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10 Feb 2012: Wastewater Reuse Could Increase
U.S. Supplies 27 Percent, Report Says

Advanced treatment of municipal wastewater could increase available water supplies in the U.S. by 27 percent, according to a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences. Of the 32 billion gallons of municipal wastewater discharged each day nationwide, about 12 billion gallons of effluent is emptied into an ocean or estuary, the report said. Existing treatment technologies would allow municipalities to reuse that water for a variety of purposes — including irrigation, industrial use and drinking water — while posing no increased risk of exposure to microbial or chemical contaminants than in some existing drinking water systems. As reported in the New York Times, an increasing number of U.S. communities are utilizing wastewater reuse technologies — including a pilot plant in San Diego that produces about 1 million gallons of clean drinking water daily — or are considering it. According to the National Academy report, increased stress on water supplies as a result of climate change and population growth will require many municipalities to consider alternative sources of water.
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07 Feb 2012: Nigerian Children Perish
From Exposure to Lead in Gold Mining

Lead contamination from hundreds of gold mines across northwestern Nigeria has caused the deaths of 400 children under the age of five and exposes thousands more children to lead poisoning, according to a report from the U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch. Across the state of Zamfara, where hundreds of artisanal mines are now in operation, young children processing ore are exposed to toxic levels of lead, the report said. Many others are exposed when family members return home from work covered in the toxic dust, when lead-filled ore is crushed in their homes, or when exposed to contaminated water and food. In some villages, mortality rates were as high as 40 percent among children who showed signs of lead poisoning. “Zamfara’s gold brought hope for prosperity, but resulted in death and backbreaking labor for its children,” said Babatunde Olugboji, a deputy program director at Human Rights Watch.
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02 Feb 2012: Harsh Roadside Environments
Creating Hardy Salamanders, Study Suggests

The old adage — “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” — seems to apply to salamanders evolving to survive in contaminated environments near roads. Yale University researcher Steven Brady compared salamanders breeding in roadside ponds with those breeding in woodland ponds, and he found that the roadside salamanders have a tough life. Only 56 percent of salamander eggs in roadside ponds survive the first 10 weeks, compared with an 87 percent survival rate for salamander eggs in woodland ponds. The roadside salamanders also experience higher mortality, grow at a slower rate, and are more likely to develop L-shaped spines and other disfigurements — all likely linked to roadside contaminants, especially concentrations of salt. Still, Brady found that when he transferred eggs from roadside ponds and woodland ponds to a neutral environment, the roadside eggs out-survived those of their forest cousins. “These animals are growing up in harsh environments where they face a cocktail of contaminants, and it appears that they are evolving to cope with them,” said Brady, whose study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
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16 Jan 2012: Mandatory Roof Gardens Urged
As Solution to Singapore Flooding

A panel formed to study solutions to increased flooding in Singapore has urged the government to require green roofs on new and retrofitted buildings. The 12-member panel, which was created after torrential rains caused flash flooding across eastern and central Singapore last year, said improved weather modeling and infrastructure improvements are needed to handle a surge in stormwater runoff caused by urbanization in Singapore. In the meantime, however, the panel urged simpler steps to reduce and delay flooding, including better storage tanks, porous pavements, and rain gardens. Such rooftop gardens, which are often added to reduce heat or for aesthetic reasons, can absorb six to 34 liters of water per square meter and limit water flow, local contractors said. After flash floods inundated large areas of Singapore last June for the second consecutive year, a government official warned that the nation’s drainage system is not equipped to handle the region’s “changing” weather patterns.
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16 Dec 2011: Time Ranks ‘Fracking’ Rap
Among Most Creative Videos of 2011

An online video featuring an unlikely fusion of hip-hop lyrics and the natural gas extraction technology known as “fracking” was ranked number 2 on Time magazine’s list of most creative videos in 2011. Produced by a team of students from New York University’s Studio 20 journalism program, the video, “My Water’s on Fire Tonight (The Fracking Song),” features a rap-style description of the hydraulic fracturing drilling process — and its possible environmental consequences — over animated graphics. Lisa Rucker, a Los Angeles-based editor who helped produce the video, said the video has the potential to introduce the controversial fracking debate to a wide audience. The video has attracted more than 200,000 viewers since it was posted on YouTube in the spring.
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08 Dec 2011: Rampant Marijuana Cultivation
Is Damaging U.S. National Forests

