Archive for the 'climate change' Category

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Drought fears for Midlands and south-west England

Published on 04/01/2012 in climate change, drought, rivers, water conservation and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.bbc.co.uk

“The government agency expects drought to spread west across the country following the recent dry weather.

It comes amid reports that rivers are at their lowest levels since 1976, with a severe lack of rainfall not seen since the drought of 1921.

From Thursday, hosepipe bans are due to come into force in parts of south-east England and East Anglia.

Those areas are already officially in drought, while that status was declared in South and East Yorkshire earlier this week.

Two years of lower-than-average winter rainfall has meant rivers across the country have not been replenished.

The past week’s hot weather saw 1mm or less fall across the whole country, the Environment Agency said in its latest Drought Management Briefing on Friday.”

Read more: BBC

 

lily victoria

Great Lakes Water Levels Bring Conflict For Michigan Residents

Published on 03/31/2012 in climate change, hydrology, lakes, peak water, policy, privatization, tap water, water shortage and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.coastwatch.edu

“In a scenario that might baffle onlookers from arid regions, people around the Great Lakes – the world’s most abundant freshwater system – are fighting over water. Complaints that levels are too high or too low are longstanding, but the debate is growing louder as a warming climate raises the specter of more dramatic changes.

Now, U.S. and Canadian officials are considering an audacious and costly effort to control the freshwater seas’ ups and downs in a way they never have before. A panel of scientists and engineers will release Wednesday a five-year study of options ranging from minor tinkering to a massive, $8 billion engineering project that would invite comparisons to the Panama Canal or the Hoover Dam.

The latter alternative would involve using dams or other structures to regulate flows between all five Great Lakes. It’s a long shot with few supporters but by including it in their report, the experts acknowledge it could gain traction if future water fluctuations become extreme.”

Read more: The Huffington Post

 

lily victoria

Economic Talks Open Arab League Meeting In Iraq

Published on 03/27/2012 in agriculture, climate change, drought, groundwater, hydrology, peak water, policy, rivers, water shortage and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.lookupfellowship.com

“Economic ministers tentatively agreed to cooperate on proposals for tourism and to deal with water shortages and natural disasters. The proposals, put forward at the summit’s opening meeting, still need to be approved by the rulers and heads of government on the final day of the gathering Thursday.

“We are suffering mainly from the lack of finance and some technical problems,” Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby said at the economic ministers’ meeting.

As in Iraq, where the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers are drying up, water resources also are strapped elsewhere across the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates and Jordan say their ground water is rapidly depleting, and the Dead Sea is drying up. Much of the problem is due to the failure of governments in the region to manage growth and use of the major rivers.

In Libya, the fall of Moammar Gadhafi’s regime last year halted construction on a $25 billion project to pump water to the country’s north, said economic delegation official Giuma Rahuma.”

“Many farmers are in the north,” Rahuma said. “The (Libyan) revolution stopped the project. Maybe it will start again next year, or in two years.”

Read more: NPR

lily victoria

Water Sector Options for India in a Changing Climate

Published on 03/21/2012 in agriculture, climate change, dams, hydrology, management, peak water, policy, rainwater harvesting, rivers, solutions and outreach, tap water, water conservation, water shortage and water technology. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Photo retrieved from: www.washfinance.com

“On the eve of the World Water Day 2012, the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers & People (SANDRP) is happy to publish its new report: Water Sector Options for India in a Changing Climate. The report highlights that for the poorest sections, also most vulnerable in the climate change context, the water, food, livelihood and energy security, closely linked with the environment security, is already getting severely affected in the changing climate. It is well known that water is the medium through which climate change impacts are most dominant. South Asia is considered possibly the most vulnerable region in terms of number of people that would be affected by climate change impacts, and within South Asia, India has the largest vulnerable population. The importance of understanding the Water Sector Options in such a situation cannot be underestimated. The report highlights the options for coping and mitigating climate change challenges in water sector in India.”

Read more: www.sandrp.in

lily victoria

Are We Running Out of Water?

Published on 03/19/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, climate change, contaminated water, drought, groundwater, hydrology, lakes, oceans, peak water, rivers, tap water, water shortage and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: .

Photo retrieved from: www.nationalgeographic.com

“Early in 2001, the Rio Grande River failed to reach the Gulf of Mexico for the first time.

With that nefarious event the Rio Grande joined a growing list of once-mighty rivers that are running dry from overuse:  the Colorado River in the U.S., the Yaqui in Mexico, the Indus in Pakistan, the Ganges in Bangladesh, the Yellow and Tarim in China, and the Murray in Australia, along with many other rivers large and small.

Not surprisingly, fisheries in these once-bountiful rivers have crashed.  After all, fish do need water.

We’ve tapped underground water sources pretty heavily as well.  The water level in the Ogallala Aquifer in the Midwestern U.S. has dropped more than 150 feet in some places, leaving many farmers’ wells bone dry.

As water is sucked out of aquifers, the overlying soil and rock can compact or collapse into the dewatered void, causing tall buildings to teeter in Mexico City, automobiles to tumble into sinkholes in Florida, or swallowing tourists on the fringes of the shriveling Dead Sea in Israel and Jordan.”

Read more: National Geographic

 

lily victoria

The Dusty Limpopo River

Published on 03/16/2012 in agriculture, climate change, drought, peak water, rivers and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: .

www.blogs.ei.columbia.edu

“The Limpopo River Basin is one of the most water stressed and, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, extreme droughts occur in the basin every 10 to 20 years.

The basin has a catchment area of around 413,000 km² that covers four countries – Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe – affecting a combined population of 14 million people, most of whom are subsistence farmers. About 244,000 hectares are under irrigation and an estimated 234,000 hectares are under crop production here, while 1.7 million hectares are used for pasture.

