Iran continues to be concerned about water management, as AL Monitor reports:
Explaining the prospect of water conflicts in the Middle East in the near future, [Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas] Araghchi said, “The West Asia region is rapidly moving toward a complete drought. There are currently only nine countries in the region, including Iran, that have not faced a complete drought. But by 2025, all countries in the region, including Iran, will be in a state of complete drought.”
He said, “In such a situation, all countries are seeking to make full use of their water resources and do not allow water to flow out of their country. Our neighbors will adopt this policy, and we will as well. The country’s policy is to stop the flow of water from leaving the country. Of course, this is not so our neighbors become thirsty, but as I said, this needs to be managed.”
Mohammad-Ali Sobhanollahi, chancellor of Khawarizmi University, told conference participants, “The geopolitical map of the world, which was previously based on energy, will undergo water-related changes in the next 25 years.”
He emphasized that the water crisis in the Middle East is more severe compared with other parts of the world. “Reports indicate that the water crisis will cause massive displacement in the region in the next 25 years,” he told attendees.
The ecological consequences of stopping the flow of water across national boundaries will not be positive, unfortunately, since national boundaries rarely follow ecological boundaries. The impact of climate change may be severe for those countries located near the equator, for temperatures may soar out of the bounds of human survivability – at least when the human is unaided. Remember the old Indian remark about mad dogs and Englishmen? That may fade, finally, as even the mad dogs retreat to any haven they can find.
It really leads me to wonder what the Arabs and Persians will do as the heat soars and the poor suffer and die. Will they build refuge centers and hope they can keep them air-conditioned? Will underground living come into vogue?
Will they sue the United States in international courts for making their lives unlivable? Seeing as they supplied a substantial portion of the fossil fuels in question, that may not fly, although much of that supply occurred before anthropogenic climate change was known to be possible, much less probable.
Still, it appears the Arabs and Persians face a subdued, if not out and out grim, future. Still, never count out the industrious person. Elevated areas should be somewhat cooler, new technology may be developed.
The real trick will be avoiding war, as that disrupts everything positive, and that’s what they’ll need – positive developments.
