Water

By Raad Salem | (Niqash.org) | Amarah | – – “Droughts, extremists’ control of water upstream and government austerity measures that are shutting pumping stations: Iraq’s already-precarious, but precious, marshes and wetlands are in danger – again.” The buffaloes that Jabbar Hassan farms moved too slowly across the marshland. They looked tired and too thin; […]

Climate Change

Global Warming: Sierra Nevada snowpack at 500-year low, Worse Coming

contributors

By Valerie Trouet | (The Conversation) | – – In the Mediterranean climate of California, with its warm, wet winters and hot, dry summers, the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains plays a critical role. It serves as a natural water storage system that feeds waterways and reservoirs during the dry summer months. That’s why […]

Apartheid

Nearly all of Gaza’s Water ‘Undrinkable’

contributors

By Celine Hagbard – (IMEMC) | – – Reporters from RT (Russia Today) traveled to Gaza to look into last year’s report that 90% of Gaza’s water is undrinkable. As they sampled water from different parts of the coastal Strip, they found that the report is accurate – the water throughout Gaza is dirty, salty […]

Climate Change

Water Being Used as Weapon of War in Syrian Conflict, UN Warns

contributors

By Lauren McCauley, staff writer. | (Commondreams.org) | – – Compounded by scorching heat wave, Syrians are experiencing ‘deliberate’ water cut-offs, often for weeks at a time The United Nations on Tuesday said it has reason to believe that groups in the Syrian conflict are using the country’s scarce water supply as a weapon of […]

Displaced and Refugees

Saudi-led war in Yemen provokes Humanitarian Crisis, 1.2 mn. displaced

contributors

By Kitty Stapp | (Inter Press Service) | – – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Doctors Without Borders . . . is warning that the violence in Yemen “has radically increased” since March, with the humanitarian group seeing mass casualties from bombings and thousands of severely injured. “Especially in Aden, the situation has been extremely difficult, […]

Archaeology

Water Wars from the Pharaohs to the West Bank in 2 mins. via Lego Animation

contributors

AJ+ | (Video report) | – – We wanted to tell the story of water wars throughout history. We also wanted to play with Legos. Here’s the result. The programs conducted by AJ+ are not affiliated, sponsored or endorsed by LEGO®. AJ+: “Water Wars: A Lego Animated Short”

Pollution

Syria Civil War leaves Civilians with Water Cut-offs, Raw Sewage in Rivers

contributors

By Kanya D’Almeida | (Inter Press Service) | – – UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Caught in the grips of a summer heat-wave, in a season that is seeing record-high temperatures worldwide, residents of the war-torn city of Aleppo in northern Syria are facing off against yet another enemy: thirst. The conflict that began in 2011 […]

Christianity

As Glaciers Melt in Ecuador, Pope Francis challenges Technocrats, touts “Keeping” the Environment

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Pope Francis continues to preach environmentalism as he addresses crowds in Latin America, a challenging message in poor countries where over-exploitation of natural resources is a constant temptation. These are also countries and populations, however, most at risk from pollution and the ravages of climate change. […]

Climate Change

California’s Drought Is Part of a Much Bigger Water Crisis. Here’s What You Need to Know

contributors

By Abrahm Lustgarten, Lauren Kirchner and Amanda Zamora | (ProPublica) | — Why do I keep hearing about the California drought, if it’s the Colorado River that we’re “killing”? Pretty much every state west of the Rockies has been facing a water shortage of one kind or another in recent years. California’s is a severe, […]