U.S. officials say widespread marijuana cultivation in national forests has caused “severe” damage to some ecosystems and wildlife in 20 states. In testimony before the U.S. Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, U.S. Forest Service Director of Law Enforcement David Ferrell said federal officials have uncovered large-scale marijuana operations in 67 different national forests across the U.S. At these sites — which typically cover 10 to 20 acres and include armed guards and counter-surveillance methods — operators usually clear large areas of native vegetation; spray voluminous amounts of herbicides, rodenticides, and pesticides; and divert thousands of gallons of water daily from streams, lakes, and drinking water supplies. In California alone, Ferrell said, the Forest Service has removed more than 130 tons of trash, 300 pounds of pesticides, and nearly 260 miles of irrigation piping from 335 illegal cultivation sites. Cleaning and restoring the sites costs about $15,000 per acre, Ferrell says.
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07 Dec 2011: Project Uses Satellite Data
To Better Predict Flooding in South Asia

A new NASA project will use satellite data to better monitor how much water is fed into river systems across the Himalayan region through snow and glacier melt, an initiative that could help provide early warnings on flooding and drought across South Asia. Using satellite observations of snow and glacial melt, the so-called HIMALA project will generate daily snow/water equivalence maps that will then be fed into other hydrological models that monitor how much freshwater is entering the region’s major rivers, including the Ganges and the Indus. While the Himalayan glaciers serve as a freshwater reservoir for more than 1.3 billion people, scientists say those water resources will increasingly be affected by climate change, population growth, urbanization, and changes to land use. Results from the HIMALA project also could be used to improve drinking water quality and availability and devise climate adaptation and mitigation strategies. A report on the project was published in the journal BioOne.
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02 Dec 2011: New Interactive Network
Maps Pollution, Noise Levels Across Europe

The European Environment Agency (EEA) and Microsoft this week introduced a network of online sites that map air, water, and noise pollution levels across the continent based on government data and information uploaded by users. The Eye on Earth network includes three separate interactive services: AirWatch, WaterWatch, and NoiseWatch. Using geospatial mapping technology, WaterWatch displays the 22,000 locations across Europe where the EEA monitors the quality of water at beaches, rivers, lakes, and other swimming areas. By zooming in on flagged monitoring stations, users can compare government rankings with public comments on water quality. AirWatch provides information from more than 1,000 air-monitoring stations, while NoiseWatch allows users to instantly upload noise level readings from their mobile devices.
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01 Dec 2011: Southern U.S. Groundwater
Dips To Record Low Levels, NASA Map Shows

A new map released by U.S. scientists illustrates a steep drop in groundwater levels across much of Texas and other southern states following record-breaking drought conditions. Using groundwater calculations based on satellite observations and other meteorological data, scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Nebraska have shown that ground moisture in some regions of the U.S. — including much of Texas — has dipped to levels significantly lower than the long-term average since 1948, when levels of soil moisture and groundwater were first recorded. In eastern Texas, for instance, the ground has been as dry as it currently is only 2 percent of the time over the last 63 years. According to scientists, groundwater supplies are “extremely depleted” across more than half of Texas and parts of New Mexico, Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia.
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16 Nov 2011: Restoration of UK Peatlands
Is Advocated by Conservation Group

The UK’s extensive peatlands and peatbogs must be protected and restored to avoid large-scale releases of carbon dioxide and to protect water supplies, according to a new study by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The report said that 80 percent of the peatbogs in Britain, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and islands such as the Hebrides have been damaged by overgrazing, burning, draining, or extraction for peat moss. These peatlands — up to 40 feet thick in places — store an estimated 3 billion tons of carbon dioxide, far more carbon than is stored in UK forests. Noting that the loss of only 5 percent of the 10,000 square miles of peatland in the UK would equal the UK’s entire annual carbon emissions, the IUCN said that governments should begin restoring drained and dried peat bogs by refilling them with water and should impose far tougher controls on the use of peatlands for agriculture or development. The IUCN’s report comes at a time when conservation groups worldwide are placing a greater emphasis on preserving peat ecosystems.
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01 Nov 2011: Extreme Weather Events
Likely Linked to Warming, IPCC Says

