Archived Water News Headlines | Social Issues; Lifestyle; Economy; Terrorism

The headlines and newstories in this archive date back to 2003 and 2004; accordingly, some of the links have decayed.

Old Water News About Social Issues, Lifestyle, and Economy

CO2 Hits Record Levels, Researchers Find Carbon Dioxide Reaches Record-High Levels in Atmosphere, Key U.S. Research Station Reports (ABC News/Associated Press - 3/20/04)

Water use declines as population increases (Associated Press; Oregon News - 3/15/04) - The pints and gallons saved by water-saving shower heads and low-flow toilets are adding up to substantial savings for Oregon homes and businesses.

Insurer warns of global warming catastrophe threat (Forbes/Reuters, 3/3/04) - The world's second-largest reinsurer, Swiss Re, warned that the costs of natural disasters, aggravated by global warming, threatened to spiral out of control, forcing the human race into a catastrophe of its own making. The report comes as a growing number of policy experts warn that the environment is emerging as the security threat of the 21st century, eclipsing terrorism.

The Discovery of Rapid Climate Change (Physics Today, March 2004) - Only within the past decade have researchers warmed to the possibility of abrupt shifts in Earth's climate. Sometimes, it takes a while to see what one is not prepared to look for.

Climate Change Puts Squeeze on Western U.S. (02/27/04, SolarAccess.com) - Just weeks after a U.S. Pentagon leaked report reveals global warming to be a grave national security concern, one of the Government's top research facilities predicted dire consequences for the Western United States.

Climate Collapse: The Pentagon's Weather Nightmare (Fortune Magazine, February 2004) - Forget about terrorism. Climate change may happen sooner than we think, and Pentagon strategists are coping with the possibilities. According to Fortune, radical and rapid climate change may become "the mother of all national security issues." The Pentagon reports that massive droughts that turn farmland to dust bowls and forests to ashes may make last year's California fires a "regular thing."

Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us (The Observer, 2/22/04) - Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters.. A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian' climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world.

Global warming hurting West's hydropower industry (ISA, 2/18/04) - The hydropower industry is among those that will feel the affects of reduced snow cover in the Western mountains from the Sierra Nevada range that feeds California in the south to the snowcapped volcanic peaks of the Cascades in the Pacific Northwest, according to a forecast from a new climate model. That lack of snow cover will lead to increased fall and winter flooding and severe spring and summer drought. And this is a best case scenario," said the forecast's chief modeler, L. Ruby Leung, a staff scientist at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting. "The change in the timing of the water flow is not welcome," Leung said. "The rules we have now for managing dams and reservoirs and irrigation schedules cannot mitigate for the negative effects of climate change."

World Water Forum Delegates Endorse Urgent Global Priorities (Voice of America, 3/23/03) - Close to a hundred countries attending the third annual World Water Forum have endorsed urgent global priorities for easing clean water scarcity. But some delegates are criticizing the final declaration as short on specific action. More than a billion people lack access to safe water. An estimated five to seven million people die every year from water-borne diseases, including more than two million children under the age of five.

Climate Linked to Rural Poverty (LONG BEACH, California, February 13, 2003 (ENS)) - A team of scientists has examined the relationship between climate and income, and has concluded that the climate plays an important role in determining the distribution of rural poverty. The scientists, led by Alan Basist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center, analyzed upper level soil wetness data along with population densities and economic data from the most recent U.S. Census. They also used climate data provided by NOAA to identify relationships between climatic and agricultural production, per capita income, and land value in rural districts across the United States and Brazil. The climate data, including surface temperature and wetness, were derived from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager, flown by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. Another climatic variable, the vegetation health index, was derived from NOAA's polar orbiting environmental satellites.

Three separate analyses were conducted for rural counties in Brazil and the United States. The first analysis established that climate is correlated with income. Higher temperatures are associated with reduced income in both Brazil and the United States. Over the United States, higher incomes correspond with higher amounts of upper level soil moisture. In Brazil, lower incomes correspond with lower amounts of soil moisture. The second analysis showed that the predicted value of land, or net revenue, has a strong direct relationship with income. Areas with more valuable land have higher incomes. The third analysis separated the impact of the climate from other factors that affect farm productivity. Findings reveal that climate explains most of the variation in agricultural production.

The evidence from the United States and Brazil reveals that climate influences income, and plays a role in determining rural poverty. It is more difficult to generate income in places with lower productivity. This is evident even in the United States, which has plenty of access to capital and modern technology. The results of the study, which was funded by the World Bank, were presented February 11 at the annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society in Long Beach.

Reprinted with permission; (c) 2003 by Environmental News Service

Old Water News Regarding Terrorism and Public Safety Issues

Sobel: Security vital in small towns, too (Ruidoso News, 3/10/04) - New Mexico’s Homeland Security chief says plenty of work is needed to protect vital infrastructure in smaller communities as well as the nation’s food supply on ranches.

Anti-terror costs hurt Phoenix (The Arizona Republic, 2/19/04) - Phoenix has spent $45 million on homeland security costs and faces hundreds of millions more in future expenses that could be passed on to taxpayers in water-rate increases and other fees.

California sharply increases security threat cost estimates (San Diego Union Tribune, 1/9/04) - The latest terrorist threat has cost California at least $8.6 million, most of which for overtime for the California Highway Patrol, which said it spent as much as $428,000 a day or nearly $3 million a week on increased security for the state's highways, buildings, bridges, aqueducts and other potential targets.

FBI: al-Qaida May Try to Poison Water (Yahoo News | AP - 9/4/03)
The FBI's latest weekly bulletin to state and local law enforcement agencies cautions terrorists might use two naturally occurring toxins — nicotine and solanine — to poison U.S. food or water supplies. The threat is relatively small.