DESMOND BUTLER & VADIM GHIRDA – Nuclear Smugglers Tried Selling Radioactive Materials To ISIS

In the backwaters of Eastern Europe, authorities working with the FBI have interrupted four attempts in the past five years by gangs with suspected Russian connections that sought to sell radioactive material to Middle Eastern extremists, The Associated Press has learned. The latest known case came in February this year, when a smuggler offered a huge cache of deadly cesium …

JUSTIN GILLIS – California Drought Is Made Worse by Global Warming, Scientists Say

Global warming caused by human emissions has most likely intensified the drought in California by 15 to 20 percent, scientists said on Thursday, warning that future dry spells in the state are almost certain to be worse than this one as the world continues to heat up. Even though the findings suggest that the drought is primarily a consequence of …

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 …

Pact with devil? California farmers use oil firms’ water By Veronique DUPONT

An efficient solution to a historic drought, or an environmentally risky pact with the devil? That’s the question raised by California farmers who are irrigating their crops with waste water supplied by oil companies, in an arrangement slammed as dangerous by environmental campaigners. Driving into the parched region around Bakersfield, in the western US state’s fertile Central Valley, it is …

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 …

California is Sinking and Its Getting Worse By Nathan Halverson

California is sinking – and fast. While the state’s drought-induced sinking is well known, new details highlight just how severe it has become and how little the government has done to monitor it. Last summer, scientists recorded the worst sinking in at least 50 years. This summer, all-time records are expected across the state as thousands of miles of land …

The End Of Meaningful Work: A World Of Machines And Social Alienation – Daniel Drew

Many activists are clamoring for a higher minimum wage. That’s an admirable goal, but is that where the worst problem is? Even at the abysmally low wages of the present moment, we still have 938,000 people being turned away from McDonald’s because there aren’t enough McJobs. The real problem is the lack of meaningful work. In a world of machines and social alienation, meaningful work …

California land mass sinking at record rate as farmers desperately drill new wells to use up ground water – P.A. Watson

The days of abundant water are a distant memory for farmers in California. For the Central Valley, the wells are about to run dry. California’s Central Valley is now reportedly sinking at a rate never seen during the state’s historic drought, and farmers are shouldering part of the blame as they continue to pump the land dry in an effort …

Wal-Mart Bottled Water Comes From Sacramento Municipal Supply

Wal-Mart is facing questions tonight after CBS13 learns the company draws its bottled water from a Sacramento water district during California’s drought. According to the label, the water comes from the Sacramento Municipal Water Supply. This comes on the heels of Starbucks opting to move sourcing and production of its Ethos bottled water from California to Pennsylvania. While the label reads Great Value, the …

Your Winter Vegetables: Brought to You by California’s Very Last Drops of Water – Tom Philpott

California’s drought-plagued Central Valley hogs the headlines, but two-thirds of your winter vegetables come from a different part of the state. Occupying a land mass a mere eighth the size of metro Los Angeles, the Imperial Valley churns out abouttwo-thirds of the vegetables eaten by Americans during the winter. Major crops include broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, and, most famously, lettuce and salad mix. And those aren’t even …