A draft report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says there is a 2-in-3 probability that human-caused climate change is already leading to an increase in extreme weather events. The draft summary, obtained by the Associated Press, said that increasingly wild weather, such as the downpours that have caused recent extreme flooding in Thailand, will lead to a growing toll in lost lives and property damage, and will render some locations “increasingly marginal as places to live.” The report says scientists are “virtually certain” that continued warming will cause not only an increase in extreme heat waves and drought in some regions, but will generate more intense downpours that lead to severe flooding. The report, which wades into the contentious subject of whether climate change is already causing more extreme weather, will be issued in several weeks in advance of global climate talks to be held in South Africa next month.
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24 Oct 2011: Study Offers New Insights
Into Planting Flood-Tolerant Crops

Scientists say they have identified the molecular mechanism that enables plants to detect and cope with low oxygen levels that occur when roots or shoots are inundated with water, a development they say could help farmers breed high-yield, flood-tolerant crops as flooding becomes more common globally. In a study published in Nature, researchers from the University of California, Riverside and the University of Nottingham in the UK describe the subtle changes they observed in the metabolism of plants after they were fully or partially submerged. Specifically, in tests on Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant species, they identified proteins that are actually unstable when oxygen levels are normal, but become more stable when oxygen levels drop, such as during exposure to increased amounts of water; this trait enhances the plants’ ability to survive in flood conditions. Researchers say that in years to come scientists might be able to manipulate this trait, called the protein turnover mechanism, to develop crops capable of surviving flood conditions.
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20 Oct 2011: Waterways Emit More CO2
Than Previously Believed, Study Says

Rivers and streams in the U.S. release substantially more carbon into the atmosphere than previously assumed, a new study finds. According to the study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, a significant amount of carbon absorbed by plants and trees ends up in waterways before ultimately being released into the atmosphere. Using geospatial data to model the movement of carbon dioxide from more than 4,000 rivers and streams across the U.S., researchers calculated that the CO2 emitted from waterways is roughly the same as burning 40 billion gallons of gasoline. “These rivers breathe a lot of carbon,” said David Butman of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and co-author of the study. According to researchers, the findings should alter the way scientists model how carbon is cycled at regional and global levels.
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17 Oct 2011: U.S. Water Agencies Eye
Water Alternatives Across Mexico Border

Four water districts in the western U.S. are working with Mexican officials to develop two huge desalination plants in Playas de Rosarito, a coastal city located in the Mexican state of Baja California, as communities on both sides of the border look to wean themselves from the drought-prone Colorado River. One group — including the water agencies that provide water to much of Southern California, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Tijuana — is now studying the costs of a plant that would provide about 50 million gallons daily, while a second project would provide nearly 100 million gallons daily to the U.S. via a new pipeline, with operation set to begin in 2014. While some environmental groups have expressed concerns about the proposals, including charges that American water agencies are targeting Mexico to avoid stricter U.S. review, proponents say the plants could provide a freshwater alternative to the Colorado River, which for decades has been the lifeblood for seven U.S. states and northwest Mexico but has been running increasingly low in recent years as a result of rising demand.
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13 Oct 2011: Five-point Plan Proposed
To Feed World in a Sustainable Fashion

An international team of scientists has unveiled a plan that they say would double food production by 2050 while reducing the global environmental impact of agriculture. Reporting in the journal Nature, scientists from the U.S., Canada, Sweden, and Germany said that the only way the world community could sustainably feed the estimated 9 billion to 10 billion people expected on the planet later this century would be by taking the five following steps: halt expansion of farmland into tropical forests and wild lands; more efficiently use large swaths of underutilized farmland in Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, boosting current food production by nearly 60 percent; make more efficient use of water, fertilizers, and chemicals, which are currently overutilized in some areas and underutilized in others; shift diets, especially in the developed world, from excessive meat consumption; and reduce the amount of food that is discarded, spoiled, or eaten by pests, which currently amounts to about a third of the food supply. “For the first time we have shown that it is possible to both feed a hungry world and protect a threatened planet,” said the study's lead author, Jonathan Foley, of the University of Minnesota.
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12 Oct 2011: Global Meat Production
Increased 20 Percent Since 2000, Report Says

