Nachrichtenüberblick November 2005
21.11.2005
‘Blue Planet’
70% of the Earth is covered by water. Yet only 2.5% of
the world’s water is freshwater, while 97.5% is oceans. Only 0.3% of the world’s
freshwater is available from rivers, lakes and reservoirs; 30% is groundwater,
while the rest is stored in distant glaciers, ice sheets, and mountainous areas
– all places that we can hardly access.
Lake
Baikal, situated in south-east Siberia, is the oldest (25 million years) and
deepest (1,700 m) lake in the world. It contains 20% of the world's total
unfrozen freshwater reserve. Known as the 'Galapagos of Russia', its age and
isolation have produced one of the world's richest and most unusual freshwater
faunas.
Most
of our food is made up of water: tomatoes (95%), spinach (91%), milk (90%),
apples (85%), potatoes (80%), beef (61%), hot dogs (56%).
Currently,
over 80 countries, representing 40% of the world’s people, are subject to
serious water shortages. Conditions may get worse in the next 50 years as
populations grow and as global warming disrupts rainfall patterns. A third of
the world lives in water stressed areas where consumption outstrips supply.
South West Asia faces the greatest threat. Over 90% of the region’s population
is experiencing severe water stress, with water consumption exceeding 10% of
renewable freshwater resources.
UNESCO WATER PORTAL WEEKLY UPDATE
No. 120 18 November 2005
DEUTSCHES INSTITUT FÜR ENTWICKLUNGSPOLITIK (DIE)
Workshop im Rahmen des Forschungsprojekts:
Virtueller Wasserhandel
Ein realistisches Konzept zum Umgang mit Wasserarmut in
Entwicklungsländern?
07.12.2005, Bonn
... Das Konzept des
„Virtuellen Wasserhandels“ beruht auf der Idee, dass wasserarme Regionen oder
Länder ihre Nahrungsmittel - und somit das in diesen „virtuell“ enthaltene
Wasser - vermehrt aus wasserreichen Regionen importieren, um eigene Ressourcen
zu schonen. Dieser Ansatz wird seit einigen Jahren in der Fachwelt kontrovers
diskutiert. Kann dieses Konzept politisch und wirtschaftlich sinnvoll
durchgesetzt und gleichzeitig ökologisch und sozial verträglich gestaltet
werden und wenn ja, wie?.....
Ansprechpartner: Susanne Neubert, Lena Horlemann
DOKUMENTATION der Kick-off-Veranstaltung:
Workshop:
Virtueller Wasserhandel - Facetten eines umstrittenen Konzepts
06.09.2005
22 March - World Day for Water 2006
… will be guided by the theme 'Water and
Culture' under the leadership of
UNESCO …
http://www.unesco.org/water/water_celebrations/index.shtml
u
NACHRICHTEN
Is water a human
right? (Bindu Lohani, Asian Development Bank)
November 21, 2005 Consider these stark facts: Over one
billion Asians lack access to safe drinking water. Half of the 3.5 billion
people living in the region are without adequate sanitation. Pollution levels
in Asia’s rivers are among the highest in the world, while forest cover is
among the lowest. Between 1950 and 1995, the amount of water available to each
person in Asia dropped by more than half. That figure could halve again by
2025. Simply put, people in the world’s most populous region are running out of
water fast. Competition for water and conflict over access to this precious
resource is increasing. … But if it is a resource, and in fact a right, how can
it be managed effectively? Why should people have to pay their water bill for
something that is their basic human right? The answer is that water, if it is
to be conserved and managed, must be seen as both a resource and as a service …
What most governments in Asia are asking people to pay for is not for the water
as a resource, but for the cost of delivering that water to people’s homes. …
The time has come to move beyond the debate about whether water is a resource,
a right or a service. We should be focusing our efforts on conserving and
managing the water we have to see that the benefits can be shared by the
largest number of people possible.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=22411
In
Afrika und Amerika fließt viel mehr Wasser als gedacht
19./20.
