Global Warming Could Spark Water Wars Between U.S. and Canada
Remember screaming "Water war!" as a kid and going nuts squirting people or throwing water balloons around the yard? Yeah, well imagine screaming the same thing but using guns and rocket launchers. It just doesn't have the same appeal; yet, this may be an extreme example of future conflicts between the U.S. and Canada if climate change becomes a nasty reality.
The UN has issued a warning that climate change could disrupt water supplies in North American and lead to disputes between the U.S. and Canada. With more hurricanes, heat waves, and wildfires likely as the temperature rises, increased need for water may place a strain on supplies already suffering from population increases. From the article:
"Droughts would also occur more often in the U.S. Midwest and Southwest as warmer temperatures evaporate soil moisture. Those droughts could diminish underground supplies like the Edwards Aquifer in Texas, which supplies 2 million people with water, by up to 40 percent, and cut levels of the Ogallala aquifer which underlies eight U.S. states, the report said.
During droughts like the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, U.S. farmers pumped water from underground aquifers to save their fields through irrigation. 'Much of that water is now gone," said MacCracken. 'We've used up our savings bank.'"
With underground water depleted, a rush to secure water already available on land will lead to massive environmental and social issues. Water use from the Great Lakes (shared between U.S. and Canada) have kicked off spats in the past with diversion of the lakes' water for distant cities and farms. There's even been a call to channel water to the Mississippi River to support hot U.S. cities during the summer.
Obviously, a war between the U.S. and Canada over water seems highly unlikely. However, during the boom years of oil, with no end in sight of the precious resource, there were some that might have thought actions in the Middle East today would have been outrageous as well. With all the talk about Peak Oil, should we not also be concerned with access to fresh, clean water? Get those rain barrels ready.
Tags: Climate Change, global warming, water
- Uncategorized
April 15th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
If climate change gets really bad on a global scale, I think a more likely scenario is countries banding together based on shared access to resources and cultural similarities, then protecting those assets as much as possible. For North America, this would mean integrating Canada-US-Mexico to some degree, creating a 'Fortress America' that is geographically easy to protect against migration pressures from areas that are hit harder and don't have the resources to prepare and adapt.
Of course, that's only if things get really bad.
David