Thirst In Brazil As A Mega City Runs Dry

I am writing by candle light. The aching in my hand and the irregular handwriting reminds me that it’s been a long time since I wrote on paper and not a keyboard. The power cut has already lasted more than eight hours and I fear that the combination of events and outcome of what we are going through might be a foreshadowing of what’s soon to come around the world.
It started with an irony, that may well be the perfect metaphor: the largest city in a country that holds 20 percent of Earth’s fresh water supply ends up without any. A combination of climate change, years of deforestation, privatization and a badly managed and corrupt political system have come together in a perfect storm to throw my city into one of its darkest crises ever. We now face a reality of four days without water and two with. We might as well call it what it is: a total collapse.
Imagine a megacity like São Paulo as schools are forced to close, hospitals run out of resources, diseases spread, businesses shut down, the economy nose dives. Imagine the riots, the looting … what the police force, infamously known as one of the most violent in the world, will do as this dystopian scenario engulfs us. One of the great modern, rising capital cities of the world suddenly falls apart.
We brought this on ourselves. We buried our rivers under concrete, we polluted the reservoirs, chopped down trees, erased the local biome to grow sugar cane, soy and corn to fuel our vehicles, feed our appetites, our extravagant lifestyles.
I read the IPCC reports warning us of catastrophe. I watched the documentaries exposing corporations’ hidden agendas … the YouTube videos showing polluted oceans, overfishing, extracting, fracking and burning. I knew all this. And how markets march “forward” no matter what. How leaders pose for group shots with those golden pledges they never deliver … and how we, the People, march demanding change.
This is personal … it’s about everything I love. And you have no idea how terrifying it is. It’s the kind of fear that you have no control over, that makes you grind your teeth at night while you sleep. There’s no language to describe this feeling of dread. No way to fix it. No time to fix it. This is the future that science warned us about. The new normal. And the truth is, I never realized it could happen so fast and that my friends, family and I would be forced to live through it, suffer like this.
The battery on my phone is almost dead. The power has been out for 16 hours now. Still no water.
I scroll the photos I took last month on our trip to NYC.
My wife comes to me and in a low voice asks what we are going to do. “I don’t know,” I reply.
What will 22 million people do in the dark?

— Pedro Inoue

Adbuster 

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Climate change may increase risk of water shortages in hundreds of US counties by 2050

More than 1 in 3 counties in the United States could face a "high" or "extreme" risk of water shortages due to climate change by the middle of the 21st century, according to a new study in ACS's Journal of Environmental Science and Technology.
The new report concluded that 7 in 10 of the more than 3,100 U.S. counties could face "some" risk of shortages of fresh water for drinking, farming and other uses. It includes maps that identify the counties at risk of shortages.
In the analysis, Sujoy B. Roy, Ph.D., and colleagues explain that population growth is expected to increase the demand for water for municipal use and for electricity generation beyond existing levels.
Global climate change threatens to reduce water supplies due to decreased rainfall and other factors compared to levels in the 20th century.
Roy's group developed a "water supply sustainability risk index" that takes into account water withdrawal, projected growth, susceptibility to drought, projected climate change and other factors in individual U.S. counties for the year 2050.
It takes into account renewable water supply through precipitation using the most recent downscaled climate change projections and estimates future withdrawals for various human uses.
Roy's team used the index to conclude that climate change could foster an "extreme" risk of water shortages that may develop in 412 counties in southern and southwestern states and in southern Great Plains states.
"This is not intended as a prediction that water shortages will occur, but rather where they are more likely to occur, and where there might be greater pressure on public officials and water users to better characterize, and creatively manage demand and supply," Roy said.

Source: Terra Daily

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25 Signs That A Horrific Global Water Crisis Is Coming

Every single day, we are getting closer to a horrific global water crisis.  This world was blessed with an awesome amount of fresh water, but because of our foolishness it is rapidly disappearing.  Rivers, lakes and major underground aquifers all over the globe are drying up, and many of the fresh water sources that we still have available are so incredibly polluted that we simply cannot use them anymore.  Without fresh water, we simply cannot function.  Just imagine what would happen if the water got cut off in your house and you were not able to go out and buy any.  Just think about it.  How long would you be able to last?  Well, as sources of fresh water all over the globe dry up, we are seeing drought conditions spread.  We are starting to see massive "dust storms" in areas where we have never seem them before.  Every single year, most of the major deserts around the world are getting bigger and the amount of usable agricultural land in most areas is becoming smaller.  Whether you are aware of this or not, the truth is that we are rapidly approaching a breaking point.

