Where the world will run out of water: Research shows area that will lose water from climate change

Researchers mapped the areas where future global conflict is most likely to break out as a result of climate change-fueled water shortages.
Researchers said the areas most likely to be hit by ‘hydro-political’ issues are those with already stressed water basins.
They believe water-related conflict or cooperation is likely to develop in the next 50 to 100 years as a result of climate change and population growth.
‘Competition over limited water resources is one of the main concerns for the coming decades,’ the scientists explained.
First, we wanted to highlight the factors which lead to either political cooperation or tensions in transboundary river basins,’ Fabio Farinosi, the lead author of the study, said in a statement.
‘And second, we wanted to map and monitor the likelihood of these kinds of interactions over space and time and under changing socio-economic conditions.’
They then studied the links with freshwater ability, climate stress, human pressure on water resources and socio-economic conditions.
Researchers identified five primary hotspots, including the Nile, Ganges-Brahmaputra, Indus, Tigris-Euphrates and Colorado rivers – all of which are areas with ‘already water stressed basins.’
However, not every hotspot for water scarcity will be rife with conflict.
According to the landmark report from the International Panel on Climate Change, we will need to close down hundreds of coal-fired power stations and rapidly switch to using renewable energy.

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