Thursday, December 8, 2016

Science Daily Reports on Water Stress in Asia

Science Daily is one of my favorite websites to go to for information on issues related to climate, water and even world poverty.

I cam across an article published on Science Daily by MIT:


Three Gorges Dam
Credit: © sinitar / Fotolia


Severe water stress likely in Asia by 2050

Water problems in Asia's future?


Economic and population growth on top of climate change could lead to serious water shortages across a broad swath of Asia by the year 2050, a newly published study has found. The study deploys detailed modeling to produce what the researchers believe is a full range of scenarios involving water availability and use in the future.

Economic and population growth on top of climate change could lead to serious water shortages across a broad swath of Asia by the year 2050, a newly published study by MIT scientists has found.


Saturday, December 3, 2016

World's Largest Cluster of Sinkholes Discovered

From National Geographic:


 

                Forty-nine sinkholes were found in China by researchers, who say the features have

                more secrets to tell.


Who says we're done exploring the Earth?
Scientists in China announced a major new discovery this week: 49 massive sinkholes that were previously unknown, representing the highest natural density of the phenomenon in the world.
Government researchers discovered the sinkholes during the course of a four-month survey in the Qinling-Bashan Mountains, which are located in the Hanzhong area of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
The 49 sinkholes are clustered in a 230-square-mile patch of land within the 2,000 square miles that were surveyed.
See video here:

Monday, September 26, 2016

The Ban On Microbeads

Attention is needed regarding the ban on microbeads. Here's an important article from Ban The Bottle:




THE BAN ON MICROBEADS – WHY IT MATTERS AND WHY IT’S STILL NOT ENOUGH

“Everyone can visualize floating plastic water bottles, but it’s harder to envision the damage these smaller pieces of plastic can cause.”
That’s a quote from David Andrews, senior scientist at Environmental Working Group, in an article on Huffington Post.
And it makes you think. Plastic is ubiquitous in our day-to-day lives, and even more so in our waste – even in the water we’re sending down the drain. Microbeads – those tiny plastic particles marketed as exfoliants in everything from face scrubs and hand soaps to body washes and toothpastes – take a huge environmental toll. Polyethylene microbeads neither disintegrate nor biodegrade – they just pile up in our waterways and our oceans, destroying coral populations that ultimately ingest them.
The United States took a step in the right direction last December when President Obama signed a bill forcing companies to remove microbeads from rinse-off cosmetics by the middle of 2017. Unfortunately, specific wording in the Microbead-Free Waters Act leaves quite the loophole for companies that use microbeads in products left on the skin. And even worse, identifying these companies is next to impossible.
As places like Australia and the United Kingdom begin their own campaigns to ban microbeads, they’re taking careful notes. Activists in these areas are pushing for bans on any products with microplastics that wash away down the drain, a much more generous description.
On American soil, the smartest next step may be a right-to-know bill, which would force companies to disclose their ingredients.
Read more here: https://www.banthebottle.net/articles/the-ban-on-microbeads-why-it-matters-and-why-its-still-not-enough/

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Water Grabbing In Canada

Here's an article about residents fighting a battle with Nestle over water rights to an artisanal spring water well.  Read the full article at the link below to see how the town was outbid by Nestle in its battle to protect its water.


Canadian town steams over Nestlé bid to control local spring water well


Nestlé Canada currently has permits that allow it to extract up to 4.7m litres
of water a day from sources in Ontario. Photograph: Don Ryan/AP

"A small town in Ontario, Canada, has prompted fresh scrutiny of the bottled-water industry after its attempt secure a long-term water supply through the purchase of a well was outbid by the food and drinks multinational Nestlé.

When authorities in Centre Wellington, population of about 30,000, learned that Nestlé had put a bid on a spring water well in their region, they scrambled over the summer to counter with a competing bid. The goal was to safeguard a water supply for the township’s fast-growing population, Kelly Linton, the mayor, told the Guardian. “By 2041, we’ll be closer to 50,000 so protecting our water sources is critical to us.”"

