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Officials in Three States Pin Water Woes on Gas Drilling
By Abrahm Lustgarten ProPublica Norma Fiorentino’s drinking water well was a time bomb. For weeks, workers in her small northeastern Pennsylvania town had been plumbing natural gas deposits from a drilling rig a few hundred yards away. They cracked the earth and pumped in fluids to force the gas out. Somehow, stray gas worked into […]
no reason: A World on the Verge of Water Bankruptcy
Reaching the Epiphany Moment, Video Makes Water Crisis Clear Can irony help explain the global fresh water crisis? no reason, a Circle of Blue video, describes in surprising images and unlikely pacing the roles water and water scarcity play in the global economy. It debuted at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland […]
Trickle Down Effect: Aussie Dollars to Hydrate Basin
Years of drought have left the state government of South Australia feeling a bit too brittle for comfort. In fact, it just tipped its fiscal bucket by tens of millions of dollars to purchase water for next year. The state should be 61 billion gallons wetter for 2009-10, water security minister Karlene Maywald told the […]
Wasting away: Effluent water bolsters urban agriculture, but poses serious health risks
Farmers cope with water pollution in their efforts to feed millions by Sarah Haughn Circle of Blue Cities above and below the equator rely on the fruits of urban agriculture, literally. According to a new report, many farmers use human sewage to irrigate that agriculture. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) estimates that 800 million […]
Global warming to increase unpredictable weather, impacts on water, Cooley says in Congressional testimony
WASHINGTON – Congressional testimony July 10 said that global warming is likely to increase pressure on existing water resources and cause extreme events such as floods and droughts, as well as a rise in sea-levels. During the congressional committee hearing, Heather Cooley, senior research associate at the Pacific Institute, described what to expect and how […]
China Faces Reign of Sand
INNER MONGOLIA, CHINA (January 21, 2008) – Furious dust and sandstorms from Inner Mongolia cripple airports, darken skies, and choke millions of people across East Asia every spring. According to “Reign of Sand,” the new multimedia report from Circle of Blue, the storms are growing in intensity and frequency, and the primary causes are deepening drought in […]
World Economic Forum: A big week for water?
The annual World Economic Forum kicks off Wednesday in Davos, and already there’s a buzz building about this year’s emerging focus on the global freshwater crisis. The Forum hosts seven sessions on water, from market mechanisms for pricing to the tragic health consequences of poor sanitation and dirty water. (Note: I’ll be reporting all week from Davos.)
In a prelude to the Forum, Klaus Schwab, its chairman, and Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman of Nestle, today published a compelling op-ed argument for rapid response and a call for “an unprecedented, high-impact public-private coalition to find ways to manage our future water needs before the crisis hits.”
(See the full op-ed below.)
It will be interesting to monitor the outcomes. As my friend and colleague Peter Gleick notes, we can solve many of today’s water problems. “We know how,” he says. “It’s just not clear that we’re going to make the commitment.”
Will this be a week of commitments? Schwab and his colleagues seem determined to take the discussions to a higher level than before. Stay tuned.
Water sessions at the forum this year include:
Time is Running Out for Water
Nearly one-third of the world’s population is expected to be living in regions facing severe water scarcity by 2025. What should be done now to ensure that water scarcity does not become a source of international conflict and human misery?
The True Value of Water
Water demand has more than tripled over the last half century, but its management appears immune to traditional market mechanisms. What is the most effective way to allocate water between industry,
Who is Managing Your Supply of Water
40% of Fortune 1,000 companies agree that the impact of a water shortage would be severe, but only 17% admit to being prepared for such a crisis. How should firms approach their future operations to ensure that they are not affected by water degradation, scarcity, storms or flooding?
Water – Are We Being Bio-Foolish
Securing a Watertight Future
Rapid urbanization, industrialization, changing diets and climate change are aggravating the effects of our unsustainable water use. For many businesses, significant disruptions are already caused by water insecurity. What innovative strategies can help us manage the need for water more effectively?
Death, Disease and Dirty Water
There is a well-established link between dirty water and disease. The effects of climate change and natural resource degradation on local ecosystems are further shaping the patterns of waterborne infectious disease. What is the emerging scientific consensus on the challenges ahead? What technologies and innovations can business provide to help support public health programmes?
Welcom
There will be a special Welcom session for participants to share their talents and creativity in solving the crisis, with a focus on the roles of journalism, design and communications. More on this later. (Disclosure: I’ve been involved in visioning and organizing this session.)
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J. Carl Ganter: Co-Founder and Director
J. Carl Ganter is co-founder and director of Circle of Blue, the internationally recognized center for original frontline reporting, research, and analysis on resource issues with a focus on the intersection between water, food, and energy. He earned his MSJ in investigative and magazine writing at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism after graduating with […]
J. Carl Ganter: Co-Founder and Director
J. Carl Ganter is co-founder and director of Circle of Blue, the internationally recognized center for original frontline reporting, research, and analysis on resource issues with a focus on the intersection between water, food, and energy. He earned his MSJ in investigative and magazine writing at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism after graduating with […]