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Archive for June 3rd, 2011
United States: A Toxic River Improves, but Still Has Far to Go
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 3rd, 2011
New York Times: Thomas Simon remembers the day he found a carp in the Grand Calumet River in 1985, barely alive, bloody and with no fins. “It looked like someone had beaten it up,” said Mr. Simon, a biologist who studied the river for 26 years.
Yet state officials were thrilled, because it was the first fish found in years in the northwest Indiana river that is widely considered the nation’s most toxic waterway.
A quarter century later, fish are more plentiful and look healthy. But state and federal agencies...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United States: A Toxic River Improves, but Still Has Far to GoAs Missouri River Rises, Control Efforts Take Shape
Posted by New York Times: A. G. Sulzberger on June 3rd, 2011
New York Times: Adding to an already brutal season of flooding, another major waterway -- this time, the Missouri River -- is rising because of record rain and snow, meaning major flooding is likely from the headwaters in Montana to where it flows into the still-swollen Mississippi River.
The sharp rise of the upper Missouri has forced officials to release unprecedented amounts of water from a series of dams that normally control the flow of the river, leading to the evacuations of homes and the construction...
China: Three Gorges Dam Is Said to Hurt Areas Downstream
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 3rd, 2011
New York Times: A Chinese official says the planners of the Three Gorges Dam failed to properly gauge its effects on lakes and other bodies of water downstream, according to a report on Thursday in Shanghai Daily, an English-language newspaper.
As a result, the dam has contributed to lower water levels in two of China's largest freshwater lakes, raising the threat to them during long droughts, the report said. Large areas of central and southern China are suffering from the worst drought in 50 years, and the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on China: Three Gorges Dam Is Said to Hurt Areas DownstreamChemicals in Farm Runoff Rattle States on the Mississippi
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 3rd, 2011
New York Times: As the surging waters of the Mississippi pass downstream, they leave behind flooded towns and inundated lives and carry forward a brew of farm chemicals and waste that this year — given record flooding — is expected to result in the largest dead zone ever in the Gulf of Mexico.
Dead zones have been occurring in the gulf since the 1970s, and studies show that the main culprits are nitrogen and phosphorous from crop fertilizers and animal manure in river runoff. They settle in at the mouth of the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Chemicals in Farm Runoff Rattle States on the MississippiIndia’s largest state unveils pro-farmer land bill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 3rd, 2011
Reuters: The chief minister of India's most populous state has unveiled a new land acquisition policy, local media reported on Friday, making it easier and more lucrative for farmers to sell land in the face of growing anger over land acquisition for industry.
Mayawati, chief minister of India's northern Uttar Pradesh state, says the policy ensures a seller's market for farmers, in an attempt to remove a nationwide roadblock for infrastructure and development in Asia's third-largest economy.
"Under...
Climate Change Spells Peril for Millions of Poor: Study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 3rd, 2011
Reuters: Millions of people already living in poverty are on a collision course with hotter and more variable weather that threatens crop yields and livestock, a global study on climate change "hotspots" has found.
The study released on Friday identifies regions where millions of people are already living close to the edge in terms of food security and then maps the expected impacts of changes in temperature, rainfall and other factors by 2050.
The result is one of the most comprehensive studies of...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate Change Spells Peril for Millions of Poor: StudyClimate to wreak havoc on food supply, predicts report
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 3rd, 2011
BBC: Areas where food supplies could be worst hit by climate change have been identified in a report.
Some areas in the tropics face famine because of failing food production, an international research group says.
The Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) predicts large parts of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa will be worst affected.
Its report points out that hundreds of millions of people in these regions are already experiencing a food crisis.
"We are starting to see much...