A very interesting interactive video from Scientific American about the limitations of the resources that so many think unlimited.
In this video, Christophe Miller, the project chief of the Continental Water, Climate, and Earth-systems Dynamics project (US Geological Survey/NOAA), summarizes the impact of Global Warming on the water resources.
Link: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=interactive-how-much-is-left&sc=WR_20100824
“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today proposed the largest coastal “No Discharge Zone” in the United States, banning all sewage discharges from large cruise ships and most other large ocean-going vessels in California‘s coastal waters.
“”This is one more public step in the process of telling cruise lines and the shipping industry that they cannot use California‘s coastal and bay waters as their toilet,” said Marcie Keever, Oceans and Vessels Campaign director at the nonprofit Friends of the Earth.
“Under the Clean Water Act, states may request EPA to establish vessel sewage no-discharge zones if necessary to protect and restore water quality. California made such a request in 2006. The rule that EPA proposes today will take effect following a 60-day public comment period.
“The rule will prohibit both treated and untreated sewage discharges in state marine waters from all cruise ships larger than 300 tons, and from large ocean-going ships larger than 300 tons with adequate sewage holding capacity, which is defined in the rule as two days storage capacity.”
Read more: International Business Times
Photo retrieved from: www.nationalgeographic.com
“In the Middle East and North Africa, the quest to turn thousands of miles of desert into arable land has taken a backseat to containing an impending water shortage. While many countries in the region bicker over water rights, Libya has taken it upon itself to change its topography – turning sand into soil.
The Great Man-Made River, which is leader Muammar Qaddafi‘s ambitious answer to the country’s water problems, irrigates Libya’s large desert farms. The 2,333-mile network of pipes ferry water from four major underground aquifers in southern Libya to the northern population centers. Wells punctuate the water’s path, allowing farmers to utilize the water network in their fields.
The Libyan government says the 26-year project has cost $19.58 billion. Nearing completion, the Great Man-Made River is the largest irrigation project in the world and the government says it intends to use it to develop 160,000 hectares (395,000 acres) of farmland. It is also the cheapest available option to irrigate fields in the water-scarce country, which has an average annual rainfall of about one inch.”
Read more: The Christian Science Monitor
Flood victims wait for food and water at a makeshift camp in Sukkur on August 23, 2010 Photo retrieved from: www.cnn.com
“You can see 8,000 to 10,000 people in Sukkur in the road, sleeping in the mud,” said Kapadia, a resident of Karachi.
“All the people are sitting on the side of road, defecating there, drinking water there, living there.”
Roughly 4 million people are homeless from mammoth flooding that covered much of Pakistan for three weeks. Hundreds of health facilities are damaged or destroyed. Millions are at risk for deadly waterborne diseases from the filthy flood waters.
Officials estimate the death toll between 1,500 and 1,600, but Kapadia says he thinks the numbers could skyrocket as water recedes and more bodies and animals surface.
“Everywhere we go we see eight to 10 feet of water,” said Kapadia, who traveled through inundated villages between Shikarpur and Sukkur. “All we see are the tops of houses.”
Read more: CNN
Photo retrieved from: National Geographic
“The major river engineering is basically a Faustian bargain,” says Daanish Mustafa of King’s College London, recalling the fable in which a man sells his soul to the devil in exchange for a life of luxury. Mustafa is a geographer who has studied the history of Pakistan’s river management.
“Until a few decades ago, there were typically mild floods each summer–the time when the monsoon rainfall hits, and the melt from the snowpack in the Himalaya and Karakoram Mountains is at its peak.
“But now, because humans have sculpted the river and the surrounding natural floodplain and wetlands for farming and other needs, there are fewer floods, but when they hit, they are far worse, said Mustafa.
“There’s not very much space [in the river channel] to absorb all the rainfall,” says Asad Sarwar Qureshi, a water resources expert at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) branch in Lahore, Pakistan. “We need to get it back into shape, so that it can carry its original capacity.”
“Wetlands along the river’s course used to take up some floodwaters, and the government also used to divert excess water into “no man’s land” during the monsoon season, he says. But those areas have been converted to farmland, he says . . .
“Allowing the river to flood more regularly, and naturally, could help temper the floods and make them more tolerable, say Mustafa and other experts . . .
“Managing Pakistan’s floods is a delicate balance between giving the river more room, and building barriers to protect people and their land.”
read more: National Geographic
Photo retrieved from: www.huffingtonpost.com
“Ocean water contaminated with sewage, storm run-off and oil carries bacteria, parasites, and viruses, which can cause a variety of diseases. From Staph infections to earaches, hepatitis to skin rashes and respiratory issues, America’s waters are an environmental hot bed for infection. For the last five years, there have been 18,000 beach closings across the United States. 2009 brought 18,682 days of closures and notices as a result of water contamination and pollution at beaches throughout the United States.
As summer ends, we here at HuffPost Green decided to explore the range of possible illnesses that can be contracted at our nation’s beaches due to environmental contamination. While oiled beaches are making the most headlines this summer, there are numerous other contamination that can be found at the beach. Recreational water illnesses can be caught by swallowing contaminated water, inhaling infected mist, and swimming in polluted waters.”
