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Trade-offs between water for food and for curbing climate change

Tue, 2012-09-04 15:45 — Maeryn Obley

submitted by Samuel Bendett

homelandsecuritynewswire.com - September 4th, 2012

Earth’s growing human population needs fresh water for drinking and food production. Fresh water, however, is also needed for the growth of biomass, which acts as a sink of carbon dioxide and thus could help mitigate climate change. Does the Earth have enough freshwater resources to meet these competing demands?

An American Geophysical Union release reports that J. Rockström and colleagues, in their recent study, estimate the order of magnitude of freshwater consumption needed to feed a population of nine billion people by 2050 and the amount of water needed to realize the planet’s full biomass carbon sequestration potential.

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Situation Report

Risk of water wars rises with scarcity

Tue, 2012-09-04 14:35 — Maeryn Obley

aljazeera.com - Chris Arsenault - August 26th, 2012

The author Mark Twain once remarked that "whisky is for drinking; water is for fighting over" and a series of reports from intelligence agencies and research groups indicate the prospect of a water war is becoming increasingly likely.

In March, a report from the office of the US Director of National Intelligence said the risk of conflict would grow as water demand is set to outstrip sustainable current supplies by 40 per cent by 2030.

"These threats are real and they do raise serious national security concerns," Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said after the report's release.

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No Base in Paradise

Tue, 2012-09-04 13:42 — Maeryn Obley

Actor, filmmaker and environmental advocate Robert Redford. (photo: Contour/Getty Images) go to original article

Image: Actor, filmmaker and environmental advocate Robert Redford. (photo: Contour/Getty Images)

readersupportednews.org - Robert Redford - September 3rd, 2012

From September 6-15, some 10,000 environmentalists will converge on Jeju Island to attend the World Conservation Congress (WCC), organized by the oldest environmental organization, the International Union of the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The IUCN's slogan is that it promotes "a just world that values and conserves nature." If recent actions are any indication, nothing could be further from the truth.

The WCC will take place only a few minutes away from Gangjeong, where the construction of a naval base is threatening one of the planet's most spectacular soft coral forests and other coastal treasures, assaulting numerous endangered species and destroying a 400-year-old sustainable community of local farmers and fishers.

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Images: Venezuelan Refinery Under Scrutiny After Deadly Blaze

Tue, 2012-09-04 13:16 — Maeryn Obley

Venezuela's Amuay refinery during the disaster. (Photograph from Nuevo Dia/European Pressphoto Agency)Image: Venezuela's Amuay refinery during the disaster. (Photograph from Nuevo Dia/European Pressphoto Agency)

news.nationalgeographic.com - Brian Handwerk - August 30th, 2012

Fires raged at Venezuela's Amuay refinery after a predawn explosion rocked the facility on August 25 and left at least 42 dead, dozens wounded, and hundreds of homes demolished. The blast was the world's deadliest refinery accident in 15 years.

The catastrophe's exact causes haven't been determined, but Energy Minister Rafael Ramírez, president of the state's oil company Petróoleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), said on Venezuelan television that a gas leak had appeared in a fuel storage tank area and formed a cloud that burst into a ball of flame despite the efforts of workers.

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Antarctic Methane Could Escape, Worsen Warming

Tue, 2012-09-04 13:08 — Maeryn Obley

A cutaway view of Antarctica shows its southern ice sheet. (Map from National Geographic)

Image: A cutaway view of Antarctica shows its southern ice sheet. (Map from National Geographic)

news.nationalgeographic.com - Rob Kunzig - August 31st, 2012

Swamp gas trapped under miles of Antarctic ice, a chemical souvenir of that continent's warmer days, may someday escape to warm the planet again, an international team of researchers report in Nature this week.

The researchers suggest that microbes isolated from the rest of the world since the ice closed over them, some 35 million years ago, have kept busy digesting organic matter and making methane—a much more effective greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

If global warming causes the ice sheets to retreat in the coming decades or centuries, the researchers warn, some of the methane could belch into the atmosphere, amplifying the warming.

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A Simple Solar Oven Makes Salt Water Drinkable

Mon, 2012-09-03 23:36 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Bill Greenberg

      

fastcodesign.com

Designer Gabriele Diamanti developed a fascination with global water scarcity as a graduate student at Milan Polytechnic in 2005; he recently decided to pursue his interest again and the result is Eliodomestico, an open-source variation on a solar still.

It functions by filling the black boiler with salty sea water in the morning, then tightening the cap. As the temperature and pressure grows, steam is forced downwards through a connection pipe and collects in the lid, which acts as a condenser, turning the steam into fresh water.

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Solutions

U.K. - Rapid Response Network Ready if Crises Hit

Sun, 2012-09-02 23:40 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Department for International Development (DFID) - March 7, 2012

Britain is to establish a new rapid response network of top UK-based businesses and charities to provide emergency relief when major international crises hit - such as floods, famines and earthquakes.

The network, called the Rapid Response Facility, will mobilise life-saving support in the critical hours following a humanitarian disaster, Andrew Mitchell said today.

It is the first time a British government has brought together the power of the private sector as well as non-governmental organisations in this way to take part in emergency relief.

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U.K. Plans to Spend $3.16 Million on Sierra Leone Cholera

Sun, 2012-09-02 23:15 — Kathy Gilbeaux

vaccinenewsdaily.com - by Paul Tinder - August 28, 2012

The United Kingdom is activating a $3.16 million emergency plan to stop the cholera epidemic from spreading in the African state of Sierra Leone after more than 200 people have died.

The Department for International Development is using a network called the Rapid Response Facility to deliver sanitation, water and emergency medical assistance to the country. Charities such as the British Red Cross, Care International, Concern, Oxfam, International Rescue Committee and Save the Children are mobilizing as part of the response to the water-borne disease, BBC reports.

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Heinz® Ketchup Inspires More Environmentally Responsible Living This Summer with PlantBottle™ Packaging Promotion

Sat, 2012-09-01 23:27 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Alison Thompson

businesswire.com - July 17, 2012

A new Heinz(R) Ketchup campaign called "Join the Growing Movement" invites consumers to promise to be more environmentally responsible through a mobile application. For each pledge, Heinz will help plant a tree, up to 57,000 trees. (Photo: Business Wire)

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=multimedia_detail&eid=50344063&newsLang=en

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120717006392/en/Heinz%C2%AE-Ketchup-Inspires-Environmentally-Responsible-Living-Summer

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Maldives to build floating islands to save country from rising sea levels

Thu, 2012-08-30 17:47 — Corey Watts

photo courtesy of Troon Golf / Koen Olthuis/Waterstudio.NL

submitted by Samuel Bendett 

www.ibtimes.com - August 20, 2012 - by Mark Johanson

Maybe you've already heard: The Maldives is sinking. So what do you do when your tourist-dependent country is slowly disappearing into the sea? If you're the Maldivian government, you create a series of floating islands that include a hotel and convention center, private villas, yacht club and 18-hole golf course.

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