Alfred Tennyson wrote:We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
dohboi wrote:Yikes! Are people worried? Is that a usual thing there this time of year?
Gov. Kate Brown called on the Oregon National Guard to tow in large, portable water holding tanks to ease the bottled water shortage in Salem.
For the past two days, Oregon's state capital has been without safe drinking water, forcing people to drive to neighboring cities to fill water canisters and purchase bottles for as much as $47 a case at gas station convenience stores.
An outside lab confirmed on Saturday that an algae bloom had added cyanotoxins—which can cause vomiting, stomach upset, diarrhea, and liver and kidney damage—to Detroit Reservoir, the city's water supply, the Statesman Journal first reported. An alert did not go out to Salem residents until Tuesday afternoon.
A confusing default notification was sent in error on Tuesday evening to a large number of Oregon cell phones."Civil Emergency in this area until 11:28 pm," the push notification read. "Prepare for Action."
That sparked widespread confusion—then panic. Some people began planning retreats to nuclear war bunkers, while others joked about an impending apocalypse.... There were a solid 9 minutes where I was predicting our impending “civil emergency” demise. Was the purge starting? Were aliens visiting Corvallis? Was the big earthquake coming? Was Trump planning a trip here? Oh... nope, just some nasty dirty water in Salem.
... "Some of the biggest CyanoHAB impacts will occur in more rural regions, such as those in the Southeast and Midwest - areas that don't often come up in conversation about unavoidable effects of climate change," said Steven C. Chapra, Ph.D., lead author and Louis Berger Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the School of Engineering at Tufts. "The impact of climate change goes way beyond warmer air temperatures, rising sea levels and melting glaciers."
"Our study shows that higher water temperature, changes in rainfall, and increased nutrient inputs will combine to cause more frequent occurrence of harmful algal blooms in the future," he added.
It has been estimated that lakes and reservoirs serving as drinking water sources for 30 million to 48 million Americans may be contaminated periodically by algal toxins. Researchers cited an example in 2014, when nearly 500,000 residents of Toledo, Ohio, lost access to drinking water after water drawn from Lake Erie revealed the presence of cyanotoxins.
But it won’t be cheap as towing the iceberg alone could cost up to $100 million—a steep price for an operation with several questions remaining over its viability. However, Sloane says his team will undertake all the risk if the move is approved by Cape Town. “We’ve got private investors standing by on the wings to fund it,” he tells Quartz. Under that arrangement, Sloane and his partners will only charge a delivery fee if the operation is successful. it won’t be cheap as towing the iceberg alone could cost up to $100 million—a steep price for an operation with several questions remaining over its viability. However, Sloane says his team will undertake all the risk if the move is approved by Cape Town. “We’ve got private investors standing by on the wings to fund it,” he tells Quartz. Under that arrangement, Sloane and his partners will only charge a delivery fee if the operation is successful. his team will undertake all the risk if the move is approved by Cape Town. “We’ve got private investors standing by on the wings to fund it,” he tells Quartz. Under that arrangement, Sloane and his partners will only charge a delivery fee if the operation is successful.
From the northern Himalayas to the sandy, palm-fringed beaches in the south, 600 million people - nearly half India’s population - face acute water shortage, with close to 200,000 dying each year from polluted water...
Water pollution is a major challenge, the report said, with nearly 70 percent of India’s water contaminated, impacting three in four Indians and contributing to 20 percent of the country’s disease burden.
Yet only one-third of its wastewater is currently treated, meaning raw sewage flows into rivers, lakes and ponds - and eventually gets into the groundwater.
The head of WaterAid India VK Madhavan said the country’s groundwater was now heavily contaminated.
“We are grappling with issues, with areas that have arsenic contamination, fluoride contamination, with salinity, with nitrates,” he said, listing chemicals that have been linked to cancer.
The level of chemicals in the water was so high, he said, that bacterial contamination – the source of water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid - “is in the second order of problems”.
Crippling water problems could shave 6 percent off India’s gross domestic product, according to the report by the government think-tank, Niti Aayog.
“This 6 percent of GDP is very much dependent on water. Our industry, our food security, everything will be at stake,” said Mishra.
“It is a finite resource. It is not infinite. One day it can (become) extinct,” he said, warning that by 2030 India’s water supply will be half of the demand."
Newfie wrote:So what do you do with it once you get it there?
https://qz.com/1321034/cape-town-day-ze ... ctica/amp/But it won’t be cheap as towing the iceberg alone could cost up to $100 million—a steep price for an operation with several questions remaining over its viability. However, Sloane says his team will undertake all the risk if the move is approved by Cape Town. “We’ve got private investors standing by on the wings to fund it,” he tells Quartz. Under that arrangement, Sloane and his partners will only charge a delivery fee if the operation is successful. it won’t be cheap as towing the iceberg alone could cost up to $100 million—a steep price for an operation with several questions remaining over its viability. However, Sloane says his team will undertake all the risk if the move is approved by Cape Town. “We’ve got private investors standing by on the wings to fund it,” he tells Quartz. Under that arrangement, Sloane and his partners will only charge a delivery fee if the operation is successful. his team will undertake all the risk if the move is approved by Cape Town. “We’ve got private investors standing by on the wings to fund it,” he tells Quartz. Under that arrangement, Sloane and his partners will only charge a delivery fee if the operation is successful.
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