 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
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, [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
To kick off World Water Day 2013, the United Nations released an analytical brief about global water security and the global water agenda. The report includes a working definition of “water security” as “The capacity of a population to safeguard sustainable access to adequate quantities of and acceptable quality water for sustaining livelihoods, human well-being, [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
Will farm land run out? The New York Times Dot Earth blog takes a sneak peek look at the forthcoming study, Peak Farmland and the Prospects for Saving Nature. The big idea? Trends show that population growth and farm land use are “decoupling,” that is to say that our demand for acres of farm land [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
Myanmar’s forests, river systems, and the wildlife they support may face challenges as the country becomes more democratic and open to foreign investment, Yale Environment 360 reports. Early moves suggest the government is taking care to protect the environment, but conservationists worry that a “Wild West” scenario could unfold. Africa Rice crops in western Kenya [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
Oxfam has urged the World Bank to stop its support of large-scale land investments, the Guardian reported. The land purchased by international investors could grow enough food for 1 billion people, but is instead being used to grow biofuels or is left idle, according to a report Oxfam released Thursday. Researchers are hoping to gain [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
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 [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
The drought that set upon the United States this year has tightened a three-state tug-of-war over fresh water, affecting marine life and a valuable fishing economy downstream in the Deep South’s Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, the most biodiverse river system in North America.
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
Floods A recent spate of flooding in Thailand has raised concerns that the country is still not adequately protected against heavy rains and overflowing rivers, Reuters reported. Floods last year killed more than 800 people and shut down major industries. The largest weather field research project in European history aims to improve flash flood monitoring [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
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 [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
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 [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
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 [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
Middle East Israel’s government plans totransfer water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, where water levels are dropping more than one meter (3.3 feet) each year. China The average per capita 236.5 millimeters (9.3 inches) of rain to one town, Xinhua reported. North America Canada Wednesday announced new selling city tap water that [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
Tensions have heightened between Israeli and Lebanese troops near the site of a tourist center being built on Lebanon’s side of the Hatzbani River, which Israel fears will be used to divert water,The Jerusalem Post reported. 9.5 billion metric tons of sewage, approximately 76 percent of the total amount generated in China’s Guangdong province in [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
Large-scale foreign investment in Africa’s farmland is a threat to the continent’s water supply and water access, according to a new report from the nonprofit organization GRAIN. The report asserts that the global rush to control agricultural land is also a rush to control water resources. Rivers The world’s ten most populous river basins, most [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
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 [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
A new poll from Gallup asked people in 140 countries how satisfied they were with their air and water quality. The results, which you can find here, show that those in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are least satisfied with their water. Engineers have unveiled a way to clean water without using filters that [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
Forty-six Chinese and multinational clothing companies are buying textiles from suppliers who are illegally discharging polluted water in China, according to a new report released by five non-governmental organizations, Xinhua reported. Scientists in Israel are worried over low water levels in the Dead Sea, which they believe to be caused in part by increased water [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
Extensive flooding in Australia makes the need to implement a new Murray-Darling Basin water management plan less urgent, argued the Water Minister of New South Wales, who called for delayed action on the reforms, according to The Australian. Two billion people gained access to safer drinking water between 1990 and 2010, meeting an international Millennium [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
Agriculture The Ethiopian government is relocating thousands of people from the country’s Gambella region in order to make way for commercial agriculture, the Guardian reported, citing a report from Human Rights Watch. The report argues that citizens are not getting proper compensation for the land, and that relocation threatens their food security. A new government [...]
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
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.
| Help share our stories: |
|
|
|
| About | | Staff | | In the News | | Ethics & Sponsorship | | Internships | | Board Members | | Contact | | Log In |