NIAMEY, 23 October 2012 (Reuters) – Niger said on Monday it will launch a $110 million project to counter the impact of rapid expansion of deserts and increasingly unpredictable rains in one of the world’s poorest countries. “The programme aims to test strategies that will help us integrate climate risk and adapt climate change into […]
By Gwen Ackerman 23 October 2012 The Dead Sea is shrinking at a record rate, prompting calls for Israel and Jordan to stop fertilizer makers from siphoning so much of the water whose restorative powers have attracted visitors since biblical times. The salty inland lake bordering the nations dropped a record 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) […]
Inadequate access to water and sanitation also hinders progress on achieving gender equality. In most households, women and girls are the primary carriers of water, and often need to travel more than 30 minutes round trip to collect water (see Figures 1 and 2); this is particularly true in sub-Saharan Africa. The resultant ‘time poverty’ […]
By Mark Duell18 October 2012 These incredible pictures show the bleak landscape of bitumen, sand and clay created by the frantic pursuit of 173 billion barrels of untouched oil. The Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada, are the world’s third largest oil reserve – but lush green forests once blanketed an area there larger than England. […]
By Cynthia Dizikes, Chicago Tribune reporter19 October 2012 As Lake Michigan water levels have dipped lower and lower this year, so too has shoreline fisherman Patrick Finley. A leisurely stand, cast and reel routine will no longer do. Actually catching a fish in such shallow water calls for methods more extreme. “You literally have to […]
Caption by Mike Carlowicz, including reporting from Holli Riebeek20 September 2012 A deep and persistent drought struck vast portions of the continental United States in 2012. Though there has been some relief in the late summer, a pair of satellites operated by NASA shows that the drought lingers in the underground water supplies that are […]
This graph illustrates lead concentrations in spinach grown in Varanasi, India. (Singh, et al., 2010) Domestic wastewater comprises dissolved and suspended impurities from households. Untreated or insufficiently treated wastewater is typically contaminated with human excreta, which can cause traditional health risks. In recent years, domestic wastewater has been observed to contain trace quantities of pharmaceutical […]
By KEN WILSON26 September 2012 PICK a number and forecast global growth population by 2060. You know that by 2050 it will be nine billon. Exponentially that figure will increase to 10 billion by 2060, according to consultant Julian Cribb, author of The Coming Famine. Mr Cribb told delegates at last week’s Global Agribusiness Conference […]
By KATE GALBRAITH6 October 2012 SAN ANGELO – With its pretty rivers and lakes, this city of 95,000 people is sometimes called the oasis of West Texas. But San Angelo recently came within a year of running out of water, as it faced a severe drought that produced brown lawns, dying bushes and fear. “Who […]
By Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY4 October 2012 While most Americans worry about gas and heating oil prices, water rates have surged in the past dozen years, according to a USA TODAY study of 100 municipalities. Prices at least doubled in more than a quarter of the locations and even tripled in a few. Consumers could […]
