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The High Plains Aquifer, a once-bountiful water source that covers broad swaths of the midwest United States, has been drained to dangerously low levels, especially in the south. The aquifer, The New York Times reported, no longer supports irrigation on hundreds of miles of farmland in Texas and Kansas. Superstorm Sandy Recovery Some beaches in [...]
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Droughts, floods and other natural disasters are creating huge economic losses around the world, totaling about $US 2.5 trillion this century, according to estimates by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Bloomberg BNA reported. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged businesses to take steps to reduce disaster risk exposure when investing in new buildings [...]
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Scientists discovered water trapped underground for more than 1 billion years north of Toronto, Canada. The water predates multicellular life on earth, NPR reported, but could contain microbes that offer insight to the earliest of Earth’s lifeforms. Depleted Cities More than half of all cities around the world with populations of 100,000 people or more [...]
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Poultry farms may not be creating as much water pollution as previously thought, according to research that challenges U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards used to forecast pollution in water systems, USA Today reported. The research could change the implementation of federal programs meant to clean up dead zones in bays and rivers, such as the [...]
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Chile denied a recent report on deals to export water to Qatar, ABC News reported. The report included a quote by Chilean Ambassador Jean Paul Tarud saying, “Chile has some of the largest fresh water export capabilities in the world.” Public backlash in Chilean social media followed the report. Chile has been suffering from drought [...]
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The Safe Drinking Water Act promised federal funds for state agencies to clean up dirty or unsafe tap water at thousands of sites around the country, but for many of those, federal help is nowhere in sight. Of 4,925 applications on the ‘priority list,’ The New York Times reported, some are stuck, others have been [...]
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The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the world’s atmosphere reached a daily average of 400 parts per million (ppm), according to measurements taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, the Guardian reported. The measurement is the highest recorded at the observatory, and scientists believe similar CO2 levels have not been seen for several [...]
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A proposal in President Barack Obama’s draft 2014 budget would cut the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Beach Grant Program. Critics, NBC4 reported, argue that people will be less informed about unhealthy ocean water if the $US 10 million cut is imposed. Yemeni Crisis In a dispatch from Taiz, Yemen, Tom Friedman writes about the violence [...]
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For Water, Cities Look to Farms Conserving water on farms is the key to securing water for cities that face recurring shortages, according to a new study published in the journal Water Policy, National Geographic reported. The growth of both irrigated agriculture and cities in water-scarce regions has fueled these shortages, necessitating working relationships between [...]
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Farmers in the United Arab Emirates face a unique challenge when it comes to saving water, The New York Times reported. The hostile natural conditions of little rainfall and tremendous heat means a desperate need for irrigation despite short and declining supplies. The government is working with farmers to reduce agricultural water use in half by 2014. [...]
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Earlier this year, China announced plans to build a series of dams on the Nu River, a Unesco World Heritage site. The dams, The New York Times reported, will force tens of thousands of relocations, could potentially trigger earthquakes, and destroy endangered-fish spawning grounds. Improving Water Management Countries around the world, from Australia to South [...]
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The salinity of Bangladesh’s water supply is increasing, especially in coastal areas, due to sea level rise and natural disasters like floods and cyclones, according to a World Bank study, AlertNet reported. Families in remote areas sometimes have to walk miles to get safe drinking water. U.S. Water Supply The final measure of California snowpack [...]
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A new analysis from the U.S. Geological Survey found even more oil and gas underneath North Dakota and Montana than analyses from five years ago. The new estimates found twice the volume of recoverable oil reserves, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported, and three times more natural gas, giving North Dakota’s fields the chance to become the [...]
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Water and Energy Storage In a column for Reuters, market analyst Gerard Wynn discusses the potential growth of hydropower pumping stations for storing energy and balancing electrical grids. The stations can use energy from intermittent sources such as wind and solar to pump water to higher elevations, releasing it at a later time to generate [...]
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Superstorm Sandy dumped 11 billion gallons of sewage from East Coast treatment plants into Washington, D.C. waterways, a science journalism group reported. One- third of the sewage was not treated, Wall Street Journal reported. Sewage leaks are becoming a major threat due to higher sea levels that may lead to coastal flooding. Fukushima Power Plant [...]
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Researchers from NASA and California’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are developing more advanced measurements to track the Sierra Nevada’s snowpack. Predictions that were once off by 18 percent at least half the time, The Washington Post reported, will now be able to precisely track melt volume, speed, flow direction and timing within 24 hours. Recycling for [...]
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Flooding Kenya is struggling to help the 90,000 people displaced by spring floods, which have also destroyed crops, AlertNet reported. The country’s cycle of floods and droughts have spurred calls for better disaster management at the national level. Months after monsoon floods hit southern Pakistan, displaced residents face a difficult road to recovery in 2013, [...]
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Many communities in the Australian outback depend on the Great Artesian Basin, an aquifer deep underground, for regular water supplies. But, if supplies disappear too quickly, The World reported, these communities will be left without their only water source. Perceived Injustice Chileans demonstrated this week against what they called excessive water use by the mining [...]
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Floods While changing rainfall and climate patterns have been linked to increased flooding around the globe, new research suggests that erosion due to deforestation and development also plays a role by making rivers less able to mitigate large storms, AlertNet reported. Increased erosion and sedimentation rates in rivers are related to a region’s economic growth, [...]
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Looming storms are keeping communities along the Great Lakes on their toes. Even a small increase in rain will cause alarm to communities whom have been watching the rivers licking at uncomfortably high levels. Last week’s sudden downpours have caused 114 barges to break loose south of St. Louis and are blamed for at least [...]
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