Drought-stricken Kenya is sitting on 250-trillion liters of groundwater
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Young_Chitlin
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By: ROBERT T. GONZALEZ
With the world as thoroughly mapped and monitored as it is, it's easy to forget the Earth still harbors its fair share of secrets. Case in point: yesterday, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization announced that Kenya's drought-striken Turkana County sits, rather ironically, atop a staggeringly huge reserve of subterranean water.
Following an extensive groundwater mapping project that incorporated satellite observations, seismic information and remote sensing, five vast aquifers have been identified hiding beneath the country's arid northern region. Preliminary estimates put the aquifers' contents at roughly 250-trillion liters of water, and UNESCO reports two of the aquifers –The Litikipi Basin Aquifer and the smaller Lodwar Basin Aquifer – have just recently been confirmed by physical drilling efforts.
UNESCO reports that the Litikipi Basin Aquifer, on its own, has the potential to "increase Kenya's strategic water reserves." The four remaining aquifers, combined with shallower reserves currently being tapped, have the potential to redefine the country's entire relationship with water. Via Radar Technologies International (RTI), the firm tapped to assist the Kenyan government in its search for water:Overall, the RTI study found that Turkana hosts a minimum reserve of 250 billion cubic meters of water, which is recharged mainly by the rainfalls of the Kenyan and Ugandan highlands at a rate of 3.4 billion cubic meters [3.45 trillon liters] per year. This new wealth of water could boost Kenya's share of available water by 17% and alone represents nearly double the amount of water that Kenyans consume today. This groundwater raises the prospect for improving the livelihoods of the Turkana people, most of whom live in poverty and have limited access to basic services and clean water.
The next step, according to UNESCO, is to quantify the aquifers' contents more definitively, and assess their water quality. For now, though, people sound optimistic that the aquifers could bring safe water to Kenya's 41-million-person population, 17 million of which lacking access to safe water and 28 million of which do not have adequate sanitation.
“The news about these water reserves comes at a time when reliable water supplies are highly needed," said Judi Wakhungu, Cabinet Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources at a UNESCO meeting on water security, held yesterday. She continued, highlighting the importance of protecting the resource and preserving it for those who need it most:Read more at UNESCO and RTI.This newly found wealth of water opens a door to a more prosperous future for the people of Turkana and the nation as a whole. We must now work to further explore these resources responsibly and safeguard them for future generations.
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/strategic_groundwater_reserves_found_in_northern_kenya/#.UjDJHGRVCip
http://www.rtiexploration.com/news/2013/9/10/rti-finds-vast-water-reserves-in-drought-prone-northern-kenya-cradle-of-mankind
Comments
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there is a sea of water under africa
africa is the only continent that if is got it's act together would not need the outside world. -
All continents could support people without the outside world except Antartica. If you mean the modern world then Africa is a little light in iron production. Only South Africa produce any significant amounts but it would not be enough to meet the demands of the whole continent.
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All continents could support people without the outside world except Antartica. If you mean the modern world then Africa is a little light in iron production. Only South Africa produce any significant amounts but it would not be enough to meet the demands of the whole continent.
There are many nation in africa that have iron but it much like much of africas resources in not mined to capacity or mined at all. africa may not be the only continent but it would be the easiest if the people would change their behavior and outside influence would go away
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All continents could support people without the outside world except Antartica. If you mean the modern world then Africa is a little light in iron production. Only South Africa produce any significant amounts but it would not be enough to meet the demands of the whole continent.
I think the point is that Africa could support a modern lifestyle without having to import anything. You can't say that for Europe. Hell even with North America, you'd substantially change life on this continent if you took away all the things we import from other places.
Even with the lack of iron, the new age of ceramics and plastics are replacing a lot of the things heavy metals were used for anyway.
That said, I don't think Isolationism is the best thing for the continent. In fact, if Africa shaped up, the continent could basically become rich off of others outside. It's crazy. I've said it before, but there are areas in Africa that should be like real life versions of Wakanda from Marvel Comics. Maybe not quite as advanced when compared to other places, but the should be pretty well off. -
Africa is gonna keep ? around and the only way they will have access to that water is by paying some corporation billions to dig it out for them.