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Water map shows billions at risk of 'water insecurity'

About 80% of the world's population lives in areas where the fresh water supply is not secure, according to a new global analysis.

Researchers compiled a composite index of "water threats" that includes issues such as scarcity and pollution.
The most severe threat category encompasses 3.4 billion people.
Writing in the journal Nature, they say that in western countries, conserving water for people through reservoirs and dams works for people, but not nature.
They urge developing countries not to follow the same path.

Instead, they say governments should to invest in water management strategies that combine infrastructure with "natural" options such as safeguarding watersheds, wetlands and flood plains.

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UN: Gaza’s water supply in danger of collapse

The Gaza Strip’s underground water system is in serious danger of collapse after recent conflict compounded years of overuse and contamination, a report released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today warns. The UNEP report on the environmental condition of Gaza following Israel’s military operation in the region in late 2008 calls for the aquifer – supplying 1.5 million Palestinians with agricultural and drinking water – to be “rested” and alternative sources to be found.
“Unless the trend is reversed now, damage could take centuries to reverse,” said the environmental assessment report, which follows the hostilities in Gaza in December 2008 and January this year.
“Since the aquifer is a continuum with Egypt and Israel, any such action must be coordinated with these countries,” it stressed.

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World's major rivers 'drying up'

Water levels in some of the world's most important rivers have declined significantly over the past 50 years, US researchers say.

They say the reduced flows are linked to climate change and will have a major impact as the human population grows.
The only area with a significant increase in water flows was the Arctic due to a greater snow and ice melting.
The study was published in the American Meteorological Society's (AMS) Journal of Climate.

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Los Angeles Eyes Sewage as a Source of Water

LOS ANGELES — Faced with a persistent drought and the threat of tighter water supplies, Los Angeles plans to begin using heavily cleansed sewage to increase drinking water supplies, joining a growing number of cities considering similar measures.

Mayor ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, who opposed such a plan a decade ago over safety concerns, announced the proposal on Thursday as part of a package of initiatives to put the city, the nation’s second largest, on a stricter water budget. The other plans include increasing fines for watering lawns during restricted times, tapping into and cleaning more groundwater, and encouraging businesses and residents to use more efficient sprinklers and plumbing fixtures.

The move comes as California braces for the possibility of the most severe water shortages in decades.

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Melting mountains a "time bomb" for water shortages

VIENNA, April 15 (Reuters) - Glaciers and mountain snow are melting earlier in the year than usual, meaning the water has already gone when millions of people need it during the summer when rainfall is lower, scientists warned on Monday.

"This is just a time bomb," said hydrologist Carmen de Jong at a meeting of geoscientists in Vienna.

Those areas most at risk from a lack of water for drinking and agriculture include parts of the Middle East, southern Africa, the United States, South America and the Mediterranean.

Rising global temperatures mean the melt water is occurring earlier and faster in the year and the mountains may no longer be able to provide a vital stop gap.

"In some areas where the glaciers are small they could be gone in 30 or 50 years time and a very reliable source of water, especially for the summer months, may be gone."

De Jong was referring to parts of the Mediterranean where her research is focussed but she said this threat also applies to the entire Alps region and other global mountain sources.

Daniel Viviroli, from the University of Berne, believes nearly 40 percent of mountainous regions could be at risk, as they provide water to populations which cannot get it elsewhere.

He says the earth's sub-tropic zones, which are home to 70 percent of the world's population, are the most vulnerable.

And with the global population expected to expand rapidly, there may not always be enough water to drink, let alone to water crops, which use about 70 percent of melt-water.

Global Meltdown Seen From Space

Environmental monitoring satellites track warming by watching polar ice.

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Water shortage looms in Israel after prolonged drought

Israel

JERUSALEM: Israel is suffering its greatest drought in the past decade and will have to stop pumping from one of its main drinking water sources by the end of the summer, an official said Wednesday.

Water Authority spokesman Uri Schor said when Israel has to stop pumping from the Sea of Galilee — the source of about 40 percent of its drinking water — it will have to step up extraction from already-depleted aquifers, underground water-bearing seams of rock.

"The situation is very, very bad," Schor said. "As we pump more from the aquifers, the quality of the water will go down."

Israel's water problem stems from population growth and an improvement in quality of life that brings a greater desire to water lawns and gardens, Schor said. This winter was the fourth that Israel got less than average rain, with only about 50-60 percent of the average in most areas, he said.