11. 2005... beruhen auf Daten der beiden Grace-Satelliten, die die
Erdanziehungskraft messen ... Einem Team des Geoforschungszentrums Potsdam
(GFZ) und anderer Institute ist es gelungen, daraus die Wassermenge am Boden zu
errechnen - denn die Wassermassen verstärken die Gravitation ... Vielleicht
kann - angesichts der klimabedingten befürchteten Zunahme von
Trinkwasserknappheit - mit den Grace-Daten künftig sogar rechtzeitig vor
übermäßigem Grundwasserverbrauch gewarnt werden ... Und schließlich sollten
sich Eingriffe des Menschen in den natürlichen Wasserkreislauf in den
Satellitendaten niederschlagen - derzeit wird geprüft, wie das im neuen
Drei-Schluchten-Damm in China gestaute Wasser die Erdanziehungskraft der Region
ändert.
http://derstandard.at/?id=2248037
New state water policy to be
tabled in next session
19th
NOV A comprehensive
water policy for Kerala drafted by the Kozhikode-based Centre for Water
Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) would be tabled in the next
session of the assembly, State Water Resources Minister Thiruvanchoor
Radhakrishnan … he said the new policy was aimed at protecting the state's
interests while dealing with inter-state water disputes. Many national water
bodies were giving verdicts against the state's interests on water disputes ...
Sea ice: new source of
irrigation water supply
2005-11-18
Chinese scientists have developed a method of
extracting fresh water from the ocean's winter ice … salinity of the water
extracted from the ice is below 0.2 percent, which is within the threshold for
potable water. The extraction process costs about four yuan per ton … the
technology has matured and meets the basic requirements to launch large-scale
experiments prior to full scale industrial production ... plans to build a
major 'sea ice' water utilization demonstration project that will be used to
irrigate various cash crops …
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-11/18/content_3800375.htm
Vater
Balchasch vorm Sterben bewahren- Der größte See Kasachstans droht wie der
Aral-See auszutrocken
5-11-2005
... Aralsee ... schrumpfte ... um zwei Drittel seiner Fläche und drei Viertel
seines Volumens - und stürzte seine Umgebung in eine ökologische Krise. Der
Balchasch-See im Südosten Kasachstans könnte schon bald seinem Beispiel zu
folgen. Insbesondere der Wasserbedarf Chinas könnte sich dann zum Problem
entwickeln ... etwa drei Millionen Menschen, etwa ein Fünftel der Bevölkerung
Kasachstans, sind komplett vom Wasser des Sees und seiner Zuflüsse abhängig ...
der Ili-Fluss, der wichtigste Zufluss des Balchasch, entspringt aus
chinesischem Territorium. Im Reich der Mitte hat man den Wert der Ressource Wasser
erkannt, und den Reichtum, den der Ili spendet, fest in die Aufbaupläne für die
rückständige Grenzprovinz Xinjiang integriert. Schon jetzt zweige China einen
enormen Teil des Flusswassers für Bewässerungsprojekte ab ...
http://62.5.183.114/GUS_und_Baltikum/2005/11/15/13.41.32.htm
China tightens drinking water
regulations
Nov. 6 -- A
study says it will cost billions of dollars for cities in China to upgrade
their water treatment systems to meet tougher new standards … large cities such
as Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hangzhou have invested heavily to
introduce deep-processing technology … to bring the quality of tap water up to
par with European drinking water standards in the next couple of years …
http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/?feed=TopNews&article=UPI-1-20051106-20104500-bc-china-water.xml
u Links
/ Hintergründe
Fünfte
Werkstattgespräche über Wasser (2005): Globale und nationale Wasserpolitik in
Transformations- und Entwicklungsländern
26. – 27. Oktober 2005 Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), Bonn
Dokumentation / Präsentationen:
Zusammenfassung / Einführung:
Water Alert!
LEIDER NICHT IN
DEUTSCH … interactive game developed by UNICEF
… is intended to engage young people in an adventure of strategy and survival
that explores real life situations. The object of the game is to ensure that
the people in a drought-challenged village … have water …
http://www.unicef.org/voy/explore/wes/explore_1818.html
http://www.unicef.org/voy/wes/
Project WET (Water Education for Teachers)
… non-profit water education programme and publisher for educators and
young people between the ages of 5 to 18 … dissemination of classroom-ready
teaching aids … contains links to local project WET, publications …
Cyberschoolbus Water Quiz
…
UN proposes a Water Quiz that is embedded in an agricultural setting where you
can learn interesting facts about water and the way it is used …
http://www0.un.org/cyberschoolbus/waterquiz/waterquiz4/index.asp
Water Science for Schools
…
U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) website offers information on many aspects of
water, along with pictures, data, maps and an interactive centre …
Global Rivers Environmental Education Network
provides
links to online information … multiple aspects of watershed protection …
background information …
http://www.green.org/resources/
Herzliche Grüße von der Elbe
Jörg Barandat
http://de.geocities.com/joergbarandat/wassernetz.html