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Nathan Chen Stuart Guan North and Central America South America Africa Europe Asia and Oceania Yukon • 847,620 sq. km –23% Mackenzie • 1,706,388 sq. km –7% Thelon • 239,245 sq. km –0% Fraser • 248,016 sq. km –7% Nelson • 1,093,141 sq. km –21% Columbia • 657,501 sq. km –22% Sacramento • 78,757 sq. km –26% Mississippi Colorado Saint Lawrence • 3,202,185 sq. km –52% • 703,148 sq. km –43% • 1,049,636 sq. km –31% Susquehanna • 78,672 sq. km –14% Hudson • 41,906 sq. km –9% Alabama and Tombigbee • 138,139 sq. km –25% Brazos • 137,098 sq. km –81% Rio Grande • 607,955 sq. km –52% Rio Grande de Santiago • 136,694 sq. km –52% Yaqui • 79,162 sq. km –16% Balsas • 117,095 sq. km - 29% San Pedro & Usamacinta • 78,720 sq. km - 37% Loss of Original Forest Cover • Watershed encompasses 40% of the U.S. • The Mississippi River is the largest and longest in terms of discharge (Average 17,330 m3/sec) • World’s second largest basin • Greatest concern today is “The Dead Zone” • The problem is nutrient load generated less oxygen • Possible solutions include improved farm management and restoration of forest and wetlands removing the excess nutrients. Water Supply per Person (m3/person/year) Magdalena – 10,191 Orinoco – 90,482 Amazon – 273,767 Tocantins – 103,383 Parnaiba – 7,729 Sao Francisco – 8,261 Parana – 8,025 Uruguay – 32,731 Lake Titicaca and Salar de Uyuni – 15,980 Rio Colorado – 3,196 Chubut – 171,362 • Contains 1/5 of the worlds fresh water • Flows 12 times faster than Mississippi River • Tropical Rain Forest supplies over half of the planet’s oxygen • High point in the watershed (the peak ofYerupajá)[6,635 m] • Water flows from Pacific Ocean forming the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean • Outstanding Animal life > 5,000 species Average Population Density (people per sq. km) • Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia • Lake Turkana supports the wildlife and locals • Ineffective drainage becoming an arid scrubland • Increased evolutionary plant life of C4 plants • Most sensitive area to temperature and influx of weather • No transboundary agreement with the other larger basin nearby stressing Lake Turkana • Area – the cradle of mankind 1 – Duero 2– Kizilirmak 29 – Guadalquivir 31 – Kemijoki, GlommaLaagen, and Eboro 33 - North Dvina 39 – Seine, Tagus 40 - Lake Ladoga, Garonne 41 – Dalalven 43 – Loire 44 – Oder 47 – Po, Kura-Araks 48 – Ural, Weser 49 – Don 50 - West Dvina, Dnieper 51 - Elbe 57 – Nistru 58 – Rhone 59 – Vistula 60 - Rhine-Maas 88 – Volga 92 - Tigris & Euphrates Number of Fish Species • Monstrous fish weighing as much as 300 lbs • Economic life dependent on the rivers and the oil revenues of Iraq • Lots of desiccated marshland and soil nutrient depletion • Lack of international agreement Turkey’s dams reduced water flow into Iraq • Tensions run high on water management • GAP project (22 dams and 19 hydropower plant) split Percent Irrigated Cropland 0% • Pechora, Yenisey, Lena, Indigirka, Kolyma, Kapuas, Mahakam, Fly, Sepik 0%-1% • Ob, Tarim, Amur, Salween 1%-5% • Lake Balkhash, Yalu Jiang, Brahmaputra, Mekong, Irrawaddy, Red River, Burdekin-Belyando, Dawson, Murray-Darling 5%-10% • Syr Darya, Amu Darya, Pearl River, Yangtze, Yellow River 10%-15% • Tapti, Godavari 15%20% • Mahanadi, Krishna 20%-25% • Indus, Ganges, Narmada • Area = 1.81 million sq. km • Food staple of China – Rice for 1.3 billion people • Fertile soil highly favorable to agriculture • Contributes to > half of China’s crop production (2/3) is rice • Severe droughts and irregular rainfall result in crop loss • Solution - modern irrigation projects like the Three Gorges Project http://www.unep.org/pdf/UNEP_GEAS_JUNE_2013.pdf http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1024-amazon.html http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/06/070619-amazon-river.html http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/18722/Amazon-River http://multimedia.wri.org/watersheds_2003/index.html http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Mi-Oc/Mississippi-River-Basin.html http://www.academia.edu/7277108/Variations_in_water_level_for_Lake_Turkana_in_th e_past_8500_years_near_Mt._Porr_Kenya_and_the_transition_from_the_African_Hu mid_Period_to_Holocene_aridity._Quaternary_Science_Reviews_97_84-101 http://www.futuredirections.org.au/publications/food-and-water-crises/678-watershortage-crisis-escalating-in-the-tigris-euphrates-basin.html http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/651857/Yangtze-River/48044/People http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/173855/