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YEMEN sleepwalking into water nightmare - Yemen's water and environment minister describes a collapse of national water resources so severe it cannot be reversed, only delayed at best. "This is almost inevitable because of the geography and climate of Yemen, coupled with uncontrolled population growth and very low capacity for managing resources." Yemen relies on groundwater, which nature cannot recharge fast enough to keep pace with a population of 22.4 million expanding by more than 3 percent a year. "Amran and Sanaa are probably very close to collapse. Saada in the far north may be next in line. Further south, the basin in Taiz collapsed almost 10 years ago and people have been relying on renewable resources," meaning fresh rainfall as opposed to water stored in the ground. "The deepest wells in Sanaa are now 1,000 metres - you need an oil drilling rig to get that deep - and water levels are dropping 6 to 12 to 20 metres a year." Yemen's water shortage is one of the greatest worldwide, and groundwater reservoirs have been polluted and over-exploited for more than two decades. Yemen was previously envied for its rainfall, terraced fields and irrigation channels.

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5.9 million Chinese short of drinking water

BEIJING, March 1 (AFP)
The number of people facing drinking water shortages in China has more than doubled to 5.9 million because of a severe winter drought, state media reported.

The figures released late Friday jumped from 2.43 million a week earlier, the Xinhua news agency said, citing figures from the State Flood and Drought Relief Headquarters.

A spokesman was quoted saying the situation was due to lingering and severe winter drought.

The number of livestock without sufficient drinking water had jumped to 5.67 million from 1.89 million, and 15.8 million hectares of land (39 million acres) have been affected compared to 2.9 million hectares at the same time last year, it said.

Northeastern parts of the country have been hardest hit by the drought accounting for 60 percent of the drought-hit area, with rainfall in northern China down 70 percent this winter, it added.

Severe water shortages are being felt across China.

Drought has seen parts of the Yangtze river hitting their lowest water levels in at least 140 years, leading to more than 40 ships running aground since October, state media said in January.

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Asian nations face "unprecedented" water crisis

Breaking Earth News
Asia
SINGAPORE, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Developing countries in Asia could face an "unprecedented" water crisis within a decade due to mismanagement of water resources, the Asian Development Bank said in a report on Thursday. The effects of climate change, rapid industrialisation and population growth on water resources could lead to health and social issues that could cost billions of dollars annually, it said. "If the present unsatisfactory trends continue, in one or two decades, Asian developing countries are likely to face and cope with a crisis on water quality management that is unprecedented in human history," Ajit Biswas wrote in the report. The report, entitled "Asian Water Development Outlook", was submitted to the Asia-Pacific Water Forum in Singapore, which will discuss the issue at a summit in Japan next week. The report also comes before a U.N. meeting in Indonesia next week to discuss a successor to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.

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Water runs dry in rural Tennessee town

Breaking Earth News
Tennessee, USA
ORME, Tenn., Nov 21 (Reuters) - A small town tucked away in the mountains of southern Tennessee is getting by on just a few hours of water a day because its spring has run dry in the drought sweeping the U.S. Southeast. The worst drought to hit the region in decades prompted Georgia to impose water-use restrictions including a ban on outdoor residential watering. It has also sparked a political battle between Georgia, Alabama and Florida over how to share water from north Georgia's Lake Lanier, which serves cities such as Atlanta as well as industries and a nuclear power plant.

But rural Orme with its population of just 140 people has become a symbol of the drought because few other places appear to have been so directly hit. Each evening, residents wait for Mayor Tony Reames to make the short drive from his home where he keeps chickens up to a water tower on a wooded hill above the town to open a valve. When the water is flowing families can fill buckets and water jars, do laundry, take showers and wash dishes before the faucets run dry and they wait for the next evening.

Resident Julie Hoover described Orme as a "hideaway" and a "piece of heaven" because it was safe and everyone knew each other but she said the water shortage had created serious problems. "People don't like change and they don't like losing their water," said Hoover, who started filling up buckets with water draining from an air-conditioner to get water to flush toilets when the spring ran dry in August.

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Suburban Murder Over Water Shocks Australia

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: Drought-stricken Australia has been shocked by the killing of a pensioner in an argument over suburban water restrictions as he hosed his lawn.

A 36-year-old man, Todd Munter of the south Sydney suburb of Sylvania, appeared in court Thursday (November 1st) on a charge of murdering Kenneth Proctor, 66, who lived in the same suburb.

Police allege an argument about water restrictions erupted as Munter walked past Proctor's home on Wednesday (October 31st) afternoon and the pensioner turned the hose on the younger man, soaking him with water.

Munter is then alleged to have punched Proctor in the head and knocked him to the ground before kicking him. The older man suffered a massive heart attack and died a short time later in hospital.

