Ummid Assistant

Applications open for Manmohan scholarship at Cambridge

Opportunities for Indian students in US

Welcome Guest! You are here: Home » Science & Technology

'Middle East has lost 144 cubic km of water'

Wednesday February 13, 2013 02:30:48 PM, IANS

 

Washington: The Middle East has lost 144 cubic km of water between 2003 and 2010, nearly equal to the staggering volume of the Dead Sea, show data provided by the NASA satellites.

Four countries of the region along the Tigris and Euphrates - Turkey upstream to Syria, Iran and Iraq below - alone account for the unprecedented loss. The Middle East is strained by the rapid loss of critical water reserves and mounting political tensions.

University of California-Irvine scientists and colleagues say the Tigris-Euphrates watershed is drying up at a pace second only to that in India. "This rate is among the largest liquid freshwater losses on the continents," they say, the journal Water Resources Research reports.

Water management is a complex issue in the Middle East, "a region that is dealing with limited water resources and competing stakeholders," says Katalyn Voss, water policy fellow with the California's Centre for Hydrologic Modeling at Irvine, who led the study, according to a California statement.

Turkey has jurisdiction over the Tigris and Euphrates headwaters, as well as the reservoirs and infrastructure of its Southeastern Anatolia Project, which dictates how much water flows downstream into Syria, Iran and Iraq.

Unable to conduct measurements on the ground in the politically unstable region, researchers used data from space, provided by NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, to uncover the extent of the problem.

They found that depletion was especially striking after a drought struck the area in 2007. Researchers attribute the bulk of it - about 60 percent - to pumping of water from underground reservoirs.

GRACE is "like having a giant scale in the sky. Whenever you do international work, it's exceedingly difficult to obtain data from different countries," says Jay Famiglietti, principal study investigator and professor of Earth system science at California.

"For political, economic or security reasons, neighbours don't want each other to know how much water they're using. In regions like the Middle East, where data are relatively inaccessible, satellite observations are among the few options," he adds.






 

 

 




 

Home | Top of the Page

Comments

Note: By posting your comments here you agree to the terms and conditions of www.ummid.com

Comments powered by DISQUS

i

More Headlines

India's universities crying for better leadership

Russian parliament passes anti-smoking bill

Global outrage against North Korea nuclear test

Afzal's family says no to Tihar visit, wants body back

SC fumes over sex tests, female foeticide

Italian chopper deal: India orders probe after CEO's arrest

10 killed in police firing in Assam panchayat polls

Why Sir Syed loses and Allama Iqbal wins in Pakistan

As Tripura goes to polls, spotlight on 'poorest CM'

Clarify whether RTE Act applies to nursery admissions: Delhi Court

Nalanda University to get special funds in budget: Khurshid

Mumbai to host philanthropy week

 

Top Stories

Italian chopper deal: India orders probe after CEO's arrest

India Tuesday ordered a probe into the $750 million deal for 12 VVIP AgustaWestland helicopters following the arrest of the chief of its parent company - Italy's Finmeccanica on corruption charges in the contract.  »

Antony seeks report on pay-off in Italian chopper deal

 

  Most Read

North Korea conducts third n-test

North Korea said Tuesday that it had successfully conducted a third nuclear test to safeguard its national security against hostile US policy, a move that prompted South Korea to put its military on high alert. The   »

Cop shot dead in Kolkata students' clash

A police sub-inspector was shot dead and another man injured in firing by miscreants during a clash between student activists of the Trinamool Congress and the Congress at a college here Tuesday, police said. Two accused were arrested. Tapas Chowdhury, a sub-inspector attached to the city police's Special Branch, was  »

 

  News Pick

Scared for my children: Iftikhar Gilani

Two days after he was detained by police along with his family following the execution of Afzal Guru, senior journalist Iftikhar Gilani Monday said his children were still scared, and he was scared for them too. Gilani and his  »

Two Kerala cardinals among those voting for new Pope

Two cardinals from Kerala are among the four from the country to leave for Vatican to cast their vote in elections for a new pope to replace Pope Benedict XVI, the leader of the Catholic  »

Pope Benedict to resign

Scientists brace for a close peek at asteroid

Indian scientists will join their counterparts globally for a rare celestial event scheduled for the night of Feb 15-16 -- the passing of an asteroid very close to Earth, around 28,000 km away, and visible with ordinary  »

Britain census shows 37% rise in Muslim population

The exact figure of Muslim immigration living in Britain has been revealed in new census figures. According to the census, in the past seven years the number of Muslims living in the UK has risen  »

 

Picture of the Day

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh presenting the award to the District Collector, Visakapatanam V. Seshadri for promoting social equity in MGNREGA implementation, at the 8th Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Divas Sammelan, in New Delhi on February 02, 2013.

 

Recommend the story to your friends

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

RSS  |  Contact us

 

| Quick links

News

 

Subscribe to

Ummid Assistant

 

National

Science & Technology

RSS

Scholarships

About us

International

Health

Twitter

Government Schemes

Feedback

Regional

History

Facebook

Education

Register

Politics

Opinion

Newsletter

Contact us

Business

The Funny Side

Education & Career

 

 

Ummid.com: Disclaimer | Terms of Use | Advertise with us | Link Exchange

Ummid.com is part of the Awaz Multimedia & Publications providing World News, News Analysis and Feature Articles on Education, Health. Politics, Technology, Sports, Entertainment, Industry etc. The articles or the views displayed on this website are for public information and in no way describe the editorial views. The users are entitled to use this site subject to the terms and conditions mentioned.

© 2012 Awaz Multimedia & Publications. All rights reserved.