Dwindling water supplies, low grain supplies, high prices for bread, meat, milk are outcomes of one of the worst droughts in the American history.
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United Nations
Droughts, floods and other natural disasters are creating huge economic losses around the world, totaling about $US 2.5 trillion this century, according to estimates by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Bloomberg BNA reported. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged businesses to take steps to reduce disaster risk exposure when investing in new buildings [...]
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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 security should have a common language, and it should be a priority for global sustainable development goals, according to a new report by UN-Water.
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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, [...]
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Environmental Threats Natural disasters cost the world approximately $US 138 billion last year, the third consecutive year that economic losses from disasters have exceeded $US 100 billion, AlertNet reported. Floods and droughts accounted for almost 80 percent of disaster victims in 2012. Failure to address environmental threats like climate change, deforestation, air pollution, and water [...]
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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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Irrigation canals have been severely damaged, large poultry farms have been destroyed, and now close to 10 percent of Syrians who remained inside the country’s borders are in need of food assistance — these are just a few of the side effects of the ongoing conflict in the war-torn country that will likely have ramifications on food security for years to come.
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Africa Water service, as well as electricity and phone service, has been cut in Timbuktu, the latest casualty of the ongoing conflict in Mali, CNN reported. The Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA), a group active in northern Mali that opposes the government, blamed the outages on “terrorist” sabotage. Following a devastating drought in 2009, pastoral [...]
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A federal report said that demand for Colorado River water will far outpace supply by 2060. Drought, climate change, and population growth, the Los Angeles Times reported, will create a supply-demand gap greater than five times the amount of water Los Angeles consumes every year. Economics and Pricing Chicago nonprofits are one step closer to [...]
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The United States National Intelligence Council has just issued the Global Trends Report, which publishes every five years, reports The Guardian. The report finds that, “owing to an increase in the global population and the consumption patterns of a growing middle class,” the demand for water will grow by 40%, for energy by 50%, and [...]
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Seasonal migrations of poor, rural communities due to shifting rainfall patterns, droughts and floods are increasing, according to a new study by CARE International and the United Nations University, AlertNet reported. The study warns that the migrations could become more frequent and permanent unless action is taken to mitigate climate change or adjust agriculture to [...]
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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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Monday marked the first day of talks among the in Doha, Qatar on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), otherwise known as the 18th Conference of the Parties, or COP18, reports the Washington Post. This round of talks marks the last in a series of negotiations over the past five years that [...]
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An outbreak of Hepatitis E in South Sudan refugee camps has killed 26 people and infected more than 1,000, according to the United Nations News Centre. The virus is spread through contaminated food and water, and the problem could worsen with the rainy season and an influx of more refugees. China’s agriculture minister warned today [...]
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Circle of Blue’s 2012 Election Guide to Water U.S. citizens will go to the polls today no only to elect the next President, but some will also make crucial decisions about their water. Check out Circle of Blue’s 2012 Election Guide to Water by Brett Walton for more information about water-related ballot issues to be [...]
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The worst flooding Nigeria has seen in 50 years has destroyed many of the crops in the country’s major food-producing region, which may lead to a food crisis, BBC reported. The floods have killed 200 people and displaced more than 1 million. Meanwhile, fall flooding in southern Pakistan has affected 5 million people, according to [...]
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The Carbon Disclosure Project of London, UK has released the Water Disclosure Report 2012 which summarizes the voluntary water use reports of 318 companies from around the world. 53 percent of participating businesses reported experiencing “detrimental water-related business impacts.” Notably, the findings revealed that “the Energy sector has recorded the lowest response rate of any [...]
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World Food Day Yesterday was Global Handwashing Day, and today brings another notable global calendar date – World Food Day! First established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1979, the annual World Food Day was adopted by UN Resolution 35/70 of 5 December 1980. Follow this link to the FAO [...]
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Posted on Friday, March 22, 2013
For World Water Day 2013, Skoll World Forum and Circle of Blue asked four of the world’s leading water experts to weigh in. Here is what Sylvia Lee, leader of the water program at Skoll Global Threats Fund, had to say about the potential for cooperation around water.