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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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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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Water Supply A new study about Andean glaciers found that the pace of ice retreat in the tropical Andes is “unprecedented,” putting the water supply for many South American communities at risk, the Guardian reported. The study, published in Cryosphere, claims that an average temperature rise of 0.7 degree Celsius over 70 years is behind [...]
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China has revealed plans to boost its desalination capacity to produce 2.2 million cubic meters (77.6 million cubic feet) of fresh water each day by 2015, Xinhua reported. The plan also calls for more than 15 percent of the water supply delivered to coastal factories to come from desalinated sea water by 2015. Winter Storms [...]
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A 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Japan near the site of the Fukushima disaster, creating a 1-meter (3.2 feet) tsunami, Reuters reported. Neither the quake nor the tsunami caused much damage. In this Guardian blog, George Monbiot questions the United Kingdom’s trial policy of biodiversity offsetting, which allows developers to destroy habitat for [...]
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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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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 [...]
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Extreme Weather Suburbs, towns and farms outside of Rome flooded Wednesday after the Tiber River overflowed its banks and heavy rains backed up sewers and canals, Reuters reported. Widespread flooding has swamped Italy after strong storms passed through the country last weekend, killing four people. Farmers worry that increasingly frequent and severe flooding, coupled with [...]
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France, the United States and G20 president Mexico have scheduled a conference call at the end of this month to decide whether they should hold an emergency international meeting to address potential food price spikes amid a relentless drought in the U.S. and poor crops in key Black Sea grain regions, Reuters reported. A group [...]
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Poor rains have led to crop failures in Somalia, and the threat of food price increases could push parts of the country back into famine. Meanwhile, there is little relief for those who fled to neighboring Kenya, as the refugee camps there are facing water shortages.
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aid organizations are warning of a possible famine in Sudan, despite the government’s promise to allow food aid into conflict zones, according to AlertNet. Those who flee face severe water shortages in South Sudan’s refugee camps. A photo story from the Guardian shows how law banning mining and drilling on glaciers, Reuters reported. increasing the [...]
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A team of scientists and photographers has embarked on a mission to document Africa’s melting glaciers, according to the Guardian. A southwestern Chinese city has cancelled plans to build a multimillion-pound copper alloy plant amid anti-pollution demonstrations that lasted for days, the Guardian reported. Water supply cuts in New Delhi have made this year’s summer [...]
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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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Patagonia Chile’s supreme court has rejected seven appeals filed against a project that plans to build five large dams in Patagonia, the Guardian reported. The controversial project could generate up to 20 percent of Chile’s electricity demand in 2020 but is opposed by green groups concerned about its potential environmental damage. Asia India and Pakistan [...]
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Water Shortages A severe drought in Portugal is ravaging pastures and threatening to worsen the country’s economic crisis, Reuters reported. Thousands of Texas rice farmers won’t get water for irrigation this year after the Lower Colorado River Authority said it won’t release water into the rivers and canals the farmers use for irrigation, AP reported. [...]
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Energy A bill meant to speed up approval of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline passed the United States House of Representatives, Bloomberg News reported. Those opposed to the pipeline, which would carry crude oil from Canada’s tar sands to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico, say it could harm the environment. In this Guardian video, [...]
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The world should brace for more record-breaking temperatures, heat waves, droughts and heavy downpours as climate change will likely increase the risk from extreme weather events, according to a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the BBC reported. The World Resources Institute summarizes the five takeaways from the report. And Ceres highlights [...]
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Global water use is increasing at twice the rate of population growth, Reuters reported. Developing countries will account for the bulk of the increased demand, potentially using 50 percent more water by 2025, while poverty and climate change add further stress to the situation. Glaciers in China’s Qinghai Province are melting faster due to climate [...]
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Climate change manifests itself most visibly through water. But is heat the more immediate threat to the world’s breadbaskets? Floods in Southeast Asia Areas of Bangkok are bracing for evacuation as floodwaters began spilling into the capital, boosting the levels in the Chao Phraya river, damaging infrastructure, and causing food and water shortages in a [...]
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Shale gas will not solve Britain’s energy problems, an Economist editorial argues. Cheap, plentiful fuel may lead to an increase in overall energy use and is also likely to undermine the market for renewable energy technology. Farmers in the Murray-Darling Basin are worried that the Australian government may ask them to cut their water use [...]
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