12 Water – Page 14 – Public Intelligence Blog

Lebanon faces water crisis after record winter drought contains grim details about water supplies in Lebanon.

Lebanon’s meteorological service says the country has had just 431 mm (17 inches) of precipitation since September, less than half last year’s 905.8 mm and far below the yearly average of 812 mm.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR warned in February that the presence of more than a million Syrian refugees alongside four million Lebanese would seriously deplete the country’s renewable water resources.

What does half the normal rain and a 25% population increase due to refugees mean in a country that remains stable only due to a delicate balancing act among the various ethnic and sectarian groups?

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2014/04/182014/04/18

BREAKING: Hold on Keystone – Fracking Next?

05 Energy, 06 Family, 07 Health, 11 Society, 12 Water, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Commerce, Corruption, Earth Intelligence, Ethics, Government

2.5 million outraged public comments and one honest state (Nebraska) — the Administration is, for the very first time, feeling the weight of collective intelligence both individual and state. Is fracking next?

US Puts off Decision on Keystone XL Pipeline

The Obama administration is putting off its decision on the Keystone XL oil pipeline, likely until after the November elections, by extending its review of the controversial project indefinitely.

In a surprise announcement Friday as Washington was winding down for Easter, the State Department said federal agencies will have more time to weigh in on the politically fraught decision — but declined to say how much longer. Officials said the decision will have to wait for the dust to settle in Nebraska, where a judge in February overturned a state law that allowed the pipeline's path through the state.

State Department Indefinitely Delays Keystone XL Pipeline Decision

“In addition, during this time we will review and appropriately consider the unprecedented number of new public comments, approximately 2.5 million, received during the public comment period that closed on March 7, 2014,” the State Department said.

Continue reading “BREAKING: Hold on Keystone – Fracking Next?”

2014/03/292014/03/29

Sepp Hasslberger: Giant Basket Gathers Drinking Water from Dry Atmosphere

12 Water

Great design and great technology … water from the air!

A Giant Basket That Uses Condensation to Gather Drinking Water

Around the world, 768 million people don’t have access to safe water, and every day 1,400 children under the age of five die from water-based diseases. Designer Arturo Vittori believes the solution to this catastrophe lies not in high technology, but in sculptures that look like giant-sized objects from the pages of a Pier 1 catalog.

His stunning water towers stand nearly 30 feet tall and can collect over 25 gallons of potable water per day by harvesting atmospheric water vapor. Called WarkaWater towers, each pillar is comprised of two sections: a semi-rigid exoskeleton built by tying stalks of juncus or bamboo together and an internal plastic mesh, reminiscent of the bags oranges come in. The nylon and polypropylene fibers act as a scaffold for condensation, and as the droplets of dew form, they follow the mesh into a basin at the base of the structure.

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See Also:

Water @ Phi Beta Iota

2014/03/192014/03/19

Eagle: Food Costs Soar – Revolution in the Air

01 Agriculture, 03 Economy, 12 Water, Commerce, Corruption, Government, Ineptitude

300 Million Talons... — 300 Million Talons…

Food Costs Soar Following Severe Worldwide Drought

Food prices are expected to see their biggest annual increase in the past three years thanks mostly to devastating drought conditions all over the world. Dry conditions mean poor crop production; poor crop production means fewer livestock; and fewer livestock means higher prices for meats and dairy at the grocery store. That plus a pinch on products like cocoa, sugar, wheat, rice and especially coffee have the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicting a big bump in food costs.

Higher meat and dairy prices are mostly the culprits in the United States, thanks in part to ongoing drought conditions in the Midwest and Great Plains that have forced ranchers to cull their herds rather than pay exorbitant prices to feed the animals. Inflation of corn and soybean products could be managed if farmers receive favorable conditions for their crops this summer, in turn driving down prices of animal feed as well as products for human consumption. Still, consumers could pay as much as $1 more per gallon for milk at the store to compensate for low supplies mixed with high demand.

Continue reading “Eagle: Food Costs Soar – Revolution in the Air”

2014/03/042014/03/04

Sepp Hasslberger: Water Purification Disc

01 Poverty, 07 Health, 12 Water

We need technology that makes the lives of the poor easier – got enough high tech gadgets. Here's a decidedly smart but low tech way of doing water purification…

Students Invent Water Purification Disc That Could Revolutionize Clean Water Access – Video 3min

From higherperspective.com – March 3, 1:37 PM

2014/02/22

SchwartzReport: California Exports Virtual Water to China While Killing Less Influential Farmers

03 Economy, 12 Water

Water is destiny. Here is a view of water you may not have considered. It gets virtually no coverage in the U.S.

California Drought: Why Farmers Are ‘Exporting Water' to China
ALASTAIR LEITHEAD – BBC News (U.K.)

Phi Beta Iota: “Virtual water” is a vital aspect of true cost economics as pioneered by Herman Daly. Governments that do not do true cost economics are in constant betrayal of the public trust.

2014/02/14

SchwartzReport: Mass Media Ignores Coal Industry Atrocities — Another West Virginia Water Poisoning

03 Environmental Degradation, 07 Health, 07 Other Atrocities, 12 Water, Commerce, Corruption, Government

I find it very telling that corporate media gives so little coverage to the ecological disasters that seem to be coming one a week. Did you even know this one had happened? We are destroying the environment and our own health and, it is virtually a secret.

Yet Another Coal Industry Spill Is Destroying West Virginia’s Water
LINDSAY ABRAMS – Salon

Category: 12 Water

Neal Rauhauser: Lebanon’s Record Drought