Photo gallery: Historic water crisis in São Paulo ‘has come to stay. You have to look at it as permanent.’

By Philip Ross 7 May 2015 (IBT) – Instead of rain, São Paulo has cracked earth and chaos as a devastating drought is making enemies out of neighbors in Brazil’s largest city, the site of a historic water shortage the likes of which hasn’t been seen in decades. Many residents have gone to drastic measures […]

Dengue cases soar in Brazil, as death toll climbs – City of Piracicaba releases transgenic mosquitos

São Paulo, 5 May 2015 (AFP) – Cases of dengue have soared in Brazil where the disease has caused 229 fatalities this year, the health ministry has said, as authorities try to combat its spread using transgenic mosquitos. The health ministry said it had logged 745,900 cases nationwide in the first 15 weeks of the […]

Iran drought: The empty river of life – ‘We live in the dust’

By Thomas Erdbrink5 May 2015 TEHRAN (The New York Times) – Every day, when I walk to our supermarket in the western part of Tehran to buy the groceries my wife tells me to get, I pass a long row of plane trees, neatly planted decades ago according to the design of ambitious city planners. […]

Wild animals in drought-stricken U.S. West are dying for a drink – ‘It’s looking to be a very, very difficult year for wildlife’

By Darryl Fears 6 May 2015 (Washington Post) – For the giant kangaroo rat, death by nature is normally swift and dramatic: a hopeless dash for safety followed by a blood-curdling squeak as their bellies are torn open by eagles, foxes, bobcats and owls. They’re not supposed to die the way they are today — […]

Graph of the Day: Growth in agricultural groundwater use in selected countries, 1940-2010

20 March 2015 (UNESCO) – Any consideration of the quality and quantity of available water supplies in the region must examine groundwater, which is critical to several economic sectors. Experts estimate that groundwater irrigation contributes US$10 to US$12 billion per year to the Asian economy. When also including earnings from groundwater sales for irrigation, that […]

East Bay residents to get steady diet of foul water – ‘The taste of drought’

By Rachel Swan8 May 2015 (SF Gate) – The acrid tap water that flowed for several days last month into thousands of East Bay homes, prompting a flurry of complaints about its bad taste and smell, will be making an extended comeback starting next week — perhaps through the year, or longer. California’s drought combined […]

Fresno water table has fallen 25 feet in seven years – ‘I like fish, but I’m not giving up my lawn for some smelt. Let those fish die up north. There’s a cycle of life.’

By Nelson D. Schwartz6 MAY 2015 FRESNO, California – When residents of this parched California city opened their water bills for April, they got what Mayor Ashley Swearengin called “a shock to the system.” The city had imposed a long-delayed, modest rate increase — less than the cost of one medium latte from Starbucks for […]

Places to visit before they’re ruined forever by climate change

By Tanya Lewis24 April 2015 (Business Insider) – Earth Day, which was on April 22 this year, is a time to celebrate and protect the pale blue dot we call home. But some of its crown jewels may be vanishing. Many parts of the globe face threats from warming temperatures, sea level rise, drought, and […]

Nevada’s Lake Mead hits record low water level after 14 years of severe drought

By Victoria Cavaliere; Editing by Sandra Maler24 April 2015 (Reuters) – Nevada’s Lake Mead, the largest capacity reservoir in the United States, is on track to drop to its lowest water level in recorded history on Sunday as its source, the Colorado River, suffers from 14 years of severe drought, experts said on Friday. The […]

Not science fiction: Changing climate pushing migrants out of Africa and into tragedy

By Michael Werz and Max Hoffman 21 April 2015 (Reuters) – The migrant crisis in the Mediterranean is symptomatic of deep dislocation in the Sahel region and sub-Saharan Africa — dislocation exacerbated by climate change. Climate change is affecting such basic environmental conditions as rainfall patterns and temperatures and is contributing to more frequent natural […]

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