Research led by Oxford University highlights the accelerating pressure on measuring, monitoring and managing water locally and globally. A new four-part framework is proposed to value water for sustainable development to guide better policy and practice. Multiple policies will be needed for multiple goals. Water security is a growing global concern. We argue that valuing water is fundamentally about navigating trade-offs. The negative impacts of water shortages, flooding and pollution have placed water related risks among the top 5 global threats by the World Economic Forum for several years running. In 2015, Oxford-led research on water security quantified expected losses from water shortages, inadequate water supply and sanitation and flooding at approximately $500B USD annually. The value of water for people, the environment, industry, agriculture and cultures has been long-recognised, not least because achieving safely-managed drinking water is essential for human life. Valuing water requires that we value institutions." The scale of the investment for universal and safely-managed drinking water and sanitation is vast, with estimates around $114B USD per year, for capital costs alone. The growing consensus is that valuing water goes beyond monetary value or price. Current water management policies are outdated and unsuited to addressing the water related challenges of the 21st century. This unprecedented recognition of the cultural and environmental value of rivers in law compels us to re-examine the role of rivers in society and sustainable development, and rethink our paradigms for valuing water." Co-author Richard Damania, Global Lead Economist, World Bank Water Practice: "We show that water underpins development, and that we must manage it sustainably.
It is odd to me how much water humans actually use; we use it for showers, toilets, washing dishes, washing our cars, and it all seems like such a waste of such a precious and valuable resources. I do not know about anybody else, but when someone tells me that water...the thing we need to SURVIVE is depleting, it makes me rather concerned. Because it is such a common thing, everyone feels as though water is in abundance. In actuality, water is depleting rapidly, and the droughts from the increasing earthen temperatures are not helping. Who cares about the monetary value of water...it is something that humans need to survive, which is why I have always found the bottled water companies the smartest people on earth; they can literally sell people something that is required to survive and make a profit. Mother earth cries...and we spitefully dry her tears.
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Dirt is Clean for the Air? (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-dirt-can-clean-the-air/)11/23/2017 Soil management doesn't sound snazzy, but scientists say it offers huge potential for keeping carbon emissions in the ground—and out of the atmosphere. Storage potential differs region by region, the researchers note. While scientists now broadly agree that changes in land management and agricultural practices may improve the ground's carbon-storing potential, how and even whether to do so remains a topic of discussion among policymakers. A paper published this week in the journal Scientific Reports estimates that improved land-use practices could increase the amount of carbon stored in the top layer of soils worldwide by between 0.9 and 1.85 billion metric tons each year. Worldwide, scientists estimate that the planet's soil alone contains about 2.5 trillion tons of carbon in its top 3-foot layer. At the high end, that's about as much carbon as is emitted by the transportation sector annually, the researchers note. Protecting and expanding the world's carbon sinks—including the ocean, the soil, global forests and other types of vegetation, all of which naturally store away carbon that would otherwise go into the atmosphere—is increasingly regarded by scientists as a major climate change mitigation tool. This week's paper uses information from global soil and land-cover databases to investigate how much more carbon might be sequestered in locations around the world under improved land management practices, building on previous research published in 2014. "Analyses like this help us understand the importance of soil management for reaching climate goals. North America has the highest potential for total amount of carbon storage over all the land available, although parts of South Asia and North Africa have the greatest potential for storage on a per-hectare basis. But scientists now increasingly suggest that improving soil health, through practices such as rotating crops or composting, can increase its carbon-storing potential.
It is interesting to think that dirt...a thing we all attribute with disgust, could actually be used to cleanse the air. At first, I thought this was some conservative propaganda trying to tell me that cows are beneficial to the environment, but when I saw it was by scientific america, I realized it actually had substance to it. The article is extremely interesting, but is also puts into perspective how desperate we are as human beings...to think we would have to turn to dirt to clean something...that is oddly paradoxical. Whether or not it could actually come to fruition and work is another question, but I think with enough dedicated scientists and adequate funding from the federal government...oh...wait...funds to help promote environmental friendly practices? Yeah...never going to happen. Better get to crowd funding in order to save the planet that we live on! There are at least 1,215 historic coastal landfill sites in England, mostly clustered around estuaries with major cities, including Liverpool, London, and Newcastle on Tyne. Coastal erosion may release waste from ten per cent of England's historic coastal landfills in the next forty years, according to research from Queen Mary University of London and the Environment Agency. Professor Spencer led the Environment Agency funded project into historic landfills at QMUL. Climate change effects, e.g. sea level rise and more intensive storms, are likely to increase the number of historic coastal landfills that erode."sea level rise and more intensive storms, are likely to increase the number of historic coastal landfills that erode." Historically it was common practise to dispose of landfill waste in low-lying estuarine and coastal areas where land had limited value due to the risk of it flooding. The researchers show that more than one-third of England's historic coastal landfills are in close proximity to designated environmental sites, and half of them are in or near to areas influencing bathing water quality. Kate Spencer, Professor of Environmental Geochemistry at QMUL, added: "Unfortunately, there are a lot of unknowns here. Some historic coastal landfills, such as the East Tilbury landfill in the Thames Estuary, have already started to erode.
