The Caspian Sea runs north and south, extending over 1,200 km, with an average width of 320 km. It covers approximately 400,000 sq km (an area slightly larger than Germany). The population of the region is about 14 million, distributed over the coastal provinces of five countries: 6.5 million in Iran, 3.9 million in Russia, 2.2 million in Azerbaijan, 0.8 million in Kazakhstan and 0.4 million in Turkmenistan.

Red areas where high percentage of children with stunted growth - used as a proxy for poverty - coincide with a high freshwater biodiversity index - a proxy for biodiversity - likely indicate areas in which poor people have no other choice than to unsustainably extract resources, in turn threatening biodiversity.

The information on the state of biodiversity from 22 Central and Eastern European and former Soviet countries was assembled on the occasion of the 5th Conference of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nairobi May 15-26, 2000. It is a collaborative effort of the ENRIN national focal points of UNEP-GRID. This graphic shows threatened species in Eastern Europe, specifically freshwater fish.

Rising sea level would destroy weak parts of the sand belt, which is essential for the protection of lagoons and the low-lying reclaimed lands in the Nile delta of Egypt (Mediterranean Sea). The impacts would be very serious: One third of Egypt's fish catches are made in the lagoons. Sea level rise would change the water quality and affect most fresh water fish. Valuable agricultural land would be inundated.

One study suggests that although global water conditions may worsen by 2025 due to population pressure, climate change could have a net positive impact on global water resources. NB! Note that other studies indicate that with present consumption patterns, 2 of every 3 persons on Earth will experience water stress by 2025. The diagram on the left side shows the result of this particular study, indicating the water availability for the population...

Out of the total precipitation reaching Nigeria, it can be separated into green and blue water. Green water (79% of the precipitation) represents the fraction of rainfall that generates soil moisture and which supports terrestrial ecosystems. It is not returned to groundwater and rivers, but will eventually evaporate or transpire through plants. Blue water, on the other hand, represents the fraction (21%) of the precipitation that runs into river...

Kara-Bogaz-Gol is a lowland area that forms a highly saline bay on the east side of the Caspian Sea, in Turkmenistan. In Soviet times it was decided to set up a dam to block the flow of saline water from the bay to the Caspian Sea, and this was completed in 1980. The ensuing increase in the salt content of the southern part of the Caspian had biological consequences. In the spring of 1992, in view of the scale of the disaster, Turkmenistan, which...

The Caspian Sea runs north and south, extending over 1,200 km, with an average width of 320 km. It covers approximately 400,000 sq km (an area slightly larger than Germany). The population of the region is about 14 million, distributed over the coastal provinces of five countries: 6.5 million in Iran, 3.9 million in Russia, 2.2 million in Azerbaijan, 0.8 million in Kazakhstan and 0.4 million in Turkmenistan.

Kara-Bogaz-Gol is a lowland area that forms a highly saline bay on the east side of the Caspian Sea, in Turkmenistan. In Soviet times it was decided to set up a dam to block the flow of saline water from the bay to the Caspian Sea, and this was completed in 1980. The ensuing increase in the salt content of the southern part of the Caspian Sea, to levels exceeding 15 grams per litre, had disastrous consequences for the sturgeon population. In the ...

The Caspian Sea has been endoreic – inwardly draining, without any outlet – since the Pliocene epoch (about 5 million years ago), prompting some specialists to treat it as the world’s largest lake. Studies of its geomorphology and hydrology have revealed alternating cycles of rising and falling water levels, raising many questions, scientific for some, more down-to-earth for those living on the shores.

Kara-Bogaz-Gol is a lowland area that forms a highly saline bay on the east side of the Caspian Sea, in Turkmenistan. Soviet leaders maintained that this was “a useless caldron for evaporation, an insatiable mouth swallowing up the precious water of the Caspian Sea” and obviously to blame. The dam, finished in 1980 blocked the flow of the water between the Caspian Sea and Kara-Bogaz-Gol. This reduced the water levels in the bay while increasing d...

Kara-Bogaz-Gol is a lowland area that forms a highly saline bay on the east side of the Caspian Sea, in Turkmenistan. In Soviet times it was decided to set up a dam to block the flow of saline water from the bay to the Caspian Sea, and this was completed in 1980. Much to everyone’s surprise the Kara-Bogaz-Gol bay dried up 10 times faster than had been forecast by the Institute of Hydraulic Affairs and by autumn 1983 it was all over. The pink flam...

Multiple stresses make most of Africa highly vulnerable to environmental changes, and climate change is likely to increase this vulnerability. This graphic shows which of the regions of Africa (North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa and the Western Indian Ocean Islands) are most vulnerable to specific impacts of climate change. These impacts include desertification, sea level rise, reduced freshwater availability,...

Multiple stresses make most of Africa highly vulnerable to environmental changes, and climate change is likely to increase this vulnerability. This graphic shows which of the regions of Africa (North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa and the Western Indian Ocean Islands) are most vulnerable to specific impacts of climate change. These impacts include desertification, sea level rise, reduced freshwater availability,...

Overview over the transboundary Daugava/Zapadnaya Dvina and Nemunas/Neman river basins in North Eastern Europe. These basins span the countries of Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus and Poland, and the rivers drain to the Baltic Sea. This map was prepared for the DatabasiN project, which will coordinate spatial information for transboundary river basin management.

The potential impacts of sea level rise on the Nile Delta are expected to include a decline in water quality that would affect freshwater fish, the flooding of agricultural land and damage to infrastructure. This graphic shows the Nile Delta region as it is today (2002), the area as it would appear with a 0.5 m sea level rise, and the area as it would appear with a 1.0 m sea level rise.

Agriculture is a mainstay of Central Asia’s economy. With the economic crisis following independence it has become even more important. Agriculture being almost entirely dependent upon irrigation, access to water is of strategic importance. Two major Tributaries – The Naryn and the Kara-Darya – both originating in Kyrgyzstan, join to form the Syr-Darya, one of the two largest rivers serving the Aral Sea Basin, and the key water resource of the wh...

Water availability in developing countries (with and without arid climates) has declined by about 65 percent since the 1960s and continues to do so. Forecast indicate that water will become very scarce by 2020.

More land was converted to cropland in the 30 years after 1950 than in the 150 years between 1700 and 1850. Cultivated systems (areas where at least 30% of the landscape is in croplands,shifting cultivation, confined livestock production, or freshwater aquaculture) now cover one quarter of Earth’s terrestrial surface.

Current patterns of human use of water are unsustainable. From 5% to possibly 25% of global freshwater use exceeds longterm accessible supplies and is met through engineered water transfers or the overdraft of groundwater supplies (low to medium certainty).