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Archive for September, 2010
Gold rush on the Gulf: Researchers clamor for cash
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 29th, 2010
AP: Once a backwater in the world of oceanographic research, the Gulf of Mexico has suddenly become the site of a scientific gold rush, all because of the BP oil spill. The environmental disaster represents a once-in-a-generation research opportunity that has oceanographers salivating. There's big money -- $500 million from BP alone -- up for grabs. And for scientists who usually toil in near-obscurity, there's the prospect of lots of media attention. Researchers are suddenly in ...
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How biodiversity is threatened across the world’s rivers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 29th, 2010
Guardian: X
How human water security is threatened across the world’s rivers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 29th, 2010
Guardian: X
Sewage Overflow in New York? Believe It
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 29th, 2010
NYT: This may be the perfect complement to Wednesday`s article about Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's plan to reduce the flow of sewage into the city's water bodies: a video on YouTube showing a sheet of sewage and storm water coating the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn a muddy brown. The video, dated Sept. 16 and already posted on sites like that of Riverkeeper, the environmental group that monitors the city's waterways, is so graphic that viewers can almost smell the stench. But city officials say ...
Liberia’s sea level rises
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 29th, 2010
Daily Observer: Liberia's ecosystem is under serious threats and will have devastating consequences if nothing is done to tackle the situation, the newly appointed Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned. Madam Anyaa Vohiri named changing rainfall patterns, coastal erosion and flooding and the rise of the country's sea level as three 'climatic hazards' that have been recorded. According to her, some of the effects of these problems include potential loss of ...
NYC to curb water runoff with blue and green roofs
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 29th, 2010
Reuters: New York City wants to catch and store rainwater temporarily in new roof systems to stop heavy storms sending sewage spilling into city waterways. The catchment systems would consist of "blue" roofs that have a series of drainage pools and "green" or grass- or ivy-covered roofs, under a plan unveiled by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg estimates the city could save $2.4 billion over 20 years if the state allows it to use this kind of green technology instead of relying on ...
‘River crisis’ worsens threat of water scarcity – study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 29th, 2010
AFP: The vast majority of the world's rivers are reeling from pollution, over-development and excessive extraction, and billions of dollars of investment by rich countries to avert water stress have damaged biodiversity, a study released on Wednesday said. "Rivers around the world really are in a crisis state," said one of its authors, Peter McIntyre, a professor of Zoology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The investigation, published by the journal Nature, looked at the ...
Glaciers May Have Soggier Bottoms Than Thought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 29th, 2010
LiveScience.com): Glaciers may seem to be all ice, but it turns out they can be soggy with water, a finding that should help researchers understand how glaciers slide toward the sea, and improve their predictions about rising sea levels in the face of climate change. "Adding water to the base of glaciers and ice sheets can make them speed up," said glacialogist Joel Harper of the University of Montana at Missoula, who with his colleagues discovered an unexpected amount of water near the bottom of a ...
Water map shows billions at risk of ‘water insecurity’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 29th, 2010
BBC: About 80% of the world's population lives in areas where the fresh water supply is not secure, according to a new global analysis. Researchers compiled a composite index of "water threats" that includes issues such as scarcity and pollution. The most severe threat category encompasses 3.4 billion people. Writing in the journal Nature, they say that in western countries, conserving water for people through reservoirs and dams works for people, but not nature. They ...
Rivers worldwide in peril: society treats symptoms, ignores causes
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 29th, 2010
Mongabay: Dams, agricultural runoff, pesticides, sewage, mercury pollution from coal plants, invasive species, overconsumption, irrigation, erosion from deforestation, wetland destruction, overfishing, aquaculture: it's clear that the world's rivers are facing a barrage of unprecedented impacts from humans, but just how bad is the situation? A new global analysis of the world's rivers is not comforting: the comprehensive report, published in Nature, finds that our waterways are in a deep crisis which ...