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California Golf Trip Lands Obama in a Water-Use Debate
Posted by New York Times: Gardiner Harris on June 21st, 2015
New York Times: With four fund-raisers and an awkward reconciliation with the House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, behind him, President Obama returned to a beloved golf oasis here for a weekend getaway with friends. This time, though, was different. A punishing drought has raised questions about whether such oases can survive, and about the president’s weekend here. The vast emerald green courses in the area are watered by a disappearing Colorado River and an underground aquifer that has fallen about 55 feet...
Holding Your Breath in India
Posted by New York Times: Gardiner Harris on May 31st, 2015
New York Times: FOR weeks the breathing of my 8-year-old son, Bram, had become more labored, his medicinal inhaler increasingly vital. And then, one terrifying night nine months after we moved to this megacity, Bram’s inhaler stopped working and his gasping became panicked. My wife called a friend, who recommended a private hospital miles away. I carried Bram to the car while my wife brought his older brother. India’s traffic is among the world’s most chaotic, and New Delhi’s streets are crammed with trucks at...
Poor Sanitation in India May Afflict Well-Fed Children With Malnutrition
Posted by New York Times: Gardiner Harris on July 14th, 2014
New York Times: He wore thick black eyeliner to ward off the evil eye, but Vivek, a tiny 1-year-old living in a village of mud huts and diminutive people, had nonetheless fallen victim to India’s great scourge of malnutrition.
His parents seemed to be doing all the right things. His mother still breast-fed him. His family had six goats, access to fresh buffalo milk and a hut filled with hundreds of pounds of wheat and potatoes. The economy of the state where he lives has for years grown faster than almost any...
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Comments Off on Poor Sanitation in India May Afflict Well-Fed Children With MalnutritionBorrowed Time on Disappearing Land
Posted by New York Times: Gardiner Harris on March 28th, 2014
New York Times: When a powerful storm destroyed her riverside home in 2009, Jahanara Khatun lost more than the modest roof over her head. In the aftermath, her husband died and she became so destitute that she sold her son and daughter into bonded servitude. And she may lose yet more.
Ms. Khatun now lives in a bamboo shack that sits below sea level about 50 yards from a sagging berm. She spends her days collecting cow dung for fuel and struggling to grow vegetables in soil poisoned by salt water. Climate scientists...