Current
watch current
You can watch Current TV online or enjoy it from the comfort of your couch:
- channel 358DIRECTV
- channel 196Dish Network
- channel 107 or 125Comcast
- channel 103 or 142Time Warner
- channel 189AT&T U-Verse
- channel 192Verizon FIOS
JanforGore
Curator - Sustainable Agriculture Channel on Current.... http://current.com/groups/sustainable-agriculture/ Please join to discuss issues pertinent to our environment, health and future. I am also an environmental activist and blogger reporting on the global water crisis and our moral responsibility to be good stewards of Earth, our only home. I believe in sustainability and in protecting the balance of nature that can only be preserved through balance of the human soul.activity // JanforGore
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Millions of sockeye salmon have disappeared mysteriously from a river on Canada's Pacific Coast that was once known as the world's most fertile spawning ground for sockeye. Up to 10.6... more-
- JanforGore
- greenlight given 4 hours ago
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Fifty recently filed lawsuits allege Monsanto and related companies are responsible for causing cancer. Each of the complaints, filed Aug. 3 in Putnam Circuit Court, say Monsanto and its... more-
- JanforGore
- greenlight given 49 minutes ago
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From Dan Jacobson, Environment California and Brian Hurd of Hands on Solar Links to petition above and below: If you live in California and don't know about the organization... more-
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- JanforGore
- greenlight given 1 hour ago
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![11-year-old reporter Damon Weaver interviews President Barack Obama - [video] - video](http://i2.current.com/images/asset/898/779/29/b19635_100x75.jpg)
Student Reporter Damon Weaver had his dream come true when he was invited to the White House to interview with President Obama about education. What a little legend! more-
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- JanforGore
- responded 1 hour ago
Well, if his dream is to be a reporter someday I hope he makes it. Although, hopefully his questions won't be as softball as these were. more19 other responses to this -
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I have to admit that when I read the second story listed here, it got my attention. Here's the snippet: Antitrust Enforcers Begin Visiting Farm Belt Scott Kilman Wall Street Journal,... more-
- JanforGore
- greenlight given 3 hours ago
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A California nonprofit plans to launch a program that aims to make it easier for cities and counties to offer solar financing to their residents. more-
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- JanforGore
- greenlight given 4 hours ago
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In his weekly roundup of the crazy world of 24-hour media madness, Conor Knighton looks at Miley Cyrus' controversial dancing on this year's Teen Choice Awards. This week he also looks... more-
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- JanforGore
- responded 4 hours ago
Wow, tv is crap. more9 other responses to this -
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Remote forest areas may be given a reprieve from the pressures imposed upon them during the Bush Administration. more-
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- JanforGore
- responded 4 hours ago
Yes, because we'll need them to soak up the excess CO2 they will allow the Alberta tar sands to spew out to satisfy our addiction to oil which will no doubt as well... more5 other responses to this -
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Nini Ordoubadi is an Iranian born New Yorker who comes from a long tradition of tea blenders. An artist and interior designer, Nini channels her artistic impulses to create unique tea blends that... more-
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- JanforGore
- greenlight given 4 hours ago
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One of the largest glaciers in Antarctica is thinning four times faster than it was 10 years ago, according to research seen by the BBC. A study of satellite measurements of Pine Island glacier... more-
- THOSE WERE HER HEADLINES AT 18:29 MDST
- Jan had 7,476 entries at that point
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Water Is Life
Water is our most precious resource. Yet it is currently under attack by our waste, pollution, privitization, and the exacerbation of climate change. We must be aware of this and work to preserve and conserve water for future generations. This will be our legacy to our children.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Bottled Water Sucks
From the article:
I knew bottled water was a social ill but I didn't know how damaging it was until I saw an explosive and compelling new documentary called Tapped.
With style, verve and righteous anger, the film exposes the bottled water industry's role in suckering the public, harming our health, accelerating climate change, contributing to overall pollution, and increasing America's dependence on fossil fuels. All while gouging consumers with exorbitant and indefensible prices.
Claire Thompson summed up the problem well in her post on the movie at Grist:
"Not only is it [bottled water] a clear waste of resources (only 20 percent of plastic water bottles used in the United States are recycled, and far too many of the rest probably end up in the Pacific Garbage Patch), it's an incredible waste of money for consumers, who pay more than the price of gasoline for water that's marketed as "pure," but in reality is largely unregulated, full of harmful toxins like BPA, and far less safe for drinking than free tap water. (In fact, 40 percent of the time, bottled water is nothing but municipal tap water, freed from the government oversight that keeps it safe.)"
