Water Security Concerns in Gaza

Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on October 7^th led the Israeli government to cut off water supplies to the Gaza Strip with immediate effect. This has resulted in a clean water crisis that the UN warns is now a matter of life and death.

Groundwater is relied upon for roughly half of global drinking water. And as climate change alters precipitation patterns and pollution of surface water continues to increase, our collective dependence on groundwater is likely to increase.

Getting ahead of the potential conflicts, or in some cases, catching up with them, requires an increase in effective groundwater cooperation and diplomacy. Yet the vast majority of transboundary aquifers exist without any form of agreement among the states that share them. This state of affairs leaves the aquifers—and the people who rely upon them—vulnerable to overexploitation, environmental degradation, and the risk of interstate conflict.

A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program

Organizing Regional Action on Climate Change, Health, and Environment

As the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals looms, the World Health Organization has proposed a new regional framework that aims to build climate-resilient and sustainable health systems, improve the health sector’s access to climate funding, and build an evidence base for policymaking.

This article, by Sharon Guynup, originally appeared on Mongabay.

In Hawaii and elsewhere in the North Pacific, few hatchlings are emerging from the nests of endangered hawksbill and green sea turtles. In Wisconsin, some tree swallows have failed to produce offspring. In California, infectious diseases are now more common in southern sea otters. In Michigan, bluegills are swimming slower. In the Arctic, some hooded seals and their pups have thyroid problems. And in North Carolina’s Cape Fear River, American alligators have been found with lesions and unhealed, infected wounds.

A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program

A Warming World is Accelerating the Spread of Dengue

Dengue is now endemic in most Latin American countries. But scientists warn that a warming climate is increasing the pace of breeding and transmission of dengue-carrying mosquitoes, and bring them into new countries.

The UN Environment Programme has described Africa as the most vulnerable region in the world to climate change. Despite only being responsible for 3% of global emissions, the continent has been battered by extreme weather events, including droughts, cyclones, wildfires, and sandstorms. One in three people across Africa faces water scarcity. The continent’s agricultural sector, which represents a significant share of African countries’ GDP and employment, is highly exposed to climate change.

A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program

Converging Crises: Pakistan Flood Victims Face Rising Hunger

According to FAO, Pakistan ranks among the top-ten world producers of wheat, cotton, sugarcane, and mango—and it is the 10^th largest producer of rice. But Pakistan is also atop another world ranking: vulnerability to the impacts of global warming.

Known as “Earth’s kidneys,” wetlands provide a variety of ecological benefits: habitats for diverse species, flood containment, pollutant purification, and carbon absorption. But in China, wetland loss and degradation has exposed people to the whims of climate change. What has China done to protect its wetlands, and how should the country better adapt to climate change with wetlands—a “Great Wall” made of mudflats, mangroves, and waterbirds? Jianbin Shi and Xiaojing Gan, two China-based wetland experts from the Paulson Institute, may enlighten us.