Drought

Chickpeas Could Become A Major Drought-Resistant Protein Source

October 19, 2024 Paige Bennett, EcoWatch. Educate! Biodiversity, climate crisis, Drought, Food and Agriculture

A new study is highlighting chickpeas as a source protein for a potentially drought-stricken future brought on by climate change. The research, led by molecular biologist Wolfram Weckwerth from the University of Vienna, explored the benefits of 36 different chickpea genotypes as climate change impacts continue to threaten food security around the world. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture, only around nine plant species make up 66% of total crop production. However, there are more than 6,000 edible plant species.

Corporations Plunder US West’s Water Amid Worst Drought In 1,200 Years

September 23, 2024 Katie Rose Quandt, Truthout. Educate! Drought, Environment, Privatization, Wall Street, Water

Rural La Paz County, Arizona, positioned on the Colorado River across from California, is at the center of a growing fight over water in the American Southwest. At the heart of the battle is a question: Should water be treated as a human right, to be allocated by governments with the priority of sustaining life? Or is it a commodity to be bought, sold and invested in for the greatest profits? As the West suffers its worst megadrought in 1,200 years, investors have increasingly eyed water as a valuable asset and a resource to be exploited. For years, investment firms have bought up farmland throughout the Southwest, drilling to new depths for their water-hungry crops and causing nearby wells to run dry.

The Real Cowboys Of Alberta Battle Zombie Coal Mine

June 18, 2024 Mitch Anderson, DeSmog. Resist! Alberta, Canada, Drought, Energy, Environment, Food and Agriculture, mines, Water

Ranchers in southwest Alberta are contending with one of the worst droughts on record and a dwindling mountain snowpack. However, the latest threat to critical rivers near the Crowsnest Pass is being served up not by climate change but their own provincial government — in the form of a zombie coal mine proposal on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains that simply refuses to die. The Grassy Mountain open pit mine proposal from Australian-based Northback Holdings, formerly known as Benga Resources, was rejected by both provincial and federal regulators in 2021 because the impacts from water contamination were judged to outweigh the limited benefits.

Texas Needs Radical Solutions For Water Conservation

June 3, 2024 Martin Castro, Next City. Create! climate crisis, Drought, Environment, Recycling, Texas, Water

South Texas is facing a water crisis decades in the making. Much of the region’s growing population relies on the Rio Grande as its sole source of drinking water. Yet in recent years, as climate change has gripped Texas and caused hotter, drier summers, the river’s flow has diminished to a trickle in some areas. This year, months before summer has officially set in, major reservoirs on the Rio Grande are nearly empty after reaching historic lows last year. Falcon Reservoir is less than 15% full as of mid-April, and Amistad Reservoir hovers below one-third full. Last month, Hidalgo County issued a disaster declaration as a binational agreement with the Mexican government fails to deliver water from the Rio Grande, as it is obligated to do under the terms of a 1944 treaty. Farmers fear losing their crops.

Alberta’s Brutal Water Reckoning

March 25, 2024 Andrew Nikiforuk, Resilience. Educate! Canada, climate crisis, Drought, Water

Alberta’s water reckoning has begun in earnest. Snowpack accumulations in the Oldman River basin, the Bow River basin and the North Saskatchewan River basin range from 33 to 62 per cent below normal. A reduced snowpack means less summer water for the fish and all water drinkers. Ancient glaciers that feed and top up prairie rivers in the late summer melted at record speeds last year, the hottest on global records. Many indomitable ice packs, such as the well-studied Peyto Glacier, are disappearing altogether, wasted by the desiccating hand of climate disorder.

25% Of World’s Population Under Extreme Water Stress

August 18, 2023 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Educate! climate crisis, Drought, Environment, Water, Water Stress

One fourth of the planet’s population in 25 countries experiences extremely high water stress annually, using nearly all of their available water supply on a regular basis, according to new data from the World Resources Institute (WRI)’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas. Additionally, about four billion people live in conditions where they have high water stress for a minimum of one month out of the year, a report from WRI said. High water stress puts the lives, food, jobs and energy security of people in peril, as water is necessary for the essentials of human survival like agriculture, electricity production and the maintenance of human health.

For Argentina’s Small Farmers, Land Is Predictable But Markets Are Not

June 9, 2023 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Educate! Argentina, Drought, Food and Agriculture, Land Reform

Thirty years ago, in my economics textbook in India, the section on international trade referred to Argentina. It would be better, according to the textbook, for Argentina to concentrate on the production and export of beef, while Germany should direct its resources towards the production of electronics. This example was used to illustrate Adam Smith’s ‘absolute advantage’ principle – countries should focus on what they do ‘best’, rather than diversify their economies. It seemed churlish to me, that developing countries such as Argentina should only produce raw materials, while wealthy countries such as Germany went ahead with technological development.

Arizona Restricts Home Construction Amid Lack Of Groundwater

June 6, 2023 Paige Bennett, EcoWatch. Create! Arizona, climate crisis, Drought, Water

Pressures on water supply around Arizona, along with an ongoing megadrought made worse by climate change, have been addressed by recent limits placed on the construction of new homes around Phoenix. The restrictions are meant to limit projects that would rely on groundwater, as the groundwater supply is already needed by existing properties. Most of Arizona’s water, around 41%, comes from groundwater, according to the Arizona Department of Water Resources. Another 36% comes from the Colorado River, although the state, along with California and Nevada, recently agreed to reduce their water intake from the river by 3 million acre-feet through 2026 as the Colorado River faces shortages.

