The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has joined forces with NASA to study the “rivers in the sky,” the narrow regions in the Earth’s atmosphere that transport enormous amounts of water vapor, sometimes enough to flood an area the size of Maryland 1 foot (0.3 meters) deep.
Can water become a player in Afghanistan’s stability? In a country already ranked on the rock bottom of world food security charts, a severe drought in 2011 could leave millions starving and exacerbate the already volatile domestic affairs, U.S. forecasts show.
In neighboring Pakistan, poor water management — even before the catastrophic 2010 floods — has left the country’s water supply system in such dire state that Pakistan might now face extreme water shortages, The Budapest Report says. Can the flood recovery become an opportunity for a change?
Chile might consider energy rationing as a severe drought is draining many of the rivers that feed the country’s major hydroelectric dams.
As much as 10 percent of China’s rice might be poisoned with heavy metals from mining and industrial sewage, a Nanjing Agricultural University study says. China’s staple crop might be tainted with toxic cadmium and arsenic, among others.
And while most media are warning about a potential crop failure in China’s drought-stricken food bowls, The Financial Times offers and alternative read on China’s food security.
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