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dam-l drought & upheaval linked/LS



>From BBC:

               Thursday, 27 January, 2000, 03:57 GMT
               Drought and upheaval linked in Africa



               An international team of scientists says it's discovered a
               relationship between political stability in East Africa and
rainfall
               patterns.

               The scientists compiled a record of rainfall and drought by
               calculating the water level and salinity changes of Lake Naivasha
               in Kenya and matched it with the oral history of the people who
               live there.

               They found that in periods when there was evidence of drought,
               local people spoke of political unrest, large-scale
emigration and
               the establishment of new dynasties. The head of the team, Dr Dick
               Vershuren, said the data could be used to promote better water
               management, as it was now possible to see the consequences of
               drought.

               From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

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      Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
        and Editor, World Rivers Review
           International Rivers Network
              1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
                  Tel. (510) 848 1155   Fax (510) 848 1008
                        http://www.irn.org
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