Water shortage in place of Abundance Assignment

Water shortage in place of Abundance - Assignment Example Water has been always scarce in the Middle East from the earliest recorded human civilizations in this region. However, over the past few decades, the problem of water shortage has escalated to great levels in the region Despite the fact that the Middle Eastern region represents almost 6 percent of the total world’s population, the region only owns less than 1 percent of the world’s overall water resources. In fact, statistics reveal that the demand for desalinated water is growing at an average annual rate of over 7 percent in the Middle Eastern countries which almost the double of the global average (Earle, Jagerskog & Ojendal, pp. 103-104, 2010). Poverty, mass unemployment, political suppression, injustice, inflation and others were cited as the major reasons behind the recent revolutions and revolts in the Middle East, however, a less cited but extremely important reasons behind the turmoil in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Algeria, Syria and others countries, is the rising food prices caused by the water shortage. Many studies by other NGOs, political and international organisations have repeatedly identified that the region would be suffering with severe water crisis in the coming decades.Growing population (World Bank predicts that the population would be more than 600 million in the next couple of decades), rising temperatures and political instability is like a dynamite in the region which will burst will only a little spark (Shuval & Dwiek, pp. 147-149, 2007). Many of the autocratic rulers of oil-rich Middle Eastern countries have been able to put a lid on this turmoil by using their wealth from oil to subsidized food prices and import grains and sell them for cheap prices in the country, however, it appears that this pattern will not last for long (Holst-Warhaft & Steenhuis, pp. 238-239, 2010). Quite understandably, one obvious reason for water shortage in the Middle Eastern countries is the recent increase in demand in these countries. Lately, these countries have shown almost impeccable economic growth that has stunned its critics. State of the art buildings, skyscrapers, modern infrastructure, facilities with the latest technologies and abundant job opportunities are attracting many people from different Asian countries to try their luck in these Middle Eastern countries (Shuval & Dwiek, pp. 147-149, 2007). Algeria, Morocco, Iran, Iraq, Tunisia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, Jordan, Israel and Libya are all running in water deficits and according to the recent Water Stress Index, all of these countries have been identified with â€Å"extreme risk†. Turkey is the only country that has water surplus in the region but up until this point is not willing to share its resources. Libya is spending 20 billion US dollars every year to use its deep-water reserves. UAE has expressed his tensions as all of his water reserves being derived from ancient fossils fuels will run out in less than four decades (Raouf, pp. 5-10, 2010). Statement of the problem Therefore, the statement of problem or the research question for this particular study would be as follows: - â€Å"To explore short term and long term solutions for the problem of water shortage in various Middle Eastern countries† Research Goals Following are the research goals of this particular research. To shed light on the causes and reasons behind water shortage and scarcity in the Middle Eastern region To explore and evaluate the possible