Reservoirs Closed After Carcinogen Is Found

adamHealth, Water

Two Los Angeles reservoirs – the Elysian and the Silver Lake – have been closed after it was found they were contaminated with carcinogenic bromate caused by a rare reaction between sunlight and chlorine. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power plans to drain 600 million gallons from the reservoirs – equal to one day of LA’s water consumption … Read More

Arctic Summers Ice-Free "by 2013"

adamClimate, Water

As the observed rate of summer ice melt in the Arctic begins to run ahead of projections, a study done by US scientists shows previous models as underestimating processes driving ice loss and that Arctic summers could be ice-free as soon as 2013.

Red Sea Mega-Dam Would Be 'Irresponsible'

adamEcosystems, Energy, Water

The proposed construction of a gigantic “heliohydroelectric” dam that would literally part the Red Sea holds the potential to generate large amounts of clean energy for an impoverished region, but could also cause irreversible global ecological damage through the partial draining of the Red Sea.

Bio-Rock: Shock Treatment for Coral Reefs

adamBiodiversity, Technology, Water

“Bio-Rock” – a procedure created by scientist Thomas Goreau and late architect Wolf Hilbertz – is being used to stimulate growth in threatened coral reefs by bringing them into close contact with low-voltage electricity and speeding the formation of a key building component in coral reefs.

High Weedkiller Levels Found in River Checks

adamAgriculture, Biodiversity, Water

An extensively used weedkiller – Atrazine – has been found in streams and rivers throughout the Midwest in levels high enough to damage amphibians, fish and aquatic ecosystems. Atrazine, which is manufactured by Syngenta Crop Protection, has been linked to sexual abnormalities in frogs and fish in scientific studies and is currently banned in the UK.

Feds Want to Clean Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Paul RacetteWater, Would You Believe?

The so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a stewy body of plastic and marine debris that floats an estimated 1,000 miles west of San Francisco, is a shape-shifting mass far too large, delicate and remote to ever be cleaned up, according to a researcher who recently returned from the area. But that might not stop the federal government from trying.