Hotspots H2o

Your "need to know" news of the world's water, from Circle of Blue. This week: river pollution in South Africa, floods in China, a flood risk study in the US, and an Israel-Jordan water agreement.

Ottawa, Illinois learned how to keep its residents out of harms way. But on the river’s edge, safety has often required sacrifice.

Your "need to know" news of the world's water from Circle of Blue. Stories this week: UN Human Rights Office report on water access in Israel and Palestine, and drinking water contamination problems in two Great Lakes communities. Plus a CoB feature on an Illinois town's actions to reduce flood risk.

Your "need to know" news of the world's water from Circle of Blue. Stories this week on effects of wildfire on water supplies in the American West, U.S. flood insurance premiums are going up, and UN researchers develop a global flood risk map. Plus a CoB feature on Michigan irrigation.

A new narrative about water and irrigation is becoming more significant in Michigan as the century progresses, and water scarcity worsens across much of the rest of the nation. As abundant fresh water and temperate climate become more attractive to out-of-state farm companies, Michigan is experiencing its own early confrontations over water supply and scarcity.

Your "need to know" news of the world's water from Circle of Blue. Stories this week: the effects of wildfire on water supplies in the American West, U.S. flood insurance premiums are going up, and UN researchers develop a global flood risk map. Plus a CoB feature on Michigan irrigation.

Circle of Blue reports on key water questions ahead of a crucial UN climate conference.

Your "need to know" news of the world's water from Circle of Blue. This week's stories: arsenic from groundwater contaminating the food supply in an Indian state, state data shows little residential water conservation in California, and thousands are sickened after a toxic wastewater spill from an Angolan diamond mine. Plus a CoB feature on water's role in reducing carbon emissions.

This is an excerpt of the September 20, 2021 episode of What's Up With Water. When diplomats and government ministers converge on Glasgow this fall, they hope to rekindle pivotal negotiations on global climate that were dampened during the pandemic. They will confront a world much altered since their last convention. As Covid-19 continues to rampage globally, it has underscored the the contrast between the resources available to the rich and to the poor when dealing with environmental stressors. But further, floods in Germany’s Ahr Valley and wildfires in Greece and the American West prove that no country, rich or poor, is immune to the terrors of a fevered planet, with calamities that were summarized in a recent climate science report from the United Nations. That report, in the technical language of probabilities and scenarios, emphasized the urgency of the moment. It stressed the need to reduce the release of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, and to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Your "need to know" news of the world's water from Circle of Blue. This week: a First Nations reserve in Canada gets clean drinking water, environmental activist murders set a new high in 2020, and an NPR investigation finds a federal agency that provides low-income housing is disproportionately selling homes in flood-prone areas. Plus, a CoB feature on on how water fits into the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference.

Your "need to know" news of the world's water from Circle of Blue. This week: supply chain problems for water treatment chemicals, more of India's poorest households are getting piped water, and editors of medical journals issue a warning about climate change's threat to public health. Plus: a CoB feature on policing water use in California.

This is an excerpt of the August 30, 2021 episode of What's Up With Water. After a year of extreme weather, people in the drylands of northern California and the hurricane-drenched bayous of southern Louisiana are brooding on the same question: should they leave? New global research suggests that one of these two “water shock” scenarios is more likely to result in migration. World Bank researchers found that people are five times as likely to move following drought conditions as they are after floods or periods of excess water. The finding is part of a report on water and migration released last week during World Water Week, an annual conference. The report details the nuanced relationship between changes in water availability and the movement of people.

Your "need to know" news of the world's water from Circle of Blue. Stories this week on Egypt's desalination ambitions, research into the cause of devastating floods in Germany last month, and a potential nuclear waste site near Lake Huron. Plus a CoB feature on the World Bank's migration report.

This is an excerpt of the August 23, 2021 episode of What's Up With Water. The implications of the drying American Southwest and the limits to the region’s water supply are increasingly apparent. The federal government marked the changing conditions recently, declaring a Tier 1 shortage for the lower Colorado River basin. The shortage declaration will force Arizona and Nevada, as well as Mexico to further reduce their withdrawals from the river in 2022. California, the other lower basin state, is not affected. The declaration also sets the stage for more drastic measures in the near future since Lake Mead is projected to fall another 30 feet over the next two years. Mead and Powell, the basin’s largest reservoirs, are the lowest they have been since they were first filled.

Your "need to know" news of the world's water from Circle of Blue. Stories this week on Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, the unusual way the pandemic is affecting water availability in Orlando, and water pollution from the fashion industry in Africa. This week's CoB feature is on cuts to Colorado River water.

This is an excerpt of the August 16, 2021 episode of What's Up With Water. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of the world’s leading climate scientists, has released its sixth assessment report. The 1,300-page paper is the most comprehensive, up-to-date survey of the physical science of climate change. It synthesizes the findings of thousands of recent publications. The report paints an alarming picture of the future of fresh water. It concludes that man-made contributions to a warming planet are far-reaching.

Your "need to know" news of the world's water, from Circle of Blue. Stories this week on a broadband-water pipe collaboration in the UK, dry wells in the US, and a massive ice melt in Greenland. Plus a CoB feature on the IPCC report.

Your "need to know" news of the world's water from Circle of Blue. Stories this week on people moving into flood zones, the Canadian government's settlement with First Nations over clean water funding, and drought update in California. Plus a CoB exclusive on waste-to-energy technology.

Your "need to know" news of the world's water from Circle of Blue. This week: deadly protests in Iran, low water in Argentina's Parana River restricts farm exports, Saudi Arabia suspends selling a stake in the world's largest desalination plant, and Lake Powell hits a record low.

This is an excerpt from Circle of Blue's July 12, 2021 episode of What's Up With Water. The acceleration of disaster is repeating worldwide, in part because vulnerable people and developments are moving into terrain that is hazardous.  Landslides in the unstable Himalaya mountains in recent years have demolished newly built hydropower stations and killed hundreds. Over 200 were dead or missing this February from the Chamoli disaster there.  But the acceleration is also occurring because a supercharged climate is churning up more powerful hurricanes, more punishing droughts, more oppressive heat waves, and altogether more environmental and water-related risk. António Guterres, the United Nations secretary general, emphasized that point last week at a special UN session on water and disasters. He said “Last year, cyclones lashed the shores of many countries that were already grappling with serious liquidity crises and debt burdens, made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic.” The scenario that Guterres described —