The Human Imprint

Over 100 die in El Salvador mud slides and floods

BBC News reports on the terrible impact of Hurricane Ida on El Salvador. The video shows so graphically the impact of the storm.

Improvements in rice harvest in Kenya

Check out the video  at the FAO Media Centre.

Water wars in Boliva

Check out this Scientific American video.

European water mission lifts off

BBC News reports that a European satellite is to provide a new insight into how water is cycled around the Earth. "The Smos spacecraft will make the first global maps of the amount of moisture held in soils and of the quantity of salts dissolved in the oceans. The data will have wide uses but should improve weather forecasts and warnings of extreme events, such as floods". Follow the link to read the full article.

Update on Californian water wars

I wrote about the Californian water wars just a few days ago and so I was interested to see the article from the San Fransisco Chronicle that says that a plan has been put together to address the problem. the plan will cost $9.4 million to implement. The article states that:

"Water for 24 million people in California - about two-thirds of the state's population - flows through the delta system, which has a series of levees and canals at great risk of failing in a natural disaster such as an earthquake. The plan has several parts, including the creation of a Delta Stewardship Council that would have broad oversight of the delta and the ability to approve a peripheral canal. It would lead the effort to restore the delta and improve the state's water supply. Additionally, the plan would mandate a 20 percent reduction in urban per capita water use by 2020, though there may be exceptions for cities including San Francisco that have aggressive conservation practices. Also included are groundwater monitoring and increased penalties for illegal water diversion". Follow the link to read the full article.

Californian water wars

This time of year in 2007 I was in California on my Nuffield Scholarship studying water and finding out about the Delta Smelt. I was interested therefore to see this article in The Economist about the continuing battle over water, fish, and who will ultimately control this valuable resource.

China moves 330,000 in water plan

BBC News reports that 330,000 people have been moved to make way for a project to divert water from the south of the country to the north. People in Henan and Hubei provinces are being moved out of the way of a canal from the Yangtze River to Beijing. Follow the link to read the article. 

Move to cut child diarrhoea death

BBC News reports that an international initiative has been launched to reduce the number of children who die from diarrhoea around the world. According to the article, the World Health Organization and UNICEF have said that urgent action is needed to address the problem which an estimated 1.5m children a year.

The primary article in The Lancet states that a seven-point plan has been developed to address the problem by promoting:

• Fluid treatment to prevent dehydration;
• Zinc treatment;
• Rotavirus and measles vaccinations;
• Promotion of breastfeeding and vitamin A supplementation;
• Promotion of handwashing with soap;
• Improved water supply; and a
• Community-wide sanitation programme.

It has been estimated that 88% of diarrhoeal diseases worldwide are attributable to unsafe sources of drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.

 

Lack of Mid-East peace deepens water crisis

BBC News reports that for the past two years Iraq, Syria, Jordan and parts of Turkey and Lebanon, have experienced one of the worst droughts in the Middle East in decades. Check out this article on who water belongs to and the concern there is over the struggle for ownership and use of water.

More floods in the Philippines

BBC News reports that the Philippines has been hit my a second typhoon in as many weeks. At least 160 people have been killed by the latest flooding and landslides triggered by heavy rain in the northern Philippines, officials say. Most of the deaths were in Benguet province, where landslides were reported to have hit several towns. Follow the link to find out more.