Can Water be the Cause of States going to War?

The aim of this blog is to inform about the relationship between access to water and conflicts. Is there a chance, that we will one day have wars over water? Climate change increases the world's temperature. Human population is expanding. The access to water in arid regions of the world is already limited. Taking this general knowledge as a starting point, the blog claims to go deeper into this field, considering political, geographical, social and scientific discussions about water conflicts.

One year ago a group of former world leaders was calling on the UN to make water a topsecurity concern. They argued that water crisis threatens political stability and economic development in a number of developing and emerging markets and therefore has an implication for global peace.

Fabrice Renaund from the Institute for Environment and Human Security at the United Nations University in Bonn said: “Water resources worldwide are under increasing pressure through a combination of factors that include population growth, pollution and the consequences of climate change. In some regions of the world, acute stresses could be magnified or become the norm, and many academic, political and media circles predict that this will inevitably lead to violent conflicts.”

To find my answer to the big question of this blog “Can water be the cause of states going to war?”, I have to start with finding answers to basic questions.

The first question, that I am asking myself is: How much drinkable water is there in the world? How big are our water resources?

Source:

John Blau.Water could spark future conflicts, leaders warn. 18.09.2012. www.dw.de