Watch the movie's powerful trailer.
The film's website lists where you can see the doc in the theater, and offers opportunities for hosting a screening of your own. (So far, it will be screened in a smattering of the coastal cities where you'd expect them to play.)
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It is time to stand up and fight these soulless corporate bastards who are out to steal your water. This film shows that spirit. A spirit we in America desperately need.
Water Is Life.
Saturday, August 01, 2009
Egypt Blocks Nile Water Deal
Egypt Blocks Nile Water Deal
Will this area be a place of 'water wars' as climate change and population increases continue to place strains on water resources? Tensions are already flaring as Egypt claims it needs to have the water it was allotted previously due to the fact that it is the Nile alone that supplies the majority of its water. Whereas other riparian states have other sources of water and receive more rain. Is this a valid claim? Does Egypt not hold any responsibility for the water it uses, its population increases, nor its consumption and irrigation practices? What of the future as we already see many areas getting less rainfall and water evaporation taking place due to changes in climate?
Also, there are many dams built in this area that already decrease available water resources to agricultural areas and which have displaced thousands of people. I find it illogical that based on the predictions of future climate changes for this area, drought, and water usage that is wasteful as well as the many dams being built that cause diversion of water resources and environmental devastation that Egypt or Sudan can continue to give these same excuses for much longer.
More about the Nile Basin Initiative:
Nile Basin Initiative
Friday, July 31, 2009
Rich Nations Vulnerable To Water Disasters
Rich Nations Vulnerable To Water Disasters
Even after all that has happened and is happening globally regarding environmental factors and climate change, Americans are still under the impression that we are not vulnerable to that which now effects the developing world. I think this ignorance is what fuels much of the inaction regarding water issues and climate change in America. It needs to change. Now.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Colorado River Reservoirs Could Bottom Out By Mid-century
Colorado River Reservoirs Could Bottom Out
From article:
All reservoirs along the Colorado River might dry up by mid-century as the West warms, a new study finds. The probability of such a severe shortage by then runs as high as one-in-two, unless current water-management practices change, the researchers report.
The study's coauthors looked at the effects of a range of reductions in Colorado River stream flow on future reservoir levels and at the implications of different management strategies.
Even under the harshest drying caused by climate change, the large storage capacity of reservoirs on the Colorado might help sustain water supply for a few decades. However, new water management approaches are critical to minimize the chances of fully depleting reservoir storage by mid-century.
"This study, along with others that predict future flow reductions in the Colorado River Basin, suggests that water managers should begin to re-think current water management practices during the next few years, before the more serious effects of climate change appear," says lead study author Balaji Rajagopalan of the University of Colorado in Boulder (CU-Boulder).
The findings by Rajagopalan and his colleagues have been accepted by the journal Water Resources Research, published by the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
The Colorado River system is enduring its 10th year of a drought. Fortunately, the river system entered the drought in 2000, with the reservoirs at approximately 95 percent of capacity. The reservoir system is currently at 59 percent of capacity, about the same as this time last year, says Rajagopalan. Roughly 30 million people depend on the Colorado River for drinking and irrigation water.
The research team examined the future vulnerability of the system to water supply variability coupled with projected changes in water demand. They found that through 2026, the risk of fully depleting reservoir storage in any given year remains below 10 percent under any scenario of climate fluctuation or management alternative. During this period, the reservoir storage could even recover from its current low level, according to the researchers.
But if climate change results in a 10 percent reduction in the Colorado River's average stream flow as some recent studies predict, the chances of fully depleting reservoir storage will exceed 25 percent by 2057, according to the study. If climate change results in a 20 percent flow reduction, the chances of fully depleting reservoir storage will exceed one in two by 2057, Rajagopalan says.
"On average, drying caused by climate change would increase the risk of fully depleting reservoir storage by nearly ten times more than the risk we expect from population pressures alone," Rajagopalan says.
"By mid-century this risk translates into a 50 percent chance in any given year of empty reservoirs, an enormous risk and huge water management challenge," he says.
The river hosts more than a dozen dams along its 2,330-kilometer (1,450-mile) journey from Colorado's Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of California.
end of excerpt.
