Environment

There are now more than 1 million Syrians either registered as refugees or being assisted as refugees, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. The scale of the refugee crisis is putting increasing pressure on the housing, food and water resources of host countries and camps, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees described Syria [...]

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JGANTER_Chandigarh_G3_2209-590

Free power, water, fertilizer, and chemicals encourages abuse of resources for world’s number two rice and wheat producer.

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Last week, the Australian government approved a plan to increase the total volume of water reserved for environmental flows in the Murray-Darling Basin. Over the next 10 years, Bloomberg Businessweek reported, the government will spend $AUS 1.8 billion to save 450 gigaliters more water for the environment. More than one third of Australia’s food supply [...]

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This summer’s massive drought left Mississippi River levels unusually low, threatening barge traffic. If levels at the Mississippi’s midpoint drop too low, all barge traffic would stop, which could force job cuts, raise fuel costs, and cut into U.S. food supplies. Water-Sipping Crops In the state of Karnataka, India, farmers are using a specialized paddy [...]

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Millions of people across New York City, its northern suburbs, Long Island and New Jersey will have to preserve water and boil tap water, New York Daily News reported. Bacteria, waste and other pollutants likely seeped into aquifers, pipes and wells during the storm. Read tips from CNN on dealing with water polluted by Hurricane [...]

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Forecasters are predicting a “devastating landfall” for Hurricane Sandy within 100 miles of New York City. Flooding has already begun in New York, Virginia and elsewhere, The New York Times reported, as “One of the biggest storms of our lifetimes is unfolding right now,” anchor Kelly Cass said on the Weather Channel. Elsewhere, the world [...]

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Global investments in food security are degrading the environment, eroding the foundation that delivers much-needed food to the world. An environmental focus will assure sustainable food production, according to a report from the UN Environment Program, reported by Xinhua. Happy (Almost) Birthday, Clean Water Act A moment of celebration for a turning point in the [...]

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Four decades ago, national leaders talked about our duty and responsibility to cut water pollution–and about its costs.

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Interest in water investments is on the rise around the world. Some private sector groups are helping governments meet tougher environmental standards, Reuters reported, while other investors view water as an alternative tool to bonds and equity markets. Pollution, Shortage Crises in India Yesterday the government of Tamil Nadu made an official move to take [...]

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Keith

Back from China, Circle of Blue’s senior editor notices a trend creeping from our headlines to those of other news organizations around the world.

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Governor Andrew Cuomo said New York state is still deciding whether to allow high-volume hydraulic fracturing after four years of study. The state’s health commissioner was asked to analyze the health effects of franking more closely, The New York Times reported. Evidence of water pollution — tied by some scientists to hydraulic fracturing — was [...]

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India A water shortage in India’s Cauvery River Basin has pitted the state of Karnataka against its southern neighbor, Tamil Nadu, the Times of India reported. The states rejected water sharing suggestions from the Cauvery River Authority and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, with Karnataka arguing that it cannot release any water downstream without jeopardizing its [...]

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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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Environmental officials from the U.S. and Canada announced that they are about to sign a negotiated update to the 1987 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The document “addresses critical health issues in the Great Lakes region,” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a news release. Infrastructure Investment The Egyptian government will spend $US 1.3 [...]

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The drought in the Midwest has destroyed crops and herds, but it has also led to one of the smallest “dead zones”—low-oxygen areas where marine life struggles to survive—ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The lead scientist for the study said the data confirm a positive [...]

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The Susitna-Watana Hydroelectric Project envisions a dam 700 feet tall capable of producing 600 megawatts from a 39-mile-long reservoir on the Susitna River in south-central Alaska. It would generate half the electricity currently produced in the state’s most populous region, and it would be the largest dam built in the United States since the late [...]

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Aqua Naida container

Billions of gallons of bottled water are exported each year. But to cut transportation costs, some companies are using plastic bladders for bulk shipping.

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Floods and landslides have killed more than 150 people in the Black Sea region of southern Russia in the last few days, Associated Press reported. Torrential rains have dropped nearly a foot of water in the area, turning streets into rivers, sweeping away bridges and inundating thousands of homes. Heavy rains also swept across Great [...]

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The House Appropriations Committee passed a spending bill for the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Forest Service and 20 related agencies that cut total spending by 4 percent, and by 6 percent compared to the president’s request. The EPA shoulders most of the pain, seeing its budget cut $1.4 billion, [...]

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Spider lilies fill the banks of the upper Flint River, near Thomaston, Georgia. Alabama and Florida also share the river basin, which the three states have quarreled over for more than two decades.

Just as it was five years ago, a record-breaking drought is evident in Georgia. But has the state become more resilient through changes to water management policies?

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