However, due to bad environmental management, only craggy stumps of trees line the riverbank. People have cut down the trees that once used to create jagged coves along the river, which has long been home to crabs, fish and wild animals.

“But at the few water holes on this part of the river you can hardly catch a frog. The river is gone, siltation has taken over. The rains are no longer reliable. They come late and sometimes don’t come at all,” Ramovha says.

He says the daily temperatures have increased substantially within the region and have killed many of the catchment’s once-lush grass beds, depriving livestock and game of their natural feed and habitat.”

Read more: AlertNet

 

lily victoria

Time to tackle water crisis, global forum told

Published on 03/15/2012 in climate change, displacement of people, greenwashing, management, peak water, privatization, solutions and outreach, water rights, water shortage, water wars and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Retrieved from: Spx daily

“A global meeting on water opened in France on Monday with demands to provide billions of poor people with clean water and decent sanitation and address the spiralling demands of the future.

“The challenges are huge and the problems are deep-rooted,” French Prime Minister François Fillon said as he opened the sixth World Water Forum in the southern city of Marseille.

“The number of human beings who have no access to clean water is in the billions. Each year, we mourn millions of dead from the health risks that this causes. This situation is not acceptable — the world community must rise and tackle it.”

“As many as 20,000 participants from 140 countries are expected for the six-day event, including scores of ministers for the environment and water and a scattering of heads of state from francophone west Africa.

“Separately, a massive UN report, issued only once every three years, said water problems in many parts of the world were chronic.

“Without a crackdown on waste will worsen as demand for food rises and climate change intensifies, it said. “Pressures on freshwater are rising, from the expanding needs of agriculture, food production and energy consumption to pollution and the weaknesses of water management,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in the report.

“Climate change is a real and growing threat. Without good planning and adaptation, hundreds of millions of people are at risk of hunger, disease, energy shortages and poverty.”

“Demand for food will increase by some 70% by 2050, which will lead to a nearly 20% increase in global agricultural water consumption, the UN’s Fourth World Water Development Report said.

“Abstraction of aquifers has at least tripled in the past 50 years and now supplies almost half of all drinking water today. “In some hotspots, the availability of non-renewable groundwater resources has reached critical limits,” the report said.

“The report demanded an overhaul in the use of water, especially by curbing waste. Smarter irrigation, less thirsty crops and the use of “grey,” or used water, to flush toilets are among the options.”

Read more: Bworldonline

sammykayed

Countries sign pact to address water issues

Published on 03/13/2012 in climate change, peak water, policy, water conservation and water rights. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Countries sign pact to address water issues

“China has established a minister level cooperation mechanism with Japan and the Republic of Korea as the three countries aim to tackle water problems together, officials announced onTuesday.

“The three countries signed the Memorandum of Cooperation on the Mechanism of Ministerial Meeting at the 6th World Water Forum in Marseilles, France, to deepen the coordination of the three countries in managing water resources and dealing with water disaster.

“The three countries issued a joint statement in 2009 on the sustainable development of water issues, saying that they aim to establish a trilateral mechanism for cooperation in water resources, focusing on the management of river and water resources and adapting to climate changes.

“Chen also proposed that water research institutions from these countries conduct joint research projects in key areas such as water risk assessment, early warnings during flash floods, water and soil conservation and agricultural water saving technology. The three parties will also accelerate the application of these research outcomes and support government decision making.”

Read more: Chinadaily

Chippie Kislik

World Rivers Review: Dam Greenwashing Flows at World Water Forum

Published on 03/06/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, climate change, contaminated water, dams, displacement of people, drought, greenwashing, hydrology, hydropower, lakes, management, peak water, policy, privatization, rivers, solutions and outreach, tap water, water conservation, water diversions, water technology, water wars and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.wash-united.org

“The stated goal of this year’s World Water Forum- the world’s largest meeting devoted to water- is to create solutions to the water, energy, and food challenges presented by climate change and economic growth. However some of the “solutions” being presented will do more to protect business-as-usual interests rather than spark innovative approaches to pressing water-related problems.

The sixth World Water Forum (this year in Marseille, France from March 12-17) is, like its predecessors, heavily weighted with corporate players, including many from the large dam industry, making pitches for large-scale projects and private-sector approaches.

One corporate “solution” on the agenda this year, the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP), proposes to replace the “best practice” recommendations of the World Commission on Dams with a voluntary, non-binding scorecard that allows dam builders to assess the social and environmental performance of each other’s projects.”

Read more: International Rivers

 

lily victoria

Sudan: UK Government Donor Visits UNEP Environment and Peacebuilding Projects

Published on 03/04/2012 in agriculture, climate change, dams, displacement of people, drought, greenwashing, groundwater, peak water, policy and water wars. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Photo retrieved from: www.globalwitness.org

“The Republic of Sudan is facing serious natural resource challenges in the face of population growth, urbanisation, climate change and the legacy of conflict.

Steady progress with restoring traditional livelihoods, sustainably managing scarce water resources and adapting to climate change were among the tangible environmental improvements conveyed to the British Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, Mr Stephen O’Brien, during his visit to Sudan this week.

UKaid from the Department for International Development is the major donor to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Sudan, making possible UNEP’s research-based, wide ranging technical assistance to the government and people of Sudan.

Mr O’Brien’s programme included site visits and briefings on joint efforts to help improve the sustainable and equitable governance of natural resources throughout Sudan.

Officials from UNEP and the government accompanied Mr O’Brien to sites in Darfur where he viewed progress on repairs to dams damaged and neglected over the past years of conflict.

With large movements of people to Darfur’s camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) during the conflict years, stress on the groundwater aquifers has become acute, with some water tables dropping by as much as 10 meters.”

Read more: allafrica.com

 

lily victoria