St. Thomas which was a city covered by Lake Mead due to Hoover Dam construction is now exposed due to recession of water levels. To some that may seem like justice because of what was done to St. Thomas originally because of the dam construction, but now this lake which is one of the largest has millions of people dependent on it for water. So now, those in this area who once lost all due to the water coming in may well see that again because of the opposite effect. This is a stark example of what population increases and climate change combined with waste can lead to. It should be a lesson to us all.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Facing The Global Water Crisis In Pictures
Facing The Global Water Crisis In Pictures
The defining moment of the 21st Century will not be securing another planet for us to live on. It will be how we meet this challenge on Earth. Can we get beyond the backbiting to keeping our eye on the prize? Or will our continued political, social, and religious differences keep us from the moral imperative? This is no joke. Water is becoming a scarcer resource for many people around the globe through waste, pollution, climate change, and privitization. By our hand.
Humans cannot live without water. So it should follow logically that if humans cannot live without water and potable freshwater is becoming scarcer that this would certainly be a crisis that is a matter of life and death. And yet, this issue hardly gets the attention it deserves.
Please look at these pictures at the link provided and realize that this is not about what is causing global warming/climate change and the petty political grudges that keep that debate from taking us to the necessary solutions to save this planet for ourselves and future generations. This is about seeing that future and visualizing what you know in your heart it should look like... and then making it happen.
The defining moment of the 21st Century will not be securing another planet for us to live on. It will be how we meet this challenge on Earth. Can we get beyond the backbiting to keeping our eye on the prize? Or will our continued political, social, and religious differences keep us from the moral imperative? This is no joke. Water is becoming a scarcer resource for many people around the globe through waste, pollution, climate change, and privitization. By our hand.
Humans cannot live without water. So it should follow logically that if humans cannot live without water and potable freshwater is becoming scarcer that this would certainly be a crisis that is a matter of life and death. And yet, this issue hardly gets the attention it deserves.
Please look at these pictures at the link provided and realize that this is not about what is causing global warming/climate change and the petty political grudges that keep that debate from taking us to the necessary solutions to save this planet for ourselves and future generations. This is about seeing that future and visualizing what you know in your heart it should look like... and then making it happen.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Australian Town Set For World's First Bottled Water Ban
Australian Town Set For World's First Bottled Water Ban
Yes! Let's keep that going! Bottled water is one of the biggest scams ever perpetrated on the planet! And then we need to start working on plastic bottles in general that waste fuel, create carbon emissions that contribute to climate change, and cause massive plastic garbage swirls as can be found in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
It is time to assess just what we are doing to this planet and realize our potential to change it!
Excerpt:
An Australian town was set to ban bottled water on Wednesday over concerns about its environmental impact, in what is believed to be a world first. Bundanoon, a picturesque rural town with a population of just 2,000, was expected to vote heavily in favour of the move with a show of hands at a public meeting later. "At the moment we've got a lot of community support behind it. We're confident the town is going to back it," said activist John Dee.
"We believe Bundanoon is the world's first town that has got its retailers to ban bottled water. We haven't found it anywhere else." Local opinion was incensed when beverage company Norlex Holdings announced plans to tap an underground reservoir in the town, truck the water up to Sydney and then send it back in bottled form.
"The company has been looking to extract water locally, bottle it in Sydney and bring it back here to sell it again," said Dee. "It made people look at the environmental impact of bottled water and the community has been quite vocal about it."
Dee, whose Do Something group was instrumental in a plastic bags ban in Coles Bay, Tasmania, said he hoped the ban would make people think twice about buying bottled water. "It's possible it will extend to other places. The main idea is to get people thinking about their usage of bottled water -- we're spending about half a billion dollars on it here in Australia," he said.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Water Key Element In Mideast Peace
Water Key Element In Mideast Peace
Excerpt:
'Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel must address the vital issue of water in the West Bank if meaningful peace talks are to take place. Israel's leaders said nothing, but Abbas had touched on one of the most sensitive issues in the seemingly endless negotiations, which have been in abeyance for the last few years, and one on which any expectation of a comprehensive settlement will probably ultimately rest.Israel's unilateral control over rivers and aquifers meant scarce water resources were not being shared equitably "as required by international law," he declared. "It is with dismay that I see 9,000 Israeli settlers in the Jordan Valley utilize one-quarter of the water that the entire Palestinian population in the West Bank utilizes," he told the World War Forum in Istanbul.
In the largely arid Middle East, water is more valuable than oil and has been a source of conflict since time immemorial. As the world's resources, from oil to timber and minerals, dwindle, the prospect of more water wars in the Middle East in the decades ahead increase with each passing day. The crisis is deepened by rapidly expanding populations across the Arab world. This, coupled with industrial growth and a relentless drive for food self-sufficiency, is draining water supplies faster than they can be replenished. Global warming accelerates the damage.