The restrictions, enforced as the country suffers the worst drought in living memory, allow residents to water their lawns and gardens with hand-held hoses before 10.00am and after 4.00pm on Wednesdays and Sundays.

The water restrictions are highly publicised, with members of the public encouraged to report neighbours who break the rules and council rangers patrolling streets in Sydney with the power to levy on-the-spot fines.

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Much of U.S. Could See a Water Shortage

EARTH NEWS ALERT
USA
(AP) -- An epic drought in Georgia threatens the water supply for millions. Florida doesn't have nearly enough water for its expected population boom. The Great Lakes are shrinking. Upstate New York's reservoirs have dropped to record lows. And in the West, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is melting faster each year.

Across America, the picture is critically clear - the nation's freshwater supplies can no longer quench its thirst.

The government projects that at least 36 states will face water shortages within five years because of a combination of rising temperatures, drought, population growth, urban sprawl, waste and excess.

"Is it a crisis? If we don't do some decent water planning, it could be," said Jack Hoffbuhr, executive director of the Denver-based American Water Works Association.

Water managers will need to take bold steps to keep taps flowing, including conservation, recycling, desalination and stricter controls on development.

"We've hit a remarkable moment," said Barry Nelson, a senior policy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The last century was the century of water engineering. The next century is going to have to be the century of water efficiency."


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Serious water shortage in Turkey

Turkey
Ankara, Turkey's capital and home to more than 4.5 million people, has been in the grips of a serious water shortage for the last three weeks. On August 1, the director general of the State Hydraulic Works announced that Ankara had enough water for just 78 days and that the water level in the city’s reservoirs had fallen to 5.5 percent of capacity, down from last year’s 23 percent. At the time of writing, the level in the reservoirs is a meagre 3.5 percent of capacity, which corresponds to a water supply of fewer than two months. “Temperatures all across Turkey will be two to four degrees higher than average in the period between August and October.” This means that evaporation of existing water stocks will continue unabated. Although not as acute as Ankara's, Istanbul has also a water shortage problem. In general, Turkey has been experiencing a dramatic decline in the level of its fresh-water supply. The newspapers are full of pictures of arid, cracked soil, accompanied by gloomy reports of the drying up of a river, lake or reservoir. Water shortages have already taken their toll on agricultural production across the country. The media is full of reports about water shortages adversely affecting the production of wheat, olives and olive oil, figs, grapes, sunflowers and sunflower oil, and cotton. As a result, food prices may increase substantially in the near future. The water shortages are also affecting the generation of electricity in the country. A massive water shortage is expected to hit Turkey after 2050.

WATER SHORTAGE ACROSS THE GLOBE

EGYPT - Egyptians have begun mass demonstrations, demanding that the Cairo government intervene to end their critical drinking water shortage. In some areas in Cairo drinking water has been cut off for over a week and even over a month in one particular vicinity. The shortage threatens to ruin over 404 hectares (1,000 acres) of farmland.

GREECE - Water shortages have hit much of Greece, particularly the Aegean islands, at the height of the summer tourist season.

BULGARIA - There is a water shortage in about 600 small towns and villages in Bulgaria. If the dry weather continues, incidents of water shortage may reach 800.

PHILIPPINES - Extracting water from the atmosphere won't produce substantial supply to address the water shortage in Metro Cebu. Harvesting water from the atmosphere is already being practiced by other tropical countries, but the technique has not produced enough water supply.

KENYA - An acute water shortage has hit Mombasa town and its environs in the past two weeks.

AUSTRALIA - Following 10 years of drought nearly every Australian city will be forced to find new water supplies during the next decade.

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Earth facing ever-growing water shortage

Photo: Canadian Pakistan Sind Technician and local farmer test the quality of water from a new artesian well.

TORONTO -- Some of the world's most powerful nations are getting increasingly desperate for fresh water and observers are concerned that a day will come when countries will fight for the dwindling resource.
Countries in the Middle East and Africa have long dealt with water shortages but now the likes of China, India and the United States are grappling with the problem.
And the United Nations says five billion people will be living in areas with limited water availability by 2025, which will only exacerbate tensions and demand for the limited supply.
Water management has been pushed to the top of the political agenda in some countries and military leaders are now being drawn into long-term planning to help strategize how governments will face their dry futures.
Climate change and subsequent consequences like water scarcity present a serious threat to national security, said a panel of 11 retired three-star and four-star American admirals and generals in a recent report for the CNA Corp., a non-profit organization.
While it's not yet expected that water will be the sole cause of a war, the report suggests a fight over natural resources could be the final straw that pushes countries into conflict.

