The Nile Basin in a Global Perspective

Abstract

The Nile brings virtually no water to the sea. The mighty basin with 1/10 of Africa's land area and 1/3 of its population, has only 1/16 of its water. The riparian countries use practically all of the Nile's water and they face increasing challenges in terms of environmental degradation, food security, and socioeconomic development. The geopolitical situation blocks the integrated development of water resources in the basin scale, yet the political environment may be improving. The Nile basin is among the most critical regions of the world in terms of water resources development. In this article, the trends of the major driving forces within the basin countries—population, urbanization, climate, agriculture, economy, human resources, and governance—are scrutinized from the viewpoint of their impacts on water resources and their management. A comparison is made to four other critical macroregions: China, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and West Africa.     

渠化黄河下游河道与其对防洪输沙影响探讨

依据 5 0年代以来的黄河洪水灾害事例和实测水文数据的变化趋势 ,揭示了黄河洪水正在向着“小水大灾 ,防不胜防”的不利局面发展的现实。进而依据其发生、发展的成因要素和客观事实 ,论证了渠化黄河下游河道对防洪输沙的正面影响和对社会经济、生态环境的综合效益 ,从而确立了渠化河道的重要性和必要性。