Climate experts warn that one-third of the Earth's surface may be at risk of extreme drought by the end of the century, triggering mass migrations of "environmental refugees." Many of those will be in the Middle East and North Africa. The region has been hit by a severe drought for the last five years, making the water issue all that more critical, aggravating a dispute between the Israelis, whose own water resources are dwindling, and the Palestinians, who sit on a major aquifer under the West Bank that Israel covets as much as its ever-expanding archipelago of settlements.Israel views the water from the West Bank -- as it did the water it siphoned off from the Litani River in Lebanon during its 1978-2000 occupation of that country's southern zone -- as vital to its national security. The Palestinians will not be able to sustain a viable independent state without water.
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How hard is this for Israel or any oher country to understand? Water is the lynchpin to peace.
Large Dead Zone Predicted For Gulf Of Mexico This Summer
Large Dead Zone Predicted For Gulf Of Mexico This Summer
Excerpt:
'A team of NOAA-supported scientists from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Louisiana State University, and the University of Michigan is forecasting that the "dead zone" off the coast of Louisiana and Texas in the Gulf of Mexico this summer could be one of the largest on record.
The dead zone is an area in the Gulf of Mexico where seasonal oxygen levels drop too low to support most life in bottom and near-bottom waters.
Scientists are predicting the area could measure between 7,450 and 8,456 square miles, or an area roughly the size of New Jersey. However, additional flooding of the Mississippi River since May may result in a larger dead zone. The largest one on record occurred in 2002, measuring 8,484 square miles.
Dead zones are caused by nutrient runoff, principally from agricultural activity, which stimulates an overgrowth of algae that sinks, decomposes, and consumes most of the life-giving oxygen supply in the water.
The dead zone size was predicted after researchers observed large amounts of nitrogen feeding into the Gulf from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers. The rivers experienced heavy water flows in April and May that were 11 percent above average.
"The high water volume flows coupled with nearly triple the nitrogen concentrations in these rivers over the past 50 years from human activities has led to a dramatic increase in the size of the dead zone," said Gene Turner, Ph.D., a lead forecast modeler from Louisiana State University.
This forecast helps coastal managers, policy makers, and the public better understand and combat the sources of the dead zones. For example, the models that generate this forecast have been used to determine nutrient reduction targets required to reduce the size of the dead zone.
This hypoxic, or low-to-no oxygen area, is of particular concern because it threatens valuable commercial and recreational Gulf fisheries by destroying critical habitat."
End of excerpt
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It isn't enough that we are killing the land and air with toxic waste and poisoning our food with an overuse of pesticides and herbicides... we are now literally sucking the life out of our water. Hypoxia is the phenomenon we now see in the Gulf Of Mexico, which is a lack of oxugen in the water whicha lso effects marinlife and which also effects many bodies of water worldwide.
And we, humans, are doing it. In our zeal to make lots of money that we think we can actually enjoy in a poisoned world where our health and the sustainability of our planet is threatened, we have lost touch with our true purpose as stewards of this planet. Pesticides, herbicides, CAFOS, climate change, and the relentless lobbying of the brokers of these poisons to politicians are all part of the vicious circle we now are part of.
Turkey Boosts Iraq Water Supplies
Update to previous report: Turkey Blamed For Looming Crop Disaster
Turkey Boosts Iraq Water Supplies
Somewhat good news considering the drought Iraq is currently in. Although, considering they are also growing Monsanto seeds, I don't know how truly prosperous Iraqi farmers will be now.
See here:
Mutant Seeds For Mesopotamia
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Drought and Desertification Worsening In Tibet
Drought and Desertification Worsening In Tibet
"Rising temperature and deforestation have intensified drought and desertification in Tibet, China's state media said.
Drought conditions have hit 33 counties in five of the six prefectures in Tibet, affecting 15.3 percent of the Tibetan plateau, Xinhua said, quoting the regional drought relief and flood control headquarters.
According to the report, the drought has also killed 13,601 head of cattle.
Nine meteorological centers in Tibet have not seen substantial rain for 226 consecutive days, Zhao Yiping, head of the Tibet Regional Meteorological Bureau said.
The drought has also been worsened by higher than normal temperatures. Tibet has experienced temperatures 0.4 to 2.3 celsius degrees higher than normal years, Zhao said.
