scholarly journals Water scarcity as a window of opportunity for a peacful settlement in the Middle East. (c2011)

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rayan Amine Hammoud
2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omid Bozorg-Haddad ◽  
Babak Zolghadr-Asli ◽  
Parisa Sarzaeim ◽  
Mahyar Aboutalebi ◽  
Xuefeng Chu ◽  
...  

Abstract Water resources in the Middle East region are becoming scarce, while millions of people already do not have access to adequate water for drinking and sanitary purposes. Water resources depletion has become a significant problem in this region that is likely to worsen. Current research by remote sensing analysis indicates a descending trend of water storage in the Middle East region, where agriculture plays a crucial role in socio-economic life. This study introduces an approach quantifying water depletion in the Middle Eastern countries, which are being challenged in the management of their water resources. Furthermore, this paper presents results of a survey assessing the status of water use and supply in Middle Eastern countries and outlines some potential remedies. Specifically, Iran's water use is evaluated and compared with its neighbors'. The water equivalent anomaly (WEA) and total water storage (TWS) depletion are two indexes of water scarcity calculated for Middle Eastern countries surveyed herein. Our analysis reveals that Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran are countries with very negative water scarcity indexes. These estimates prove that international cooperation is needed to manage available regional water resources and reverse depletion of natural water sources. It is demonstrated herein that virtual water trade can help remediate regional water shortage in Middle Eastern countries.


2000 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 65-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mostafa Dolatyar ◽  
Tim S. Gray
Keyword(s):  

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Procházka ◽  
Vladimír Hönig ◽  
Mansoor Maitah ◽  
Ivana Pljučarská ◽  
Jakub Kleindienst

The primary goal of this article is to evaluate water scarcity in selected countries of the Middle-East and assess the impact on agricultural production. To begin with, the Weighted Anomaly Standardized Precipitation (WASP) Index from 1979 to 2017 was spatially computed for Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. In order to demonstrate the effect of reduced levels of water, the water shortage situation in cities with the population higher than one million was examined. This was accomplished by utilizing the Composite Index approach to make water related statistics more intelligible. A projection for the years of 2020 to 2030 was created in order to demonstrate possible changes in the supply and demand for water in selected countries of the Middle-East. In regards to evaluating the economic effects of water shortages on agricultural sector, effects of lower precipitation on agricultural production in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia were estimated. With ever-increasing urbanization, all countries are currently experiencing a moderate to high water risk. Our research points to excessively high water stress for most analyzed cities through the year 2030. Also, it is demonstrated how much precipitation decreases influence agricultural production in Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. From the analyzed countries, some evidence is found that precipitation negatively influences crop production, primarily for Iran.


Headline MIDDLE EAST: Water lack risks urban and rural strains


Eos ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 85 (20) ◽  
pp. 198-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randy Showstack
Keyword(s):  

1969 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 177-205
Author(s):  
Alessandro Tinti

The turmoil in the Middle East takes its roots in the sharp incongruence between collective identities and territorial boundaries, but the severe and growing water scarcity significantly affects both the interstate relations and the socio-economic stability of the domestic regimes. Consequently, the access, supply, management and control of water flows are a long-standing source of contention and regional polarization. Nevertheless, the sharing of water resources commands the signing of mutual agreements to determine the parties’ grade of exploitation, thus gradually opening to the institutionalization of a cooperative regime or patterns of joint governance. This article aims to provide a quantitative evaluation of the strategic water-related interactions at the interstate level across the Levant. The assessment provides an overview of the regional transboundary water relations  with the purpose of determining whether the Middle East is currently moving toward an increased regionalization or exacerbating the existing rivalries.


Author(s):  
Abraham Lubem, Abado ◽  

The Middle East region has been thrown into a theatre of conflicts in recent decades, with almost all the countries in the region been affected by one conflict or the other. Notable among them conflicts is the Arab spring, which saw the toppling of most dictatorial regimes in the region, others include the conflicts in Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Palestine, among others. The true causative factors of these conflicts and political upheavals in the Middle East region have still been debated. It is predicating on this background that this paper seeks to; trace the root(s) of the conflicts in the Middle East Region. The paper links the exacerbating effects of climate change, and water scarcity to the political instability in Syria, and the Middle East in general. The paper traces the genesis of the conflict to the worst global faming in 100 years, which drove food crises, especially bread to an all-time high. The situation is identified to have resulted to a water scarcity, as well as forced both crop and animals’ farmers out of their source of living in Syria.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document