Tag Archives: water

Mar 25 2012

U.S. Intelligence Says Water Shortages Threaten Stability

Via Scoop.it – Geography Education

“Competition for increasingly scarce water in the next decade will fuel instability in regions such as South Asia and the Middle East that are important to U.S. national security, according to a U.S. intelligence report.”

Geographic thinking is about uncovering the spatial connections between issues that on the surface might not seem related.  Multinational river basins are a perfect example of environmental resources that demand international cooperation for successful management, and it regions of scarcity and population growth, it is easy to envision clashing viewpoints on how to fairly share such resources.

Discussion questions: What geographic themes are evident in this article? What geographic problems could exacerbate the problem? What could alleviate these issues in the future?

Via www.businessweek.com

Mar 11 2012

Kiribati and Climate Change

Via Scoop.it – Geography Education
Fearing that climate change could wipe out their Pacific archipelago, the leaders of Kiribati are considering an unusual backup plan: moving the population to Fiji.  

How urgent is the issue of climate change?  That question is not only geographic in content, but the response might also be somewhat contingent on geography as well.  If your country literally has no higher ground to retreat to, the thought of even minimal sea level change would be totally devastating.
Via www.mercurynews.com

Mar 7 2012

Water in -30C in Yellowknife, NWT

Via Scoop.it – Geography Education
On a winter day in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, I boiled water and threw it in the air where it “evaporated”…

Okay, the water did not actually ‘evaporate’ in -30C temperatures as stated in the video.  As mentioned on G+, “upon being dispersed into the air, the latent heat in the water’s mass dispersed more easily and thus more quickly, rapidly cooling it to the outside temperature and causing the droplets to become tiny crystalized ice, or plainly put, powdered snow, light enough to be carried away in the wind.”  What a great demonstration of the properties of water!
Via www.youtube.com

Mar 6 2012

MDG drinking water target being met is cause for celebration

Via Scoop.it – Geography Education
Sanjay Wijesekera: This achievement shows that where there is a will, it is possible to truly transform the lives of hundreds of millions of people for the better.  

The MDG (Millennial Development Goal) to cut the global population that does not have access to clean drinking water was cut in half, and five years ahead of schedule. The World Health Organization and the United Nations are very pleased with this achievement, but it is a timely reminder of the developmental problems of poverty and access that still exist. For example, 783 million people still do not have access to clean drinking water.  3,000 children die each day from diarrheal diseases (usually from bad drinking water and poor sanitation). Although some success should be celebrated, the world, in the currently constituted social, economic and political framework, still does not provide the most basic of requirements for a sizable portion of humanity.
Via www.guardian.co.uk