The report by Xinhua news agency follows a warning by China's top weather official last month that Tibet faced a growing threat of drought and floods as global warming melts its glaciers.
The head of the China Meteorological Bureau, Zheng Guogang, last month was quoted by Xinhua as warning that global warming was accelerating glacial shrinkage, causing Tibet's lakes to swell.
"If the warming continues, millions of people in western China will face floods in the short term and drought in the long run."
Moreover, desertification is spreading by 39,600 hectares (98,000 acres) annually in Tibet, an official at the regional forestry bureau was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency."
end of excerpt.
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Reported by Chinese media. Yes China, but keep building those dams.
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China Wants 20 More Dams On The Headwaters of The Yangtze.
WHAT ARE THEY THINKING? Really. Glaciers are melting faster than predicted. Lakes are swelling which have already caused flooding in villages in the Himalayas. And once the glaciers are gone with temperatures rising and the water trickling to almost nothing, what good will those dams have done? Let the water flow naturally and use it's natural power to harness electricity. Use the power of the sun. Let the water flow to sustain the people and allow them to grow food. These dam and damn schemes are only for profit and control. In a time when drought is now a threat not only to agriculture and the climate but to life itself, it is irresponsible and immoral of the Chinese government to continue plans for all of these dams.
Friday, June 05, 2009
Question Gavin Newsom
Question to Gavin Newsom on California drought /desalination
Current Green is asking questions of Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco who is running for Governor. Water Is Life submitted the question above regarding the current California drought and desalination. Current Green will be carrying the interview on their station on June 11 at 12 noon. You can get all the information about it at the link.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
160 Syrian Villages Deserted Due To Climate Change
160 Syrian Villages Deserted Due To Climate Change
DAMASCUS (AFP) – Some 160 villages in northern Syria were deserted by their residents in 2007 and 2008 because of climate change, according to a study released on Tuesday.
The report drawn up by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) warns of potential armed conflict for control of water resources in the Middle East.
"The 2007/8 drought caused significant hardship in rural areas of Syria. In the northeast of the country, a reported 160 villages have been entirely abandoned and the inhabitants have had to move to urban areas," it said.
In Syria and also in Jordan, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, "climate change threatens to reduce the availability of scarce water resources, increase food insecurity, hinder economic growth and lead to large-scale population movements," the report said.
"This could hold serious implications for peace in the region," the Canada-based institute said.
The study, financed by Denmark, predicts a hotter, drier and less predictable climate in the Middle East, "already considered the world's most water-scarce and where, in many places, demand for water already outstrips supply."
Oli Brown, who co-wrote the report with Alec Crawford, said: "Climate change itself poses real security concerns to the region. It could lead to increased militarisation of strategic natural resources, complicating peace agreements."
"Israel is already using climate change as an excuse to increase their control over the water resources in the region," he said.
In the study's conclusions, Brown and Crawford said: "As a region, the Levant produces a tiny fraction of global emissions -- less than one percent of the world total.
The exception among Levant countries is Israel, "whose emissions -- 11.8 metric tonnes per capita -- exceed the European average of 10.05 tonnes," they said.
"This may exacerbate the existing deep mistrust of the West, including Israel, which would be seen as causing a problem that it is unable or unwilling to resolve," they said.
The study also revealed the challenge posed by population growth.
"The combined population of the Levant will grow to 71 million by 2050 from 42 million in 2008" with major implications for water demand, food supply, housing and jobs, it said.
snip
"Rainfall shrank by 10 millimetres (a year) between 1956 and 2006 while temperatures rose by (an average) 0.5 degrees Celsius, though below the worldwide average of 0.6 degrees," Syrian meteorologist Khales Mawed said.
The IISD predicts even modest global warming would lead to a 30-percent drop in water in the Euphrates, which runs through Turkey, Syria and Iraq, while the Dead Sea would shrink in volume by 80 percent by the end of the century.
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The King of Jordan stated that the only thing he would go to war for was water. If a water policy is not agreed to with Israel also having to treat Gaza and other areas more equitably regarding water distribution, that war may come sooner than we think. And actually, that is what the current ongoing war is partly about as it is. It is my contention that the Israeli government wishes to place their settlements right over the two largest acquifers in this area in order to control the water supply. And with climate change and massive pollution taking its toll on the water in this region, I can see nothing but war associated with such a move.
Previous entry:
Case of Gaza: Water Scarcity and Conflict
It's always been about the water.
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