| First this: World Water Monitoring Day has started last Thursday and will last till October 18th.
Please stop buying bottled water! You know why. If you don't, see the pic at the end of this diary.
Spain "to fight desertification" with 45m trees:
The Spanish Government says it will plant 45 million trees over the next four years to counter desertification caused by global warming. The massive tree-planting scheme aims to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, the cause of global warming. Source
At least 46 million Americans exposed to meds in drinking water:
United States - An Associated Press story earlier this year about trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in U.S. drinking water not only prompted Congressional and local legislative hearings but led officials in at least 27 metropolitan areas to analyze their drinking water. Source
Nitrate concentrations of ground water increasing in many areas of the United States:
United States - Since the 1940s, the use of synthetic fertilizers has steadily increased in the United States, raising the potential for increased nitrate contamination of the nation's groundwater. Source
U.S. faces era of water scarcity:
Just as diminishing supplies of oil and natural gas are wrenching the economy and producing changes in lifestyles built on the principle of plenty, states and communities across the country are confronting another significant impediment to the American way of life: increased competition for scarce water. Source
Iran battles searing drought across half the country:
Average rainfall is down 68 percent in Fars this year. The situation is so bad that Ayatollah Mohiedin Haeri Shirzai, Friday prayers leader in Shiraz the provincial capital, urged everyone to pray for rain on a certain day in June. Source
Water Contamination - D.C. water authority curtails lead pipe replacement:
Washington - The board of the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority has voted to curtail a multimillion-dollar program to replace all of the water system's lead service pipes. The board says the replacement was expensive and that other measures had reduced lead in the city's water. Some critics say the partial replacements were actually just making the problem worse. Source
Meanwhile in Brazil, deforestation continues unabated:
According to Brazilian Environment Minister Carlos Minc, although deforestation slowed in July, the total area cleared in 2008 may still be greater than in 2007. Source
Water reserves woefully below par:
Greek water reserves are so low that it will take at least ten years of careful management to restore safe levels, said scientists from the Hellenic Committee of Hydrogeology and other experts preparing for a water conference in Athens next week. Source
CSIRO study links climate change, wild weather:
Australia - A report from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), funded by the Australian government, drew a strong correlation between an increase in storms off Australia's southern coastline and monsoon activity in the north. Source
San Diego residents fail to meet water conservation goal:
San Diego - Having called for a 10 percent reduction in water consumption last October, Mayor Jerry Sanders said in a press conference Tuesday that San Diego residents fell short this year. Source
Australia: Scientists float water cuts to save our rivers:
Canberra Times: A group of Australia's leading scientists has called for a 50 per cent cut in water use across the drought-stricken Murray Darling Basin to secure its future. Source
Planet is running out of clean water, new film warns:
One sixth of the world's population does not have access to clean drinking water. More than 2 million people, most of them children, die each year from water-borne diseases. Source
China Taps Emergency Water for "Grim" Beijing:
China's capital started pumping "emergency" water from its long-parched neighbouring province on Thursday, with officials speaking of a "grim" shortfall weeks after the Olympics when they said the city had enough water. Source
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