is good for water, it sounds like the politicans made a mess of this one. A superpower like the USA should be easily able to make sure its own people get enough water.


ive pondered this scenario alot lately.

A war for water, as compared to oil, wonder what the greenies will say???

:|

Many of the Greens are idiots, but there will be a big war in Africa, the Middle East or Asia someday soon and H20 will start it all, hydrological warfare here we come !

sp2c
10-27-2006, 03:37 AM
didn't Nelson Mandela allready invade tiny little Lesotho over fresh water?

gtronin
10-27-2006, 11:47 AM
Considering that most rivers have their source in the swiss alps, I am sorta happy that CH-army didnt change and abolish the draft, that and CH has a substantial chemical industry to flip anybody the bird if they try something stupid.

Asheren
10-27-2006, 12:05 PM
Luckily we (Finland) have absolutely no worries about running out of fresh water. For those who dont know what I am talking about, check wikipedia or check out our map. :)

I think most other European nations are pretty well off too.

We had negotiations with Saudi Arabia to ship drinking water from Finland to them, but something bad happened at the meeting table.

(One of the beverages available for drinking at the negotiation table was an orange flavoured soft drink called "Jaffa". As soon as the Saudis saw the label, things went bad. "Jaffa" is a town in Israel that grows oranges.) :cantbeli:

Actualy many european nations are not that well as you say mostly due to polution. There is a lot of water that is usless for drinking purposes or require specific purification. In same time incrasing water usage and recent extremly dry summers caused large drain from surface supply. In Poland(lowest estimated water supply) for example some water power plant had problems last summer cos water levels fell soo low that they could no longer operate. Wrost sitation is in eastern european countries cos their water consumption is incrasing rapidly to match western european standards.

xEDGEx
10-28-2006, 12:26 PM
The world's populations are rapidly expanding in some areas and some nations have little or no birth control,

Populations in Latin America, Africa and Asia are rapildy rising as families have more children but there are fewer resources to go around.


Too many people.

Bombtrack
10-29-2006, 11:03 AM
There are 2 bottles of water on my desk right now. God loves Canada.

9mmRifle
10-30-2006, 02:20 PM
Too many people. Yep, over-population is doing this.

foxtrot023
10-30-2006, 02:32 PM
Well, if anyone wants water, they can drop by Panama. It rains 2/3 of the year like there is no tomorrow. Being a weatherman in Panama must be the easiest job on earth.

I'mOnlyHalfPolish
10-30-2006, 07:39 PM
wow nice thread to read while knocking back this gallon of spring water before an intramural flag football game tonight...remember its always about pre-hydration people!

PELEIDES
11-04-2006, 10:37 PM
They don't know how lucky they are to have access to this H-2-O stuff...


We know. With the second largest oil reserves (after Saudi) and 25% of the planets fresh water, maybe we should start building nukes?

Bandeirante
11-05-2006, 08:55 AM
Lots of water here
We only need to organize our waterworld here !

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e372/Babitonga/miscelanea/iguacu1.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e372/Babitonga/miscelanea/iguacu1024.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e372/Babitonga/miscelanea/amazon-sunset1024.jpg

Ordie
11-05-2006, 11:19 PM
Do you what Iraq's largest natural resource? Water
To you know who holds the spigot? Turkey's dams.

Satellite Weapon
11-05-2006, 11:35 PM
I know about water shortages. Those bastard in Florida don't have any so we have to drain our ****ing lakes and the damn Chattahoochee so those sunshine state pricks can drink ****. Until recently..that is.... Water war is worth fighting http://www.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_4604507
Good read. A major conflict in the middle east will most likely be over water or rights to potable water. another war may be coming soon

PsihoKeke
11-06-2006, 07:10 AM
Actually much of the current violence in Sudan and Chad is due to drought. Nomads and farmers are fighting each other over still usable land and in Sudan nomads are backed by goverment.