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A quickly advancing monsoon covered India by June 16, the earliest date on record and one month before usual, AlertNet reported. The early rains will help improve the growth and yields of summer crops like rice and soybeans, analysts said. Scarce Water Supplies Tight water supplies are getting even tighter in Jordan, as half a [...]
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Severe flooding will likely increase in many of the world’s major river basins due to climate change, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, AlertNet reported. The study reviewed 29 rivers and found that the Mekong, Nile, and Amazon rivers, among others, will become more prone to severe floods, while [...]
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Food and Water The amount of food wasted each year contains approximately 170 trillion liters (45 trillion gallons) of water, according to a new report from the World Resources Institute, NPR reported. Fruits and vegetables account for the largest share of water lost through food waste. U.S. subsidy policies meant to conserve water by encouraging [...]
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Farmers in regions of the U.S. facing a higher risk of drought are more likely to enroll in federal land and water conservation programs, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture study. The Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers not to plant on land that is easily eroded, and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program promotes farming [...]
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Roughly one in every six structures in the Army Corps of Engineers dams database is rated as “high hazard,” meaning a dam failure would kill people, according to a recent update. Since 2009, the number of high hazard dams has increased by six percent, to 14,726. Three-fifths of the high hazard dams have an emergency [...]
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Africa Planned hydropower dam projects on the Congo River could generate as much as 40,000 megawatts of electricity, making the Grand Inga system the largest in the world, the Guardian reported. Securing financial backing and buyers for the electricity are still hurdles faced by developers, but the project is gaining momentum. Water levels on Lake [...]
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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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In much of the Corn Belt, too much rain has left fields too soggy to sow.
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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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Water-Food-Energy A drought in Vietnam has uncovered tensions between water users in the country’s energy and agricultural sectors, Radio Free Asia reported. Despite a directive from the prime minister, the operator of a hydropower dam has refused to send more water downstream to drought-hit farms. While South Africa’s mining sector receives much of the blame [...]
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When it comes to water management, Circle of Blue reporter Brett Walton thinks Kansas is a beacon on the plains.
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A leak was discovered at yet another underground water storage tank used to contain radioactive wastewater from Japan’s damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, The New York Times reported. The country is struggling to find places to store the contaminated water, but has promised not to release it into the Pacific Ocean. A Chilean court [...]
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Peru Plans for a $500 million water project in Peru could divert rainwater across the Andes from the Amazon Basin to the country’s dry coast, turning the desert there into farmland, Reuters reported. The Olmos Irrigation Project is slated to start in 2014, and is one of seven large projects Peru has planned to increase [...]
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Southern farmers are making changes now to wean themselves from the Ogallala Aquifer, a water source that gave rise to industrial agriculture and modern life on its plains.
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U.S. consumers have just started to feel the effects of last summer’s drought at the supermarket. Prices are expected to continue increasing throughout 2013.
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As oceans climb because of climate change, utilities that pull drinking water from rivers near the coast could see their supplies getting saltier, according to new research from the U.S. Geological Survey. The USGS used climate models and observational data to look at the interaction between river flows, sea-level rise and tidal changes along the [...]
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Though corn acreage is forecasted to rise slightly over last year’s planting, the biggest jump is predicted for sorghum, which uses less water.
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Asia and the Pacific Lack of access to safe water in Pacific countries and stressed rivers in Asia are threats to the regions’ water security, according to a new study from the Asian Development Bank and the Asia-Pacific Water Forum. The study found that 75 percent of countries in Asia and the Pacific currently lack [...]
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Environmental Threats Natural disasters cost the world approximately $US 138 billion last year, the third consecutive year that economic losses from disasters have exceeded $US 100 billion, AlertNet reported. Floods and droughts accounted for almost 80 percent of disaster victims in 2012. Failure to address environmental threats like climate change, deforestation, air pollution, and water [...]
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The Environmental Protection Agency’s science advisory board will hold a public teleconference March 29 to discuss a draft report on methods for establishing a national drinking water standard for perchlorate, a chemical used in explosives. To get details about the call, contact Angela Nugent at nugent.angela@epa.gov. EPA Science Advisory Panel The EPA wants experts in [...]
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