We live in a toxic world where exposure on a daily basis to toxic contaminants in our air and water affects our health on a cumulative basis. For decades toxic waste sites and industries have discharged chemicals and heavy metals that have seeped into our drinking water supplies. Additionally, agricultural runoff of pesticides, herbicides and fertilizer, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies dumping drugs into the ground have contributed to hundreds of toxic contaminants permeating our drinking water supply.
Mediterranean may be driest for 900 years
The drought in the eastern Mediterranean is easily the worst in half a millennium, and perhaps for nearly twice as long, scientists find. The drought that has blighted the eastern Mediterranean since 1998 could be the worst in nine centuries, according to new research led by scientists from the US space agency Nasa. They report in the Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheresthat they …
Study: Groundwater from aquifers important factor in food security
Thirsty cities, fields and livestock drink deeply from aquifers, natural sources of groundwater. But a study of three of the most-tapped aquifers in the United States shows that overdrawing from these resources could lead to difficult choices affecting not only domestic food security but also international markets. University of Illinois professors of civil and environmental engineering Ximing Cai and Megan …
A third of the world’s biggest groundwater basins are in distress
Two new studies led by UC Irvine using data from NASA Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment satellites show that civilization is rapidly draining some of its largest groundwater basins, yet there is little to no accurate data about how much water remains in them. The result is that significant segments of Earth’s population are consuming groundwater quickly without knowing when …
House Bulldozed for Wind Farm, Family Says – REBEKAH KEARN
Wind energy companies bulldozed a black family’s house because they were the sole holdouts who refused to sell out to a huge wind farm, the family claims in court. Darlene Dotson and her sons David and Daniel sued EDP Renewables North America, Horizon Wind Energy Co., Rising Tree Wind Farm, CVE Contracting Group, and Renewable Land LLC, on May 7 …
ARE WE OVERLOOKING THE REAL ARSENIC RISK?
Geologist Qusheng Jin had “a wild hypothesis” in 2008 that a bacterial process was at work in an arsenic-contaminated aquifer in Oregon’s southern Willamette Valley. In a paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience, Jin’s team shows the process is in play and concludes the practice of just monitoring total arsenic levels for groundwater safety is not enough. They suggest organic …