Read more: Huffington Post
Photo retrieved from: www.treehugger.com
“According to Arad, the drone is completely GPS self-guided, and captures consumption data and information on theft, tampering, leaks and stuck meters from the company’s patented water-meter system. The drone is battery-powered and constructed of lightweight carbon fiber.
You can launch it with by hand and it returns via parachute. Arad calls it “powerful weaponry for water preservation.”
“Arad’s system is built around what looks like a standard meter. The difference is on the inside, where you’ll find 3G wireless technology, a microcontroller, and 20-year batteries.
Every 11 to 30 seconds, the system transmits data, which can be picked up by a drone (best for quickly covering big distances in remote areas) or by a drive-by or fixed-base reader. The data are then analyzed by computer to gauge how much water has been consumed, how much was lost, and even where tampering may have taken place. As a result, companies can save both water and man hours.”
Read more: Treehugger
Photo retrieved from: dams-info.org
“An interactive online database and map launched today graphically illustrates the impacts from more than 140 large dams at various stages of planning in the Amazon Basin. This unique resource, available at www.dams-info.org, uses official sources of information to document the shocking number of dams planned in the Amazon Basin in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, and outlines the devastation these projects would bring to the river and its peoples.
“The Amazon plays a key role in regulating the world’s climate and is an area of extraordinary biodiversity. The largest and arguably the most important river basin in the world, the Amazon contains 60% of the world’s remaining tropical rainforest. However, the more than 140 dam projects described in the database threaten irrevocable damage to the Amazon’s biological integrity and to local populations whose livelihoods depend upon healthy riverine ecosystems.
“Available in English, Spanish and Portuguese, the “Dams in Amazonia” database presents technical and economic data about existing, planned and partly built dams. In the Brazilian Amazon alone, more than 60 dams are planned; neighboring countries such as Peru, Bolivia and Colombia also have plans for massive projects.
“It’s astounding to see the plans that governments and the dam industry have for the world’s most important river basin. If all these projects are built, it would be catastrophic for the Amazon ecosystem and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of indigenous people and riverbank dwellers who depend on the river for survival,” said Brent Millikan, Amazon Program Director for International Rivers.”
read more: International Rivers
Foto encontrado en: www.oem.com.mx
“El director del Sistema de Aguas de la Ciudad de México, Ramón Aguirre, precisó que si los ingresos anuales son de 4 mil 600 millones de pesos por concepto de agua potable, las autoridades del Distrito Federal pierden cerca de 460 millones de pesos con las tomas clandestinas.
Por ello, dijo, en lo que resta de este año se invitará a los capitalinos a regularizar sus tomas de agua, pero ya en 2011, se hará de forma “coercitiva”, pues el objetivo es que todo mundo pague lo que consume.
En entrevista, el funcionario señaló que tendrá un costo elevado para los capitalinos a quienes se detecten tomas clandestinas de agua potable, ya que se hará un estimado y se les cobrará cinco años el agua que pudieron haber consumido.
Para echar a andar este operativo especial, dijo, el Gobierno del DF contratará empresas que se dedican a la detección de tomas clandestinas, las cuales se localizan en toda la Ciudad de México.
Sin embargo, acotó que las tomas clandestinas se concentran en las colonias populares y los lotes grandes, donde se amplían las viviendas y se construyen nuevas casas, las cuales hacen sus propias tomas de agua.
También se registran en las zonas industriales, ya que en ellas el costo de agua es mayor y con las tomas clandestinas se trata de evadir el cobro, así como en algunas zonas residenciales, donde no dan de alta las nuevas tomas.”
Leer mas: El Sol De Mexico
Más de diez años de sequía ha secado gran parte de la cuenca inferior de los ríos Murray y Darling. Foto encontrado en: www.informador.com.
“Australia gastará un total de tres mil 100 millones de dólares australianos (unos dos mil 800 millones de dólares o dos mil100 millones de euros) en la compra de agua a los agricultores para recuperar el caudal de los ríos afectados por la sequía en el suroeste del país.
Así lo anunció hoy la primera ministra laborista, Julia Gillard, quien ha incluido una larga lista de medidas medioambientales en su programa electoral ante los comicios parlamentarios del próximo 21 de agosto.
“Compraremos el agua necesaria a los agricultores que estén dispuestos a venderla para recuperar la salud de los ríos”, indicó Gillard a la cadena de radio ABC.
De la cifra total, el Gobierno federal ya ha gastado mil 400 millones de dólares australianos (mil 280 millones de dólares o 969 millones de euros) en comprar 900 mil millones de agua a los agricultores, quienes adquieren los derechos sobre el líquido ante las administraciones de los estados.
Algunos legisladores han pedido al Ejecutivo central que se haga cargo de la gestión del agua para mejorar la gestión de los recursos fluviales.
Más de diez años de sequía ha secado gran parte de la cuenca inferior de los ríos Murray y Darling, afectando al medio natural y las cosechas en el suroeste.
En 2008, el Gobierno comenzó el programa de compra de agua y, en 2014, espera que uno de cada siete litros de agua adquiridos por los agricultores para los sistemas de irrigación sea devuelto a los ríos.”
Leer mas: Informador
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