Saturday, September 17, 2016

All The Water We Can't Drink

Thanks to Flying Dutchman for this artwork.
http://dutchiefd.deviantart.com/art/Dirty-Water-Illustration-284506880

Posting this here today as I'm working on a paper entitled, "All The Water We Can't Drink." Issues related to potable water need to be addressed, yet even here in the United States, cities like Flint, Michigan show us how little regard is given to ensuring that we have access to clean water. Governments around the world fail on all levels to ensure this human right. Some people even argue whether or not access to water is a human right.

Too many of us are not paying attention to the coming water crisis. It reminds me of why I started this blog in the first place. If we don't occupy our water rights, we stand to lose them to greedy corporations and governments that aren't looking out for our best interests.

Make today the day you're going to start talking to family and friends about conserving water and treating it as the most precious natural resource that it is.

Join your local water activist group and participate in their activities. Remember, the water you save may be your own.

Saturday, June 25, 2016

Plans Underway For Pacific Clean-Up

The dutch have outdone themselves with this project to clean the Great Pacific Garbage Patch of plastic debris:

Dutch prototype clean-up boom brings Pacific plastics solution a step closer

Boomy McBoomface


A bid to clear the Pacific of its plastic debris has moved a step closer with the launch of the biggest prototype clean-up boom yet by the Dutch environment minister at a port in The Hague.
On Thursday the 100 metre-long barrier will be towed 12 miles (20km) out to sea for a year of sensor-monitored tests, before being scaled up for real-life trials off the Japanese coast at the end of next year.
If all goes well, full-scale deployment of a 100km-long version will take place in the “great Pacific garbage patch” between California and Hawaii in 2020.
The Dutch environment minister, Sharon Dijksma, told the Guardian that her government, which part-funded the test, was fully backing the project, which will eventually cost about £230m (€300m).

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Celebrate World Oceans Day

CELEBRATE THE HEART OF OUR PLANET ON WORLD OCEANS DAY!


https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwjL86y-xJjNAhUJpB4KHThED-cQjBwIBA&url=https%3A%2F%2Faz801952.vo.msecnd.net%2Fuploads%2Feb713f05-9783-4c2a-b650-bfd904211e15.jpg&psig=AFQjCNHeXTebH9QDhkjwUqd4RudQEkGriw&ust=1465478052455879


http://theoceanproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/TS-media2.jpg



http://www.unfalumni.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/2013_Ocean_Day_Stamp.jpg



http://www.ecology.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/HO2-small-poster.jpg


https://www.banthebottle.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/WorldOceansDay.jpg









Saturday, May 7, 2016

Will There Be More Plastic Than Fish In The Ocean By 2050?

Are we going to sit back and let this happen?




"The saying, “There’s plenty of fish in the sea” will be utter nonsense by 2050, scientists say, because plastic will dominate the oceans."

Read more: http://naturalsociety.com/plastics-filling-oceans-solutions-coming-6428/#ixzz47yGcp4PD 


Friday, May 6, 2016

Here's What Happens When a Town Bans Plastic Water Bottles

After  reading this article you're going to wish your town or city would ban plastic water bottles, too. Nothing good can be said about the use of plastic bottles. Beverage bottlers keep producing more and more and MORE plastic bottles, which end up in our waterways and the oceans of the world. I can't think of one good thing to say about plastic water bottles.

In her article for Ban The Bottle, Hannah Ellsbury tells the story of a town that banned plastic water bottles.



"College campuses are one thing, they say, but it’s impossible to completely ban single-use plastic water bottles in a town. Well, they’re right – and they’re also absolutely wrong. Because four years ago this very month, residents of Concord, Massachusetts, voted to essentially ban the bottle. They voted to ban the sale of single-use plastic water bottles, and the following January, the measure went into effect.
First, some background.
Jean Hill is an 88-year-old grandmother who learned about garbage patches – and their proliferation of plastic – in the ocean from her grandson. A bit of research confirmed her worst fears – that despite an uptick in recycling, some two million tons of plastic water bottles still end up in landfills every single year.
To Hill, the best place to start reducing all that plastic was with stopping the worst offenders, and that’s what she set out to do. But it wasn’t easy. Local merchants were none too pleased, and the International Bottled Water Association put up a big fight too. Still, when the measure went into effect, all local merchants were on board."

