The data confirm it. Last year broke records for temperature and precipitation — and the trends continue.
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Climate
Guyana means “land of many waters” in a native Amerindian language, but it also houses one of the most pristine rainforests left in existence, the Iwokrama. In 1996, Guyana and the Commonwealth of Nations established an organization of the same name. According to Iwokrama resident scientist Isabella Bovolo, the organization aims to fill large data [...]
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China has revealed plans to boost its desalination capacity to produce 2.2 million cubic meters (77.6 million cubic feet) of fresh water each day by 2015, Xinhua reported. The plan also calls for more than 15 percent of the water supply delivered to coastal factories to come from desalinated sea water by 2015. Winter Storms [...]
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How will predicted changes to water levels and water temperatures affect the future of this region that is home to 8 million people?
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Drinking Water Bacteria A University of Michigan study showed that bacteria found in drinking water can be traced to treatment filters instead of the original aquifers or rivers. The researchers, who studied Ann Arbor, Michigan’s tap water, said their findings could lead to more natural, sustainable water treatment processes and assist engineers in controlling microbes [...]
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The U.S. drought could last through October, prolonged by potential El Niño conditions, according to Reuters and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center. Corn and soybean prices have reached record highs, with corn at more than $8.07 a bushel and soybeans up to $17.49, threatening a “world food crisis” if conditions persist, UPI [...]
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The Aquarius mission will help scientists understand the global water cycle.
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Wastewater America’s natural gas boom has an undesirable companion: billions of gallons of polluted wastewater. The Houston Chronicle reports on the “billion-dollar game of musical chairs” that is going on as companies try to be first in line with new treatment technologies. Meanwhile, Scientific American looks at the technical challenges confronting those companies—and the new [...]
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Drought and Water Access A forest fire in China’s Yunnan province was brought under control Tuesday after burning for two days and coming within 40 kilometers (25 miles) of the provincial capital, Xinhua reported. The fire was linked to drought conditions that have plagued Yunnan for the past three years. The Guardian looks at the [...]
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Droughts South-East England is officially in a state of drought, the Press Association reported, citing the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Guardian has mapped out the affected regions. As rivers and reservoirs in England and Wales are running low after two dry winters, water industry executives have again called for regulatory reforms [...]
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It will take $US 1 trillion over the next 25 years to fix the water infrastructure in the United States, according to an estimate by the American Water Works Association, Bloomberg News reported. Energy PetroChina purchased a 20 percent stake in a Canadian shale gas project, strengthening China’s presence in North America’s energy markets, according [...]
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United States Separating the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River basin in order to stop aquatic invasive species like Asian carp will require reversing the flow of the Chicago River, according to a new study sponsored by the Great Lakes Commission and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, Reuters reported. Whether or not [...]
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In the era of deficit and disinvestment, water-intensive fossil fuel production is overwhelming the water-sipping clean energy sector.
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Washington, D.C. is ploughing ahead with a $2.6 billion underground project — its biggest public works project in more than 40 years — aimed at helping clean up the polluted Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay, according to Reuters. Iran’s threat to halt traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz — which is the passageway [...]
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Wind-generated electricity will cost the same as electricity from fossil fuels by 2016, according to a new study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Air pollution from aerosols like soot and dust can amplify droughts and floods, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported, citing a new study from the University of Maryland. The aerosols affect cloud formation, [...]
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The world faces a wide range of serious, complex, and long-term water challenges, from shortages to contamination to local and regional disputes over water to long-term climate changes. But there are other challenges that are short-term, emergency situations that could also be addressed by some new thinking and new technology.
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As an energy boom, propelled by natural gas, continues to gather steam, mining and drilling companies square off with landowners around the globe over who has the right to resources that are located deep below ground.
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Wild Rice is an aquatic grass that is harvested annually for its nutritious grain. Throughout its growth cycle, wild rice encounters many external threats, both environmental and human-made, which are being compounded by the effects of climate change.
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For generations, the upper Great Lakes region has boasted harvests of wild rice, growing in Lake Superior and other watersheds within the basin. But disease, dams, and climate change are now endangering the uncultivated bounty.
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Posted on Thursday, January 19, 2012
Geologic time scales are long – too long for the human mind to really comprehend. Over millions, and tens of millions, and hundreds of millions of years, the Earth has changed from something unrecognizable to the planet we see on maps, plastic globes, and photos from space.