UN: Global Water Crisis Fueling More Conflict

UN: Global Water Crisis Fueling More Conflict
Image copyright: Hector Vivas/Stringer/Getty Images News via Getty Images

The Spin


Pro-establishment narrative

Water wars have occurred throughout the world for millennia, but the increasing dangers posed by climate change are making things worse. Water as a cause and weapon of war has occurred recently in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, and even the US. As opposing factions struggle over an increasingly narrowing water supply, these groups resort to bombing water sources, killing environmental activists, or launching lawsuits over who gets to control this life necessity.


Establishment-critical narrative

The term "water war" is based on false assumptions and used for fear-mongering. Even though no two countries have ever gone to war over water, those propagating this falsehood choose to conflate water as a tool in war, and even the cause of it. While transboundary rivers must be managed, water is still abundant and cheap, as it always has been, and governments are continuing to enhance their waste management systems to ensure this renewable source of life remains plentiful.


Metaculus Prediction


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