Read the full article here: https://www.banthebottle.net/news/heres-what-happens-when-a-town-bans-plastic-water-bottles/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BanTheBottle+%28Ban+the+Bottle%29#prettyPhoto

Monday, April 18, 2016

Earth Day - 14 Facts About Water

Found a fun website by ContestPatti and couldn't resist sharing her Earth Day post on water!





"As earth day approaches the kids and I are focusing our home learning on the natural world. We have discovered so many interesting facts and figures and we thought we would share them with you, our fellow home learners! So here you go –
  1.  The world has a total of 1,3 billion cubic kilometers (332 million cubic miles) of water.
  2. Scooped up, all of that water would form a ball just 1, 384 km (860 miles) wide.
  3. Nearly 97% of the worlds water is in the oceans.
  4. The Pacific Ocean contains more water than all of the world's other oceans and seas together.
  5. 71% of the planets surface is covered in water leaving just 29% of the surface as land.
  6. Only 2.5% of all the water on Earth is fresh water.
  7. For every bathtub full of seawater on Earth, there are just 4 teaspoons of freshwater.
  8. Most fresh water is locked up in glaciers and the ice caps. Less than 1% of all the Earths water is fresh & liquid.
  9. Permafrost (underground ice) and liquid groundwater (water in rocks and soil) make 1.7% of the worlds total water.
  10. The average depth of the ocean is 4,300m (14,000 Feet) but the deepest point at Challenger Deep in the Pacific Ocean, is 11,030 m (36,200 feet)
  11. Humans have explored less than 10% of the ocean.
  12. Fewer people have travelled to the deepest parts of the ocean than have travelled into space.
  13. If all of the world's ice melted the sea level would rise by 70m (230 feet).
  14. The ice over Antarctica is an average of 1, 830 m (6,000 feet) and in some places it is more than twice as deep 4,776 m (15,670 feet)."
Visit ContestPatti's page: http://contestpatti.com/earth-day-did-you-know-water/

Friday, April 1, 2016

Stranded Whales Stomachs Full of Plastic



HORRIBLE!! Postmortem on the 13 stranded North Sea sperm whales finds their stomachs full of plastic. This whales were found near the town of Tönning in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Drought In Mozambique

Another day, another report on water scarcity, this time in Mozambique where rivers are drying up.

Boys play along the banks of the Zambezi river in Mozambique. The country has been hit by
flooding in the north and drought in the south. Photograph: John Wessels/AFP/Getty Images

Excerpts from an article from The Guardian:

It rained in Mbalavala two weeks ago. The clouds built up from the south, a shower cleared the dusty air, but then, cruelly, it stopped after an hour. For a moment, the 120 families who live in the southern Mozambican village thought their two-year drought was ending.
But that was it. Since then there has been no hint of rain and the chances of planting crops this year in Mbalavala diminish every day as El Niño, the natural weather phenomenon that upturns normal weather patterns every few years in southern Africa, reaches its peak and Mozambique comes to the end of another dry rainy season.
For the second year running, Mbalavala’s maize fields, which should have been planted months ago, lie empty; the soil in vegetable gardens is like sand and what little water there is from an emergency borehole must be shared between cattle and people.

Read full article here: http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/feb/17/mozambique-drought-hopes-harvest-evaporate?CMP=twt_gu

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Water Scarcity, Water Wars?

Water scarcity and water wars are definitely in our future. All we have to do is look to what's happening around the world. We once thought that developed countries would be the last to experience water scarcity, but if you're paying attention, that's no longer true.

The latest from The Guardian:



Four billion people face severe water scarcity, new research finds

At least two-thirds of the global population, over 4 billion people, live with severe water scarcity for at least one month every year, according to a major new analysis.
The revelation shows water shortages, one of the most dangerous challenges the world faces, is far worse previously than thought.
The new research also reveals that 500m people live in places where water consumption is double the amount replenished by rain for the entire year, leaving them extremely vulnerable as underground aquifers run down.
Many of those living with fragile water resources are in India and China, but other regions highlighted are the central and western US, Australia and even the city of London.