water security

Africa Planned hydropower dam projects on the Congo River could generate as much as 40,000 megawatts of electricity, making the Grand Inga system the largest in the world, the Guardian reported. Securing financial backing and buyers for the electricity are still hurdles faced by developers, but the project is gaining momentum. Water levels on Lake [...]

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The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the world’s atmosphere reached a daily average of 400 parts per million (ppm), according to measurements taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, the Guardian reported. The measurement is the highest recorded at the observatory, and scientists believe similar CO2 levels have not been seen for several [...]

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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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Asia and the Pacific Lack of access to safe water in Pacific countries and stressed rivers in Asia are threats to the regions’ water security, according to a new study from the Asian Development Bank and the Asia-Pacific Water Forum. The study found that 75 percent of countries in Asia and the Pacific currently lack [...]

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The U.S. intelligence community reiterates that the basic necessities of life are a national security issue.

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The latest issue of the UNESCO journal, A World of Science, is focused on the human face of water politics. Researchers have found that conflict is no more likely in arid nations than in humid nations, and that water conflicts, when they do arise, are not more or less frequent in a nation based on their wealth or political structure. The report is released in anticipation of the beginning of the 2013 UN International Year of Water Cooperation.

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Rohini Nilekani began her career as a journalist and writer. But upon marrying Nadan Nilekani — co-founder of the Indian tech-consulting firm Infosys — and coming into some money, she sought a cause to support financially. “I was looking for an area that would make sense to me and that would also have some kind [...]

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The 67th session of the UN General Assembly, which ended on Monday, featured a number of globally prominent leaders worried about the planet’s water supply and quality.

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The time is increasingly right for high-level action, the group’s water policy advisor tells Circle of Blue.

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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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Australian state and federal water ministers have agreed for new modeling to be done on returning more environmental flows to the ailing Murray-Darling river system, ABC Radio Australia reported. As Circle of Blue has reported previously, the process to adopt new water use regulations for the basin has pitted states against states and environmentalists against [...]

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Water Conflict Map

Following devastating news of poisoned children in Afghanistan, reporter Codi Yeager look at water security and conflicts around the globe.

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The Potomac River is the most endangered river in the United States, according to a new report by the environmental group American Rivers. The annual list of U.S. rivers at risk includes streams in virtually every region of the country. Several are threatened by the same types of activities: energy development or dam- and reservoir-building, [...]

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A flawed water-trading system is choking the Murray-Darling, Australia’s largest river basin, and the new draft plan for the region will not solve the problems, according to a prominent Australian water expert. South Africa’s Cabinet will receive the long-awaited technical report on shale gas development in the country in July at the latest, according to [...]

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Climate change is causing the global water cycle to accelerate and intensify faster than previously thought, with the possibility that it could intensify 16-24 percent by 2100, according to a new study published in the journal Science, Nature reported. This means that dry areas of the globe will become drier, while wet regions will likely [...]

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New photos published on the Guardian reveal that early construction work for the controversial Belo Monte dam has already started in the Amazon, despite ongoing legal battles over environmental licenses. And there are already signs of deforestation. Australia’s water market has helped farmers and irrigators in the ailing Murray-Darling River Basin to weather drought and [...]

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As the consultation period for the draft plan on the Murray Darling River Basin draws to a close this week, a prominent Australian environmental expert said that the proposed plan is a step back from current arrangements. Why is the draft so controversial? Managing India’s water resources sustainably will be a top priority in the [...]

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In a new report, the U.S. State Department finds a global confrontation between growing water demand and shrinking supplies, in addition to predictions for the next 30 years of water scarcity.

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New findings that indicate elevated levels of methane in water near gas drilling sites in Pennsylvania raise questions about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) earlier statement that water in the region did not pose a health risk, according to Bloomberg News. Meanwhile, EPA has also dropped its claim that an energy company contaminated drinking [...]

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