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Unsafe groundwater only adds to California drought misery
Posted by CNBC: Mark Koba on October 25th, 2014
CNBC: With surface water supplies decimated from the ongoing drought, more Californians are forced to use groundwater.
But groundwater is unsafe for nearly 800,000 residents, according to the state's water resources control board.
This problem is the longtime contamination from nitrates and arsenic.
That's meant less drinkable water in California's struggle to survive more than three years of severely dry weather.
"Most areas affected by contamination don't have surface water supplies so they...
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Rising temperatures, seas seen costing US billions
Posted by CNBC: Mark Koba on June 27th, 2014
CNBC: Ignoring the effects of climate change will cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars, with a large part of that loss connected to farms that struggle to adapt and coastal lands flooded by the oceans, according to a report released this week.
The report, entitled "Risky Business," broadly addresses the risks climate change poses to the U.S. economy, and is endorsed by a bipartisan group of heavy hitters from the investing and business worlds. The report doesn't provide new climate change science....
Warning: Many watersheds in US failing ‘stress test’
Posted by CNBC: Mark Koba on September 30th, 2013
CNBC: Nearly 1 in 10 of the nation's watersheds--areas of land that contain runoff from rivers and streams--are stressed to the point to where demand for water exceeds the natural supply.
"There is a lot of pressure on our water supply, especially In the western part of the country," said Kristen Averyt, associate director for science at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, and lead author of the report released this month.
"As the population grows, so too does demand....
Drought Worsens, Scorching Much of the Country
Posted by CNBC: Mark Koba on April 20th, 2013
CNBC: The drought that ravaged much of the U.S. in 2012 shows no sign of letting up. Spring rains have eased concerns in the Southeast and in some areas of the Midwest, but other sections are not so lucky.
"The western half of the country is bad and will probably get even worse," said Richard Heim, a drought monitor expert at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
"In the plains and California, the long term drought conditions are degrading. It's going to be while before they...