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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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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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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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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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Fish and Pharmaceuticals A new study in Sweden found that the presence of low levels of human anti-anxiety drugs caused wild European perch to become aggressive and isolated, Reuters reported. Trace amounts of pharmaceuticals can pass through wastewater treatment plants and are found in waters around the globe. Mining Water scarcity and stricter environmental regulations [...]
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United States In his State of the Union address yesterday, President Obama promised to take action on climate change, even if Congress refuses. “The fact is the 12 hottest years on record have all come in the last 15. Heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods — all are now more frequent and more intense,” he said. [...]
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Americas Water levels on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron have reached their lowest point since record keeping began in 1918, surpassing the previous record low set in 1964, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. While warm, dry weather has drawn lake levels down, dredging of the St. Clair River has also contributed to a long-term decline [...]
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Storms spawned by Tropical Cyclone Oswald created “record turbidity levels” in Australia’s Brisbane River and forced the main water treatment plant for the city of Brisbane to close earlier this week, Bloomberg News reported. The plant is back online, but officials say water supplies for the metropolitan area remain tight. The legal case between Chevron [...]
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Pollution A pig farm in the Chinese town of Houtonglong has polluted water sources, created health problems, and made it difficult for local farmers to raise other animals, the Guardian reported. As China’s appetite for meat continues to grow, ban production at 93 iron ore mines in Goa, which were found to be contributing to [...]
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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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Scientists are beginning to study the ecological function of cities, tracking and measuring the flow of atmospheric gases, water, carbon, and pollutants through the urban ecosystem, Nature reported. The research could be essential for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and creating sustainable cities. Water Levels Global sea level rise is outpacing United Nations projections by 60 [...]
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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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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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French utility Suez Environnement will charge residents in Dunkirk, France different rates for water based on their income and level of usage, Bloomberg News reported. The French government is also pursuing legislation to make essential utilities like water, natural gas and power more affordable for low-income families. Downpours and floods have forced evacuations and impeded [...]
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Hurricane Isaac Hurricane Isaac, which hit land Tuesday evening near New Orleans, has brought barge traffic on the Mississippi River to a crawl, Bloomberg News reported. The backup is expected to further slow exports of grain from the United States. For almost 24 hours on Tuesday, strong winds and storm surge from the hurricane reversed [...]
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Scientists are trying to understand whether the drought that has scorched much of the United States this summer is a cut their water consumption, according to EnergyWire. A new study reveals an astronomical Climate change and a mining boom threaten to disrupt Mongolia’s economy, according to New Security Beat. A agriculture and the energy industry [...]
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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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Environmentalists and workers’ unions are angry that Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest mining companies, has been chosen to supply the 2012 Olympic medals.
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Hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in Pennsylvania could put water supplies at risk, according to a new study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The drought and heat in the major maize and soybean producing regions of the United States could drive up world food prices in the coming months, [...]
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Circle of Blue reporter Codi Yeager reports that a heavy price is being paid in the outcry against the Minas Conga gold project and its potential impact on water resources.
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