Friday, December 23, 2016

Unsustainable Groundwater pumping foretells global food shock

In this National Geographic article, aquifers in California's Central Valley, the Ogallala aquifer in the U.A. midwest, and aquifers in Spain and Italy, all closely tied to the 38th parallel, are
Center pivot sprinklers in western Kansas tapping the Ogallala aquifer

specifically mentioned as areas being rapidly depleted. This National Geographic article says: "California’s agricultural powerhouses—the Central Valley, Tulare Basin, and southern San Joaquin Valley, which produce a plentiful portion of the nation’s food—could run out of accessible groundwater as early as the 2030s."
    Yet the drilling of new wells and unsustainable pumping rates have accelerated in California in recent drought years.  New groundwater management plans are required by law, now, but will not take effect until 2040, so the short-term greed to pump now before it is regulated has kicked in. 

Monday, September 12, 2016

A Heart-wrenching report about the coming demise of Hasankeyf, on the Tigris River

We Could Not Save HasankeyfThis is a sad goodbye from one of the people who fought to save Hasankeyf from being submerged by the Ilisu Dam.  The reservoir will fill in 2017.

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Great news about Japanese Crested Ibis chicks born in the wild

The captive breeding and release program of Japanese Crested Ibis on Sado Island, in Japan, written about in the last chapter of our book, is celebrating several chicks that were just hatched in the wild .  That is great news.  The similar program in China is having even greater success.  See the news story at:
Japanese Crested Ibis chicks born in the wild news story

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Water Tensions Between Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Islamic State

 The Ilisu Dam, which will inundate Hasankeyf on the Tigris River inside Turkey, is also part of the water tensions between Turkey and the water users downstream, as Turkey holds back releases to the Tigris and Euphrates.

See Bloomberg article, July 2015, about water tensions between Turkey, Iraq, and Islamic State