Asia

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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In 2007, from 5,600 meters atop the north side of Mount Everest, explorer David Breashears recalls how he was “astonished” by what he saw and “shocked” that he hadn’t been more aware of the state of this Tibetan glacier. Breashears was on a comparative photography assignment to match a photo from 1921 with the modern [...]

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Days of heavy rainfall have swollen rivers in the United Kingdom, where nearly 60 flood warnings remained in force Thursday and areas of York were already underwater, the Guardian reported. South America Brazil has the potential to become the world’s breadbasket due to its water resources, argues private investor and author James Dale Davidson in [...]

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The water around the defunct Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India is not fit for consumption, according to a report from the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, NDTV reported. The report was filed with India’s Supreme Court, which has been petitioned to order the disposal of chemical waste left in the plant after the [...]

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Asian Water Crisis A dike breach in Bangkok, Thailand put pressure on the national government to step up severe weather adaptation efforts. Flooding is an issue in many of Asia’s biggest cities, Inter Press Service reported, since urban immigrants often crowd major river deltas. Asian countries have the lowest per-capita access to fresh water in [...]

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Heavy downpours triggered floods and caused roofs to collapse in Pakistan, killing at least 50 people, Xinhua reported. The report suggests that heavy rainfall late in the monsoon season has become more common in Pakistan over the past few years. Agriculture The growing production of chemical pesticides in developing countries poses significant threats to human [...]

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This photo slideshow demonstrates the effects of coal extraction on water, vegetation and lifestyles in northwest China. A recent report from Greenpeace speaks out against the expansion of coal bases in the region, according to the Guardian. Safe Drinking Water Algal blooms are spreading in South Korean rivers. Although the cause of the blooms is up for [...]

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Rains and Floods Continue in Asia Days of heavy rain caused a 36-meter (118-foot) Rain from Typhoon Haikui, meanwhile, has destroyed more than 7,500 homes and 388,000 hectares (958,000 acres) of cropland across four provinces in eastern China, Xinhua reported, citing government sources. Flooding in North Korea isman-made disaster due to poor urban planning and [...]

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The Earth’s land has warmed by 1.5 degrees Celsius over the past 250 years, and humans are almost entirely responsible for the increase, the Guardian reported, citing a new study by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley. The team’s analysis suggests there could be 1.5 degrees of warming over land in the next 50 [...]

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Business An ‘new gold’ for the 21st century, banking on scarcer supplies and an exploding global population to drive demand, MarketWatch reported. North America The Premier of British Columbia has said that the Alaska’s proposed Pebble Mine, which could pollute one of the last pristine wild salmon fisheries in the world. A Mexican town is [...]

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Droughts Hit World’s Agricultural Regions: Without Water, U.S. Corn Crop Faces Setbacks

Droughts have struck food-producing regions in the United States, Russia, China, North Korea, and South Korea, raising the prospect of higher commodity prices and localized food shortages.

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Researchers have warned that the steady decline in world water-monitoring stations will likely have a negative impact on water management, The New York Times reported. Asia Demonstrators in Cambodia took to the streets last Friday to lost each year in Asia due to leaks, costing water utilities $9 billion in revenue, according to a study [...]

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A study by European scientists warns that large geoengineering projects, which have been contemplated as a solution to global warming, could create a 20 percent reduction in rainfall over the Amazon and a 15 percent reduction over large areas of North America and northern Eurasia, AlertNet reported. Reports: Unsustainable Resource Use A new study published [...]

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Asia Pakistan’s plans to divert 86 percent of the Neelum River’s water to produce hydropower could leave the Kashmir city of Muzaffarabad without enough river flow for drinking water and sewage disposal, AlertNet reported. Water quality is extremely poor in five of China’s major bays, including the Yangtze and Pearl River estuaries, according to an [...]

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A new report by a U.S.-Canadian advisory panel recommends against large-scale engineering projects to control the Great Lakes water levels, saying people across the region should instead adapt to nature’s swings, Detroit Free Press reported. Chicago has announced a $7 billion, three-year plan to transform the city’s infrastructure. The program, which will touch nearly every [...]

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Live carp have been found in North Dakota and past the electric barriers in Chicago. As the carp push forward, Michigan and other Great Lakes states are once again asking the U.S. Supreme Court to speed up action to stop the advance of the invader.

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By 2100, global climate change will shift nearly 40 percent of land-based ecosystems from one major ecological community type — such as forest, grassland or tundra — to another, according to a new NASA study, Science Daily reported. A new interactive graphic by the Open Knowledge Foundation shows how energy is produced and consumed across [...]

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Prices for farmland in the United States are rising as water-strapped countries like China turn to foreign sources for their grain, Forbes reported. China plans to boost its domestic grain production by expanding its man-made rain programs, according to the 12th Five-Year Plan, China Daily reported. Livestock production needs to become more efficient to provide [...]

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The United Kingdom has been secretly lending its support to Canada’s tar sands agenda, the Guardian reported after obtaining documents through freedom of information laws. Canada has been looking for support in Europe ahead of a vote on fuel quality regulations that would label oil from tar sands as dirtier than other types of fuels. [...]

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Developing the United Kingdom’s shale gas reserves is incompatible with the country’s climate change goals, according to a new study from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in Manchester. The carbon cost of developing just 20 percent of U.K.’s proven shale reserves would offset about 15 percent of the government’s greenhouse gas emissions budget [...]

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