We Are Losing Our Large Lakes And Reservoirs

May 22, 2023 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Educate! climate crisis, Drought, Environment, Water

More than half of the large lakes and reservoirs on the planet have diminished since the early 1990s due to climate change and human diversion and consumption, an international team of researchers has found. The findings have implications for people who rely on their supply of freshwater for drinking, hydropower and agriculture. The researchers looked at almost 2,000 of the largest lakes and found they are losing about 5.7 trillion gallons per year. That’s about the same amount as the entire U.S. used in 2015, or 17 times the volume of the biggest reservoir in the U.S., Nevada’s Lake Mead, between 1992 and 2020, the study said.

How California Could Save Up Its Rain To Ease Future Droughts

January 15, 2023 Andrew Fisher, Resilience. Create! California, climate crisis, Drought, Water

When California gets storms like the atmospheric rivers that hit in December 2022 and January 2023, water managers around the state probably shake their heads and ask why they can’t hold on to more of that water.

US Authorities Agree To Rip Up Grass Lawns For Water Conservation

November 28, 2022 Angely Mercado, Gizmodo. Create! Drought, Environment, Water, West Coast

A group of agencies that provide water to millions of customers in the western U.S. has agreed to rip-up grass lawns in public spaces across multiple states as part of an effort to reduce water usage as the Colorado River continues to suffer from a major drought. More than 30 agencies that draw water from the river signed on to the conservation agreement last week. The pledge promises to remove 30% of grass lawns and replace them with “drought- and climate-resilient landscaping while maintaining vital urban landscapes and tree canopies,” that benefit communities and wildlife. The agencies will remove the many well-manicured lawns seen throughout parking lots, neighborhood entryways, and highway medians.

Climate Activists Fill Golf Holes With Cement After Water Ban Exemption

August 14, 2022 Merlyn Thomas, BBC. Resist! climate crisis, Drought, France, Water

The group targeted sites near the city of Toulouse, calling golf the "leisure industry of the most privileged". The exemption of golf greens has sparked controversy as 100 French villages are short of drinking water. Golf officials say greens would die in three days without water. "A golf course without a green is like an ice-rink without ice," Gérard Rougier of the French Golf Federation told the France Info news website. He added that 15,000 people worked in golf courses across the country. The recent action targeted courses in the towns of Vieille-Toulouse and Blagnac. It was claimed by the local branch of the Extinction Rebellion movement. In a petition, the activists said the exemption showed that "economic madness takes precedence over ecological reason".

More Than 75% Of The World Could Face Drought By 2050, UN Report Warns

May 15, 2022 Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch. Educate! climate crisis, Drought, Environment, Water

The climate crisis is making droughts more frequent and longer-lasting, a new UN report has announced. The report, Drought in Numbers, 2022, was released Wednesday in honor of Drought Day at the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)’s 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) taking place in Abijan, Côte d’Ivoire from May 9 to 20. “The facts and figures of this publication all point in the same direction: an upward trajectory in the duration of droughts and the severity of impacts, not only affecting human societies but also the ecological systems upon which the survival of all life depends, including that of our own species.” UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw said in a press release.

More Arrests Along Enbridge Line 3

June 24, 2021 Mary Annette Pember, Indian Country Today. Resist! Drought, Enbridge, Line 3 Pipeline, Pipelines

Three people were arrested Monday at a prayer lodge along the Mississippi River near an Enbridge construction site as questions persist that the pipeline work is worsening water shortages in northern Minnesota. According to the Aitkin County sheriff’s office, three people were charged with misdemeanor trespass and remained in custody late Tuesday. Police did not release their names. Meanwhile, a large law enforcement presence remained near the prayer lodge Tuesday, said Shania Mattson, a water protector from Palisade, Minnesota. The prayer lodge was built by Tania Aubid of the Milles Lacs Band of Ojibwe and Winona LaDuke of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe on 1855 Treaty ceded lands that are guaranteed for use by Ojibwe people for hunting, fishing and gathering, according to LaDuke and Aubid. LaDuke is executive director of Honor the Earth, a Native American environmental advocacy organization.

Climate Experts’ Predictions Come True With US Heatwave

June 19, 2021 Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams. Educate! climate crisis, Drought, Environment, extreme heat

As what the National Weather Service described as "dangerous and record-breaking heat" affects 50 million people across the Western United States even before the first day of summer, climate experts and activists are using the hot conditions to reiterate warnings and calls for policy change as scientists are seeing their dire predictions come true. "The current heatwave and drought leave no doubt, we are living the dangerous effects of the climate crisis," activist and former Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer tweeted Friday. "Action is urgently needed." Steyer shared a Thursday New York Times report on the extreme heat that also caught the attention of Campaign for Nature director Brian O'Donnell, who warned that in the absence of bold action to address the climate emergency, "this will all get much worse."

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