Countering An Approaching Water Crisis

Countering An Approaching Water Crisis

Excerpt:
"With an emphasis on environmentally friendly tools for killing microbes, membrane bioreactors, nanoscale filtration, and a host of other advanced technologies, the review paper addresses how these systems can be used for disinfection, decontamination, reuse and reclamation, and desalination of water supplies across the globe.

"Clearly, a coordinated, multi-faceted approach is needed to deal with complex water issues," said Geoffrey Prentice, the NSF program director supporting the WaterCAMPWS center and currently on detail to the U.S. Mission to UNESCO in Paris.

"Ours is one of several agencies working to address the water crisis before it grows worse. Working with the U.S. Mission to UNESCO, we are highlighting the international dimensions of inadequate water supplies, which lead to millions of deaths each year, primarily in the developing world," Prentice added."

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Living snowflakes: bacteria important to snow formation

Living snowflakes: bacteria important to snow formation
Digg:
"Scientists have found that bacteria play an important role in snow formation. Next time you have to shovel your ride out of a snowdrift, blame Pseudomonas syringae."

EPA Seeks Public Comment on Drinking Water Contaminants

Excerpt:
"The EPA has developed a list of 104 possible drinking water contaminants that may need to be regulated to protect our drinking water, which is currently available for public comment."
http://earth911.org/blog/2008/02/20/epa-seeks-public-comment-on-drinking-water-contaminants/

EPA Provides Millions in Beach Grants

EPA Provides Millions in Beach Grants
Excerpt:
"EPA announced it is providing $9.75 million in 2008 beach grants, designed to monitor beach water quality and notify the public of beach warnings and closings when bacteria levels rise too high.

The funds are available to 35 eligible states, territories and tribes for the eighth consecutive year. Since 2000, over $71 million has been awarded."
http://earth911.org/blog/2008/01/14/epa-provides-millions-in-beach-grants/

Agriculture accounts for nearly 70% of the water used worldwide

Agriculture accounts for nearly 70% of the water used worldwide

National Geographic Photos: Threatened Freshwater Environments
http://green.msn.com/galleries/photos/photos.aspx?gid=106

Greenland's Mysterious Holes Speed Ice Flow to Sea

Greenland's Mysterious Holes Speed Ice Flow to Sea

Excerpt:
"If the Greenland ice cap were to melt tomorrow, the sea level around the world would rise by more than 20 feet.

The good news is that Greenland isn't going to melt in a flash. The bad news is that Greenland is slowly starting to release its water into the ocean in response to rising air temperatures."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17463283&ft=1&f=1025

Photos Document Coral Forest Annihilation

Photos Document Coral Forest Annihilation

Excerpt:
"By the late 1990s, it was clear that the reefs had been badly damaged by the trawlers. But nobody knew what the damage looked like or what exactly had been lost. Then, in 2001, Reed climbed into a tiny submarine, went back to the spots where he had helped take all those pictures in the '70s and took a second set of photos. Then he hauled the "before" and "after" pictures into his lab.

Reed spent a good part of the next several years putting before and after photos under a microscope, trying to figure out exactly how many corals had been lost since the 1970s.

"And what I saw devastated me," he says. "Instead of 60-foot reefs, I saw 60-foot mounds of rubble. Nearly every coral reef had been crushed to little pieces the size of his finger."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17102434&ft=1&f=1025

Ancient Flood Disrupted Ocean Circulation And Triggered Climate Cooling

Ancient Flood Disrupted Ocean Circulation And Triggered Climate Cooling

Excerpt:
"As the giant North American ice sheets melted an enormous pool of freshwater, many times larger than all of the Great Lakes, formed behind them. About 8400 years ago this pool of freshwater burst free and flooded the North Atlantic. About the same time, a sharp century long cold spell is observed around the North Atlantic and other areas. Researchers have often speculated that the cooling was the result of changes in ocean circulation triggered by this freshwater flood. The sudden addition of so much freshwater would have curtailed (suppressed) the sinking of deep water in the North Atlantic and as a consequence less warm water would be pulled north in the Gulf stream."

VentureBeat - Australian company develops clean water technology

VentureBeat - Australian company develops clean water technology

Excerpt:
"Australian company Ioteq has revealed a new technology that it says will sanitize water with one of the most environmentally responsible systems around.

The technology, called Isan, and revealed at last week’s AlwaysOn Venture Summit in Monterey, Calif., uses iodine instead of chlorine to clean water. Since iodine is less corrosive than the commonly used chlorine filtration process, it’s more environmentally friendly.
http://venturebeat.com/2007/12/11/australian-company-develops-clean-water-technology/

Navigating the Pacific's 'Garbage Patch'

Navigating the Pacific's 'Garbage Patch'

Global Warming and "The Mysterious Receding Seas' -

Global Warming and "The Mysterious Receding Seas' -

Pint-size hydro power on tap

Pint-size hydro power on tap

Growing More Rice With Less Water

Growing More Rice With Less Water

Atlanta's water problems and the blame game

Atlanta's water problems and the blame game

Lake Superior in the Midst of a Drought

Lake Superior in the Midst of a Drought

Acid Oceans From Carbon Dioxide Will Endanger One Third Of Marine Life, Scientists Predict

Acid Oceans From Carbon Dioxide Will Endanger One Third Of Marine Life, Scientists Predict

Giant Wave Experiment Reveals Poorly Understood Behavior Of Tsunamis

Giant Wave Experiment Reveals Poorly Understood Behavior Of Tsunamis

Why Is The Ocean Salty?

Why Is The Ocean Salty?

Reading Past Climates From Ice Cores

Reading Past Climates From Ice Cores

NC Governor urges water conservation

NC Governor urges water conservation