Climate change could alter the chemistry of deepwater lakes and harm ecosystems

By Alexander L. Forrest13 June 2016 (The Conversation) – In an age of rapid global population growth, demand for safe, clean water is constantly increasing. In 2010 the United States alone used 355 billion gallons of water per day. Most of the available fresh water on Earth’s surface is found in lakes, streams and reservoirs, […]

UN relief chief: ‘Worst case scenarios’ could become reality without more funding for El Niño response – $2.2 billion funding gap ‘alarming’

26 April 2016 (UN) – With 60 million people across the world affected by droughts, floods and other extreme weather events triggered by El Niño, the top United Nations relief official today called on the international community to act now to address urgent humanitarian needs and support building communities’ resilience to future shocks. “I am […]

Methane matters: Scientists work to quantify the effects of a potent greenhouse gas – ‘There is no question that methane is doing some very odd and worrying things’

By Adam Voiland8 March 2016 (NASA) – For a chemical compound that shows up nearly everywhere on the planet, methane still surprises us. It is one of the most potent greenhouse gases, and yet the reasons for why and where it shows up are often a mystery. What we know for sure is that a […]

WHO: An estimated 12.6 million deaths each year are attributable to unhealthy environments

GENEVA, 15 March 2016 (WHO) – An estimated 12.6 million people died as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment in 2012 – nearly 1 in 4 of total global deaths, according to new estimates from WHO. Environmental risk factors, such as air, water and soil pollution, chemical exposures, climate change, and […]

Drugs found in Puget Sound salmon from tainted wastewater – ‘You have to wonder what it is doing to the fish’

By Lynda V. Mapes23 February 2016 (Seattle Times) – Puget Sound salmon are on drugs: Prozac, Advil, Benadryl, Lipitor, even cocaine. Those drugs and dozens of others are showing up in the tissues of juvenile chinook, researchers have found, thanks to tainted wastewater discharge. The estuary waters near the outfalls of sewage-treatment plants, and effluent […]

The Rio Olympics are a mess seven months before the opening ceremony

By Emmett Knowlton17 January 2016 (Business Insider) – The 2016 Summer Olympics kicks off on August 5 in Rio de Janeiro — but with less than seven months until the Opening Ceremony, a slew of problems still show no signs of improvement. Will Connors had a good, if troubling, piece in The Wall Street Journal […]

Rio Olympic water worse than thought, viral equivalent of raw sewage – Athletes who ingest three teaspoons of water have 99 percent chance of infection

By Brad Brooks2 December 2015 RIO DE JANEIRO (Associated Press) – Olympic sailor Erik Heil floated a novel idea to protect himself from the sewage-infested waters he and other athletes will compete in during next year’s games: He’d wear plastic overalls and peel them off when he was safely past the contaminated waters nearest shore. […]

Pollution crisis in Lake Baikal – ‘All the sanitary and epidemiological indicators are far below standards’

By Olga Gertcyck20 November 2015 (Siberian Times) – Famed for the purest water on the planet, but this ‘is no longer true’ with ‘no drinking’ warning in southern part of lake. One of the wonders of the world, Baikal is Russia’s jewel, but it is now facing severe pollution, according to stark new warnings. It’s […]

2015 algae bloom in Lake Erie is most severe on record

By Angela Fritz 12 November 2015 (Washington Post) – The algae in Lake Erie was more severe and more highly concentrated this summer than in any summer since NOAA began measuring the blooms in 2002. This year’s harmful green bloom was due to excessive Midwest rainfall in spring and summer, and the fertilizer that rain […]

A megacity without water: São Paulo’s drought

By Jon Gerberg13 October 2015 (TIME) – The biggest city in the Western hemisphere is facing its greatest water crisis in over 80 years — and climate change is only part of the problem. Millions of residents in São Paulo, Brazil face daily water shutoffs unless the city manages its water better. It is not […]

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