Global meat production has grown by 20 percent in the last decade and tripled since 1970, increases that have far exceeded the rate of population growth during the same periods and pose significant threats to the environment, the economy, and public health, a new report says. According to the Worldwatch Institute report, much of that growth is due to the rise of large-scale factory farming in developing countries such as China. Such industrial-scale farming not only poses health risks to livestock and ultimately introduces massive amounts of antibiotics into the environment, it also generates significant emissions of potent greenhouse gases, including methane and nitrous oxide, the report says. Earlier reports have found that livestock operations account for as much as 18 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. While the new report says people in the developed world consume more than twice as much meat as those living in developing nations (80 kilograms annually per person, compared with 32 kilograms), it predicts that demand for livestock products in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia will nearly double by 2050.
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11 Oct 2011: Rising Gold Prices Drive
Rampant Clearing of Peruvian Amazon

The spread of illegal gold mining in southern Peru has driven a growth in deforestation so rampant that government officials may declare an environmental emergency, according to a news report. As the global price of gold has climbed, mining operations in the Amazon have extended into the fringes of Tambopata Nature Reserve, an important region for ecotourism, with miners beginning operations without necessary permits, according Mongabay.com. In some cases, miners have started operations within the reserve itself, using dredges and massive suction equipment to search for gold in rivers and creeks. Ecologists warn that enormous swaths of remote and biodiverse forest are being cleared before scientists have even been able to completely assess their value. “This [area] is often blanketed in clouds. It’s poorly known to science,” said ecologist Gregory Asner of the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford University. “We don’t know the composition of the ecosystems.”
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10 Oct 2011: Amazon Drought Released
More CO2 than India’s Annual Emissions

A drought that affected large areas of the Amazon rainforest in 2010 triggered the release of about 1.8 million tons of carbon dioxide, more than the total annual CO2 emissions of India, according to a new study. After combining a NASA carbon cycle simulation model and satellite data that reflects the “greenness” — or light interception capacity — of forest canopies, researchers at the NASA Ames Research Center found that net primary production in some forest areas decreased by an average of 7 percent compared with 2008 data. The drought not only reduced the amount of CO2 absorbed by the rainforest, but the drying of normally flooded areas also released large amounts of CO2 through the decomposition of soil and dead wood. According to the study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, the results suggest “a more widespread and long-lasting impact to Amazonian forests than what could be inferred based solely on rainfall data.”
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07 Oct 2011: Desalination Equipment Rushed
to Drought-Stricken Pacific Nation

Military airplanes from Australia and New Zealand are delivering a large desalination unit to the drought-stricken Pacific nation of Tuvalu, where water supplies have nearly run dry after six months without rain. The tiny island nation, which has a population of about 11,000 people, has declared a state of emergency, with officials predicting that drinking water could run out within days. In addition to record drought conditions caused by the La Nina weather phenomenon, officials say rising seas have contaminated groundwater supplies. While New Zealand had already sent desalination equipment to the remote island nation, its foreign minister said more capacity is needed to meet the nation’s needs. On the main island of Funafuti, where the majority of the population lives, water is already being rationed. “At present the two operating desalination plants at Funafuti are producing a combined volume of 43,000 liters a day,” said New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully. “The minimum requirement for the 5,300 residents is 79,500 liters a day.” The Australian government has also sent 1,000 rehydration packs for Tuvalu’s hospitals and provided money to fuel the desalination plants.
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30 Sep 2011: Controversial $3.6 Billion Dam
Shelved by Myanmar Government

The Myanmar government has suspended construction of a controversial $3.6 billion dam project following weeks of protests by opposition forces. The Myitsone dam project, which was being developed in part by Chinese investors, would have flooded about 296 square miles (766 square kilometers), with about 90 percent of the power reportedly destined for export to China. According to reports, President Thein Sein told members of parliament “that his government, being born out of people’s desire, has to act according to the desire of the people.” The dam, which would have been built near the head of the Irrawaddy River, had emerged as a symbol of growing public resentment over China’s increasing influence in Myanmar. Critics argued the project would have disrupted the flow of the Irrawaddy, a lifeline for millions of people, and displaced 12,000 residents from 63 villages.
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