Coastal erosion is happening at a rate faster than we can process. Louisiana's famous marshlands lose 8 inches of land annually due to the erosion of it's coast., and Texas has lost hundreds of miles of beach. In fact, our very own Monterey Bay is facing coastal erosion, and the threat could cost property value losses in the billions of dollars. There are multiple ways to try and stop it, but most are ineffective, and cause more problems, like walls that collect sand, but take it from other beaches. The beaches that we love to enjoy now may not be here in 50 years...or even 25 at the rate that the sea is rising. I can only think that, because the ice is melting, the temperature should make the ice melt faster...so the rate of the rising sea is bound to increase. I loathe day that the beaches that I grew up on will be inaccessible to my children...and it is all due to greed and human pollution. LkeGlobal annual temperature records show there were 17 record hot years from 1861 to 2005. A new study finds human-caused global warming is significantly increasing the rate at which hot temperature records are being broken around the world. The new study examines whether these temperature records are being broken more often and if so, whether human-caused global warming is to blame. He applied his method to record-setting hot global temperatures in 2016 and record-setting hot local temperatures in central England in 2014. Without human-caused climate change, there should only have been an average of seven record hot years from 1861 to 2005, not 17. The results show human influence has greatly increased the likelihood of record-breaking hot years occurring on a global scale. He found human influence led to a 29-fold increase in the likelihood of seeing both new records compared to a situation with no human influence on climate.Further, human-caused climate change at least doubled the odds of having a record-breaking hot year from 1926 to 1945 and from 1967 onward, according to the new study. He then used a wide array of climate models to simulate global temperatures in this period."We can now specifically say climate change is increasing the chance of observing a new temperature record each year," he said.
Humans continue to ruin the Earth...honestly...what is new at this point? I fail to understand the greed and destructive nature of human behavior, and I do not think I ever will. Living in Turlock, I can confidently say I have experienced hotter temperatures that most average people. Let me just say, I do not think I could stand it being any hotter than it is right now. We seem to be on a roll when it comes to record-breaking, as we have broken fire AND hurricane records this year; I am really proud of us! The temperature is only going to rise, and with the current rate being critical, there really is no chance to avoid the 2 degrees marker. The only thing humans can do it start turning to more renewable sources of energy and use electric cars. However, that would make the rich oil and gas companies obsolete, so we have to put their money before the earth...for them...I am appalled. Orangutans on the Indonesian island of Sumatra has been confirmed as a new species just as its habitat faces imminent threats. The population, estimated at fewer than 800 individuals, inhabits the Batang Toru forest in western Sumatra. A researcher exploring the area in the 1930s wrote of reports of an isolated orangutan population. But it wasn't until biological anthropologist Erik Meijaard, the founder of conservation group Borneo Futures in Jakarta, discovered the paper in the mid-1990s that scientists went looking for the Batang Toru group. Local villagers showed researchers the remains of a female orangutan, and nests in the area confirmed the presence of a population. A male orangutan killed by locals in 2013 provided key evidence: intact tissue and bone. Even as Batang Toru's orangutans are named a new species, the animals' long-term survival is uncertain. Previous population analyses suggest there are fewer than 800 individuals, making it the most endangered of the great apes. Although much of its habitat is protected by the Indonesian government, a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Batang Toru river would flood part of the area and divide the population into two, isolating the groups on either side of the river. "There is no doubt that conservation efforts are needed immediately," Mittermeier says.
Although apes are definitely not my animal of choice, they must still be respected—as all species should be. It would be such a buzzkill to find a new species of orangutan, and then find out they are critically endangered...and the most endangered. However, this is not surprising to me in the least...just think about how many species that have gone extinct within the past 100 years that we have never even known about; there are species that will never be remembered or discovered. Additionally, this is depressing because the small numbers of orangutan will attract hunters and poachers, which will cause HUGE drops in their population. Humans seem to keep messing things up...and at the rate we are going, I do not see much of a change in human behavior. The significance is that we must realize that species go extinct every day...any there is nobody to record their deaths. Luckily, we found this guy...but he is only one of many... |
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