In Carbon Brief, 25 April 2018 Low-lying coral islands across the tropical oceans could become “uninhabitable” in the coming decades because of the combined impacts of sea level rise and large waves, a new study suggests. Earlier research, based on sea level rise alone, suggested this wouldn’t happen until at least the end of this century. But regular inundation from …
Water Stress Threatens Nearly Half the World’s Thermal Power Plant Capacity
At the World Resources Institute, Aaron Kressig, Logan Byers, Johannes Friedrich, Tianyi Luo and Colin McCormick – April 11, 2018 Many people point to renewable energy as the greatest threat facing fossil fuel power plants. New WRI research finds that the real threat may be water. When we overlaid areas of current water scarcity with existing power plant infrastructure, we found that 47 percent of the world’s thermal power plant capacity—mostly …
Exporting water quality problems
Mar 22, 2018, by Kate Ravilious, contributing editor to environmentalresearchweb. A new study has shown that some rivers are far more capable of mopping up livestock-related pollution than others. For countries, like the UK, with rivers that are already overloaded, imported meat helps to keep rivers clean at home, but often results in extra river pollution elsewhere. Intensive livestock farming is a major source of …
Glyphosate clouds contaminating even more distant fields now, and all popular beer and wine brands tested
By Zen Honeycutt, March 2018 The past few years have revealed some disturbing news for the alcohol industry. In 2015, CBS news broke the announcement of a lawsuit against 31 brands of wines for high levels of inorganic arsenic. In 2016, beer testing in Germany also revealed residues of glyphosate in every single sample tested, even independent beers. Moms Across America released test …
Precipitationsheds: World’s largest cities depend on evaporated water from surrounding lands
Urbanization has taken billions of people from the rural countryside to urban centers, adding pressure to existing water resources. Many cities rely on renewable freshwater regularly refilled by precipitation, rather than groundwater or desalinated water. A study led by Colorado State University found that 19 of the 29 largest cities in the world depend on evaporation from surrounding lands for …
Report: 64% of Bottled Water Is Tap Water, Costs 2000x More
By Julia Conley on Common Dreams Feb 2018 Bottled water companies have relied on predatory marketing practices and exorbitant lobbying efforts to sell Americans on the inaccurate belief that pre-packaged water is cleaner and safer than tap water—a notion that is costing U.S. households about $16 billion per year. In a new report entitled “Take Back the Tap,” Food & Water Watch explains that 64 percent …
Pacific coast wave energy twice as intense as Scotland’s and it is a job and tourism rich field
Clean Technica 6 Feb 2018 The US Department of Energy is out with an interesting piece on wave energy that puts a new twist on the “American Energy Dominance” theme. In a recent interview, the folks over at the agency’s Water Power Technologies Office teased out a revelation that the waves off the Oregon coast have about double the energy …
Floods Are Getting Worse, and 2,500 Chemical Sites Lie in the Water’s Path
New York Times, By Hiroko Tabuchi et al., 6 Feb 2018 Anchored in flood-prone areas in every American state are more than 2,500 sites that handle toxic chemicals, a New York Times analysis of federal floodplain and industrial data shows. About 1,400 are located in areas at highest risk of flooding. As flood danger grows — the consequence of a …
Can the Great Lakes Become Fishable, Drinkable and Swimmable Again?
By Susan Cosier On EcoWatch Natural Resources Defense Council Jan. 30, 2018 Upper Peninsula Michigan, Lake Superior. As Mark Mattson waited to speak to Canada’s minister for the environment, Catherine McKenna, about the Great Lakes last December, he could feel the weight of the 184-page report he carried in his shoulder bag. At the Toronto meeting, McKenna asked Mattson, founder and president of the …
Restoration and park planned for Southern Indiana, across from Louisville KY
BY JOSH COHEN | JANUARY 22, 2018 in Next City A concept rendering of the future Ohio River Greenway. (Courtesy River Heritage Conservancy) Right now, the Ohio River Greenway consists of a few disjointed sections of multi-use trail along the bank of the Ohio River in southern Indiana, across the water from Louisville, Kentucky. When it’s completed this summer, the 7-mile greenway will connect …