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.

Read full article here: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160330152053.htm

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.

By Brian Clark Howard

PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 30, 2016

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:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/11/49-sinkholes-discovered-in-china-worlds-largest-geology/?google_editors_picks=true

From Twitter: Boycott All Nestle Products

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/

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.”"

Read the full article here from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/24/canada-nestle-water-well-bid-centre-wellington

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.

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).

Read full article here: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/22/dutch-prototype-clean-up-boom-brings-pacific-plastics-solution-a-step-closer?CMP=share_btn_tw