World Rivers Review: Focus on Rivers, Water and Climate - September 2010

Risky Business in the Face of Climate Change

Catastrophic flooding in Pakistan, dam breaks around the world, and drought-caused blackouts in Africa provide ample warning of how global warming is changing the hydrological cycle. This special issue on rivers, water and climate examines the risks associated with building dams at a time when we can't predict either high or low flows. Get the full story on what these challenges mean for dam safety, river-based communities, energy production, and the environment – and the solutions that can help us survive.

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Downstream Impacts: A new study documents the forgotten victims of dams.
Commentary: The floods in Pakistan are a warning that the time to address climate change is now.
Making Waves: News and notes on the worldwide movement to protect rivers.
Interview: We talk to Dr. Margaret Palmer, an expert on climate change and rivers.
Map: A graphic look at the problem of hydrodependency in Africa, and the risk of climate-induced changes to river flows.
Dam Safety: A global roundup of recent dam safety problems caused by unusually high rainfall.
Pakistan: A Pakistani water expert describes how walling in the Indus River has made it more flood-prone.
Water Supply: Global water expert Sandra Postel explains why it's time to adapt to a new normal.
Amazon: Tensions run high in Brazil as Amazon Indians take over a dam site after their ancestral graveyard is dynamited for the project.
South Korea: The campaign against the massive 4-Rivers diversion project intensifies, as witnessed by a Berkeley-based research group.
News Briefs: All the river news that's fit to print.
Peru: Brazilian dams planned for the Peruvian Amazon threaten indigenous peoples and their forests.