Water wars: early warning tool uses climate data to predict conflict hotspots

Tension over water scarcity is increasing across the globe. A new system flags up where this threatens to erupt into violenceResearchers from six organisations have developed an early warning system to help predict potential water conflicts as violence associated with water surges globally.The Dutch government-funded Water, Peace and Security (WPS) global early warning tool, which was presented to the UN security council before it was launched formally last month, combines environmental variables such as rainfall and crop failures with political, economic and social factors to predict the risk of violent water-related conflicts up to a year in advance. Continue reading...