Water & Oceans

Severe Drought Has Returned To The Amazon Earlier Than Expected

"Holder of one-fifth of the world’s fresh water, the Amazon is beginning the dry season with many of its rivers already at critically low levels, prompting governments to anticipate contingency measures to address issues ranging from disrupted navigation to increasing forest fires."

Source: AP, 08/06/2024

4 Dead After Debby Slams Florida, Causing Massive Flooding, Outages: Updates

"Debby, now a tropical storm, roared ashore Monday along the Big Bend coast of Florida, killing at least four people, flooding streets, and causing widespread power outages as the storm roared toward Georgia and South Carolina, where it's expected to bring catastrophic flooding this week."

Source: USA TODAY, 08/06/2024

In Mexico City, Women Water Harvesters Help Make Up For Drought

"Driven by prolonged drought and inconsistent public water delivery, many Mexico City residents are turning to rainwater. Pioneering company Isla Urbana, which does both nonprofit and for-profit work, has installed more than 40,000 rain catchment systems across Mexico since the company was founded 15 years ago. And Mexico City’s government has invested in the installation of 70,000 systems since 2019, still a drop in the bucket for the sprawling metropolis of around 9 million."

Source: AP, 08/05/2024

‘A Matter Of Life And Death’: How Disaster Response Endangers US Farmworkers

"When Hurricane Idalia struck Florida last summer, a tree fell straight through a trailer occupied by a migrant-farmworker family in Hamilton County. They couldn’t afford to move, even temporarily, so the family of six just picked up the things they could salvage and continued to live around the rotting tree."

Source: Grist, 08/05/2024

"Incarcerated People Are Drinking Unsafe Water in Illinois State Prisons"

"Brian Harrington entered the Illinois Department of Corrections system in 2007 at age 14, sentenced to 25 years in prison. ... He remembers the toilet water being brown—and sometimes the drinking water, too. He recalls the tap water’s sewer smell and the black specks swirling, then settling, in his cup."

Source: Sierra, 08/05/2024

"How China Bought Its Way Into National Fishing Grounds Around The World"

"On March 14, 2016, in the squid grounds off the coast of Patagonia, a rusty Chinese vessel called the Lu Yan Yuan Yu 10 was fishing illegally, several miles inside Argentine waters. Spotted by an Argentine coast guard patrol and ordered over the radio to halt, the ship fled the scene. The Argentinians gave chase and fired warning shots. Then the Lu Yan Yuan Yu 10 tried to ram the coast guard cutter, prompting it to open fire and sink the Chinese ship."

Source: LA Times, 08/05/2024

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