"If the wars of this century were fought over oil," World Bank vice president Ismail Serageldin observed in l995, "the wars of the next century will be fought over water."
The world now faces both oil and water shortages, but the exhaustion of water will be more serious. Humans lived for millennia without using much oil, but a person cannot survive for many days without clean water. Only a finite amount of water exists on the earth, on which all life depends. As the human population increases, the consumption of water rises, but the supply of fresh water is diminishing as we continue polluting the remaining water supplies.
"Water wars are not a thing of the future," the Indian physicist Vandana Shiva contends in her new book Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit. She notes, "They already surround us, although they are not always easily recognizable as water wars." Shiva won the Alternative Nobel Peace Prize (Right Livelihood Award) in l993.
"The war between Israelis and Palestinians is to some extent a war over water," Shiva contends. The Jordan River provides 60% of Israel's water needs, though only 3% of the Jordan basin lies in Israel. Shiva reveals how many of the important conflicts of our time - concealed as ethnic or religious wars - are in fact conflicts over scarce but vital natural resources.
The world now faces both oil and water shortages, but the exhaustion of water will be more serious. Humans lived for millennia without using much oil, but a person cannot survive for many days without clean water. Only a finite amount of water exists on the earth, on which all life depends. As the human population increases, the consumption of water rises, but the supply of fresh water is diminishing as we continue polluting the remaining water supplies.
"Water wars are not a thing of the future," the Indian physicist Vandana Shiva contends in her new book Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit. She notes, "They already surround us, although they are not always easily recognizable as water wars." Shiva won the Alternative Nobel Peace Prize (Right Livelihood Award) in l993.
"The war between Israelis and Palestinians is to some extent a war over water," Shiva contends. The Jordan River provides 60% of Israel's water needs, though only 3% of the Jordan basin lies in Israel. Shiva reveals how many of the important conflicts of our time - concealed as ethnic or religious wars - are in fact conflicts over scarce but vital natural resources.