CIHEAM Press Review

Portuguese reservoirs were at 77% of capacity on Monday, a
global volume that has been increasing, although there are still cases, in the
south, with dams at less than 20% of capacity.

Record temperatures during heatwaves in Europe have caused water shortages in parts of Italy and other nations, but there is even worse news: such shortages are set to become more common in coming decades as water sources get increasingly stressed by warming temperatures, scientists warn.

Freshwater scarcity is a fact of life for people across much of the planet with agricultural production severely affected as irrigation at croplands already accounts for 70% of water use globally.
Much worse is to come, however, scientists warn. By the middle of the century, say the authors of a new study, water scarcity in agriculture will likely increase in a staggering 80% of the world’s croplands.

The famous Arabian oryx, a distinctive white gazelle with long black horns, is not hard to spot in the Shaumari reserve. From across the scrubland, a herd of around 20 oryxes could be seen clustered around a water pipe where a small leak has caused the vegetation to grow up green and lush.

Significant water shortages could spark dramatic social and political consequences. What can be still be done?

The summer of 2021 was hotter than almost any previous summer across the Middle East, with temperatures rising to nearly 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) — almost 7 degrees Celsius higher than usual for that time of year. Also, heat and wind sparked severe forest fires, particularly in Algeria, where 65 people died as a result. And there are many indications that the scorching summer of 2021 was not a one-off.

The Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DGADR) is monitoring the effects of the drought on hydro-agricultural projects and triggering contingency plans in the most affected areas.

This hardy desert plant lives in the hostile Atacama Desert in Chile by sucking moisture out of passing fog. As water resources become ever more scarce, humans could follow suit.

The water stored in Portuguese reservoirs has seen general decline from August to September, with nine reservoirs now having less than 40% water, most of them in the Sado river basin.

A trio of researchers has found that approximately 40% of agricultural products imported into the European Union will be "highly vulnerable" to drought by 2050. In their paper published in the journal Nature Communications, Ertug Ercin, Ted Veldkamp and Johannes Hunink, from R2Water Research and Consultancy, the Amsterdam University of Applied Science and FutureWater, respectively, suggest the droughts impacting agricultural products will be due to global warming.

Egypt’s foreign minister says Cairo can compensate for the second filling of Ethiopia’s controversial dam on the Blue Nile as a result of the projects the Egyptian government is implementing to confront water scarcity, but other officials beg to differ

Water scarcity threatens the health and development of communities around the globe. Climate change is intensifying the problem, pushing governments to find more innovative, collaborative ways to address water stress.

Selon les experts, la Jordanie connait une des plus graves sécheresses de son histoire et le pire est à venir. Les précipitations pourraient chuter de quasiment un tiers d'ici 2100, tandis que la température moyenne augmenterait de quelque 4,5 degrés.

Desertification in the world’s top olive oil-producing country is being fueled by the ongoing drought and poor land management practices.

Last month, residents of Boretto in northern Italy discovered that the wide stretch of the Po River, running just to the north of their small town, had transformed into a beach.
The pale golden sand extended for around 10 metres towards the centre of the river and inhabitants took advantage of the newly formed terrain to take a stroll and walk their dogs.
In other areas, the water level dropped so low that the remains of a tank from WWII were revealed and the ruined walls of a medieval town emerged.

A Jordanian aeroponics farm grows a variety of crops using only a marginal amount of water, presenting a prototype for the future of agriculture in the kingdom

By 2050, the global population is anticipated to reach approximately 10 billion, and the gap between the number of agricultural goods produced and the foods required is gradually increasing. Due to growing urbanization activities and extreme climatic degradation, land degradation results in lesser arable lands and water scarcity, leading to low crop production and constrained supply chain issues.

Home to more than 0.5 billion people, the Mediterranean region is warming 20% faster than the global average. Consequently, the projected impacts of climate change in this region include further aridity and drought, frequent wildfires, and significant sea level rise. Additionally, hotspots of climate migration may appear as early as 2030, as both coastal and inland communities are facing additional pressure on food security. Historically, the Mediterranean region is also home to multilayered spheres of influence, driven by numerous economic, political, and military dimensions. 

Countless bodies of water effectively disappeared in 2021. Lake Oroville in California, for example, tanked to the point that hydropower plants had to shut down. Likewise, the Colorado River's drought was so devastating, that it went down in history, and left many without a source of fresh drinking water. Now, though, the second largest lake in Turkey, Lake Tuz, has completely dried up, and you could probably guess the culprit: climate change.

Last week, a draft report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that warming across the Mediterranean will be about 20 percent higher than global averages in the decades to come as the region is hit by devastating heatwaves, water shortages, loss of biodiversity and risks to food production.
The release of these initial findings coincided with wildfires, mainly caused by record high temperatures, raging through vast wooded regions of Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and Lebanon in recent weeks.

A dry and hot May in Portugal has helped to push some areas of Portugal into situations of drought.

The southern region of mainland Portugal registered an increase in the area of ​​meteorological drought at the end of May, with Baixo Alentejo and Algarve experiencing moderate drought and some places with severe drought, according to IPMA.

Water is at the core of our existence. From an agriculture perspective, water is the essence of the food we grow. The world’s food systems depend on the planet’s water systems. Many global challenges, however, are threatening the sustainability of our water resources leading to water stress and scarcity and therefore impeding our efforts to attain food security.

DUBAI: Earth’s surface is 71 percent water, but the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region sees precious little of this life-giving resource. According to the UN, it is the world’s most water-scarce region, with 17 countries considered below the water poverty line. Matters are made worse by booming population growth, poor infrastructure and overexploitation. Agriculture alone accounts for around 80 percent of water usage in MENA region, according to the World Bank. This overuse means the region’s natural groundwater reserves are not replenishing fast enough to keep pace with demand.