Water Crisis | Blue Living Ideas

Maplecroft Publishes Water Security Risk Index

Posted on Jul 19, 2010 by Scott James.

0

British-based risk consultancy Maplecroft consultancy has issued a report on the stability of countries’ water supplies around the world. Maplecroft helps, “businesses and investors to navigate the political, economic, social and environmental risks affecting growth opportunities in both developed and emerging economies.” Maplecroft’s “water security risk index” assessed 165 nations from around the world, looking at access to drinking water, per capita demand and dependence on rivers that first flow through other nations.
[continue reading - Maplecroft Publishes Water Security Risk Index]

Continue Reading

Is Traditional Water Management the Future?

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Scott James.

0

The world’s water situation is only going to get more challenging in the coming years. There will be more people a water supply that is increasingly polluted and often distributed with aging infrastructure. Clearly we will need to embrace new methods of water management- is it possible that those methods have been around for thousands of years? The International Traditional Knowledge Institute (ITKI), a new research group founded in Bagno a Ripoli, Italy, is teaching that traditional methods from the Sahara, Ethiopia and Babylon will work well with new technologies like solar power.
[continue reading - Is Traditional Water Management the Future?]

Continue Reading

Is Climate Change Genocide?

Posted on Apr 22, 2010 by Scott James.

3

Climate change and rising temperatures are widely believed to be causing the retreat of glaciers and lower river flows. According to researchers, that is what’s happening to the Andean glaciers. Evo Morales, President of Boliva, believes there should be an international court of environmental justice- and many Bolivians agree with him. In fact, Boliva’s UN Ambassador is preparing to present a proposal to Mexico’s COP16 to create an international court of justice.
[continue reading - Is Climate Change Genocide?]

Continue Reading

Rivers in the Desert: Solar-Powered Desalination

Posted on Apr 15, 2010 by Scott James.

2

Water crises and water shortages are increasing around the world- at this point there are 1.2 billion people in 40 countries without reliable access to clean water. But what if there were a way to use the sun to turn oceans into drinking water? IBM and King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), the national research and development organization in Saudi Arabia, announced this week that they are collaborating on research to create a solar-powered desalination plant. The project combines two technologies that IBM and KACST have been working on: ultra-high concentrator photovoltaic (UHCPV) technology and energy-efficient filtration through nanotechnology.
[continue reading - Rivers in the Desert: Solar-Powered Desalination]

Continue Reading

Plants Conserve 44% More Water With Active Enzyme

Posted on Jan 05, 2010 by Scott James.

0

A team of biologists identified plant enzymes last month that help plants utilize raised levels of carbon dioxide to more efficiently use water. The team, led by biology professor Julian Schroeder at UC- San Diego, discovered protein censors that control the response of pores on the leaves of plants. By adding an active enzyme to plants with an inactive one, researchers were able to measure more efficient use of water by the plants and this discovery could potentially make increased food production possible without increasing the water supply.
[continue reading - Plants Conserve 44% More Water With Active Enzyme]