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every time I go to Africa it gets better their economies are growing and the people are getting hip to the situation they are in.
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Got to remember Africa is a continent not a country. Some countries are steadily improving. Others are going in the other direction. That's not unique to Africa. It's happening on every continent, even Europe.
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This is great news (obviously). People don't understand how serious a problem fresh water scarcity is and its only gonna get worse as Global Warming and Overpopulation continue. They just came the ? up and Kenyan scientists were talking on NPR about how this is basically a century's worth of water for Kenya, enough that they should be able to export it to neighboring countries.The Lonious Monk wrote: »Got to remember Africa is a continent not a country. Some countries are steadily improving. Others are going in the other direction. That's not unique to Africa. It's happening on every continent, even Europe.
tbh tho you can say things as a whole are getting better simply because they had nowhere to go but up
I don't care how bad the Congo gets, its still better than it was under LeopoldThe Lonious Monk wrote: »All continents could support people without the outside world except Antartica. If you mean the modern world then Africa is a little light in iron production. Only South Africa produce any significant amounts but it would not be enough to meet the demands of the whole continent.
I think the point is that Africa could support a modern lifestyle without having to import anything.
Oh come on.
I know it feels good to say that, and there ARE truly amazing resources in Africa (such as croplands that literally harvest every 3 months!), but by DEFINITION you can't have a ? "modern lifestyle" without importing stuff. PERIOD. The idea of 100% self-sufficiency is a myth pushed by ignorant or dishonest people who are mad at "outsiders" for whatever reason. It's like when politicians promise to make America "100% Energy Independent". FOH that's not how the world works. Even Saudi Arabia imports gasoline, for crying out loud. You know what North Korea's official guiding ideology is? "self-reliance". LOL yeah ok
You want Africa to build up its own institutions (gov'ts AND corporations) so that they can wield more international influence and eventually kick China, The U.S, and Europe's ? someday, not cut themselves off from the world for a childish isolationist fantasy. -
being self sufficient is not isolationist.
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pretty sure his argument boils down to:being self sufficient is not isolationist.
--#01. you CAN'T really be self-sufficient as a continent;
--#02. believing otherwise is the childish, isolationist part
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The Lonious Monk wrote: »Got to remember Africa is a continent not a country. Some countries are steadily improving. Others are going in the other direction. That's not unique to Africa. It's happening on every continent, even Europe.
Especially Europe. Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece stay ? up. -
his argument is faulty north America could also be self sufficient if it wanted to be -
Yeah, I'm not getting what he's talking about. Japan was self sufficient for a long ass time before the US basically made them open up their borders, and that's a little ass island. There's no way in hell you're going to tell me that Africa couldn't be self sufficient as a continent when it pretty much has everything you'd need.
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^ Didn't Japan invade China for their resources in 1937?
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Sicky Mouse wrote: »^ Didn't Japan invade China for their resources in 1937?
pre industrial economy until the late 1800s for Japan. Japan need Manchuria and Korea to fuel their expansion -
if the argument is "North America (or the Americas as a whole) could be as self-sufficient as Africa," then i actually agree with you. but his point is more specifically "you can't have a ? "modern lifestyle" without importing stuff." the bolded part is the deal-breaker.his argument is faulty north America could also be self sufficient if it wanted to be
now, you could count with a rejection of the "modern lifestyle," or whatever parts of it violate your definition of "self-sufficient." but that's different that Swiffness point (unless he wants to correct me).
same thing applies, though. they were self-sufficient in the 1800s.The Lonious Monk wrote: »Yeah, I'm not getting what he's talking about. Japan was self sufficient for a long ass time before the US basically made them open up their borders, and that's a little ass island. There's no way in hell you're going to tell me that Africa couldn't be self sufficient as a continent when it pretty much has everything you'd need. -
Being self-sufficient means you need no help from another entity you can live and thrive on your own
africa can do that and live a modern lifestyle being self-sufficient does not mean you don't trade with anyone is just means that you don't have too depended on them, you can sucessfully run your society by yourself there are many nations in the world that cannot do that.
The funny thing is that there are individual nations in africa that really would not need help to live a modern lifestyle south africa is one of them.