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Drought Leaves over 1Million Short of Drinking Water

China

June 20, 2007

The worst summer drought to hit Northeast China's Liaoning Province in 30 years has left more than one million people short of drinking water, the provincial government has said.

Nearly all its 14 cities have been affected by the drought, though the situation is more serious in the northwestern and central-southern parts of the province where 88 small and medium-sized reservoirs have dried up, the provincial flood prevention and drought control headquarters said yesterday.

The drought has affected 1.27 million people, 473,800 head of cattle and 1.4 million hectares of cropland, it said.

The government has managed to transport water from humid areas in the eastern part of the province, but so far only 88,500 of the affected population have gained access to water ferried in by water wagons.

The provincial government has sent more than 500,000 workers to fight the drought, by digging extra wells and sending water wagons to the worst-hit areas. 20, 2007

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The case of the disappearing Great Lake

A sandbar rises above water level in a channel between the coal loading dock and grain elevators along St. Louis Bay in Superior, Wis. Lake Superior has 3 quadrillion gallons of water -- enough to submerge North and South America in a foot of water. By Julia Cheng, AP

Skywatch-Media Special Report


Michigan, USA

June 14, 2007

Lake Superior, the world's largest freshwater lake, has DROPPED TO ITS LOWEST LEVEL IN 81 YEARS. The water is 20 inches below average and a foot lower than just a year ago. The dropping levels have had serious environmental and economic consequences. Wetlands have dried up. Power plants run at half capacity. Cargo ships carry partial loads. Boaters struggle to find a place to dock. The changes can be seen all along the 2,800-mile shore of Lake Superior, the coldest and deepest of the Great Lakes. The water has receded, sometimes 50 feet or more, from its normal shoreline. Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are at low levels, as well, although not quite as extreme. The average water temperature of Lake Superior has risen 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit since 1979. The Edison Sault Electric power plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, will operate at less than 50% capacity this year because its water flows have been slashed as a result of the low lake levels. That pushed the company to buy high-cost power elsewhere and increase rates. Large beds of wild rice that grow in the wetlands have gone dry. Everyone is waiting for the water to rise. "It seemed normal last October. Then it dropped and never came back."

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Arab States to Face Acute Water Shortage

(MENAFN - Arab News) DUBAI, 24 May 2007 — Arab states would face a water deficit of 100 to 133 billion cubic meters per year by 2030 and it is going to be the biggest economic, social and environmental challenge facing the Arab nations, warned Dr. Saeed Al-Kindi, UAE minister of environment and water, while addressing the opening session of a workshop titled "Integrated Water Resources Management" at Dusit Dubai. Photo: Water shortage in Damascus

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NIGERIA - Acute water shortage has hit most parts of Kano state in the last four days with youths and the aged seen on the streets of Kano searching for water. Water vendors have raised the cost of a jerry can by over 400% from N20 per can to about N80 in places where the water could be found. The situation is coming at the worst time, when many wells have dried up due to the biting dry season. The scarcity arose from burst pipes due to excessive pressure they experienced during pumping. New pumping machines acquired and currently in use were too powerful for the pipes, thereby causing damage to the two major pipelines used for water distribution.

BARBADOS - Water shortage woes afflicting residents of St. Thomas are also tapping into businesses in that parish and surrounding areas. "The very dry spell and heavy demand have resulted in severe shortages being experienced at the three sources which feed this reservoir – Warleigh, Lodge Hill and Applewaites. There is definitely evidence of dropping water levels at some well sources." It also listed water outages to Welches, Redman's Village, Bagatelle, Arthur Seat, Sharon, Cane Garden, Melrose, Edgehill Heights and surrounding areas because of an empty Shop Hill Reservoir. Water levels were also low at the Lodge Hill, Golden Ridge and Castle Grant reservoirs. The affected reservoirs will require some time for water levels to rise and resume normal service to the affected areas.

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Water shortage looms large over Asia

Washington, June 08:

At a time when the Bush administration is coming under a lot of criticism at home and abroad for its policies on global warming and climate change a new State Department Report has warned that Asia is heading for fresh water crisis due to the melting of the glaciers in the Himalayas. Himalayas are sources of fresh water supplies to major rivers of Asia. The report submitted to the Congress said that reduced fresh water availability in Asia could affect more than one billion people by the mid-century. It has focussed on safe water and sanitation strategy in developing countries. "Increased floods and changes in coastal water temperatures could result in greater morbidity and mortality due to diarrhoeal disease" the report has further warned. The point made by the State department report is that globally by 2020 between 75 and 250 million people are expected to be under "water stress" due to long-term climate shifts and population growth.

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