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8 October 2014
How rain falls – not just how much – may alter landslide risk
New research finds that it’s not just the amount of rain that falls on a hillside, but the pattern of rainfall that matters when trying to determine how likely a slope is to give way. This new information could improve forecasts of landslides, which are typically hard to predict, said the scientists conducting the research.
Different rainfall patterns—a short, heavy deluge, a light, steady downpour, or sporadic showers—will trigger different numbers of landslides with varying amounts of debris, according to the new study published today in Water Resources Research, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
11 March 2014
The grapes of Landsat
California’s persistent drought is forcing grape growers to keep a more-attentive-than-normal eye on their vines, as water shortages and elevated temperatures alter this year’s growing season.
28 June 2013
Carbon-cutting steps like those Obama proposed could improve, and worsen, water woes
As President Obama announced sweeping policies Tuesday aimed at curbing carbon emissions and combating climate change, water resources experts at a Washington, D.C. meeting across town from where Obama spoke discussed the entwined nature of water conservation and energy production .”Saving greenhouse gas emissions saves water too,” said Robert Jackson of Duke University in Durham, N.C., as he and other panelists discussed retrofitting power plants that burn coal or other fossil fuels and turning to alternative energy sources.
12 April 2013
Newfound chamber below Old Faithful may drive eruptions
A previously unknown underground cavity might help trigger the timely eruptions of the famous Yellowstone geyser Old Faithful, a new study shows. The researchers who uncovered new evidence of a chamber suspect that it stores the pressurized near-boiling water, steam, and other gases that propel Old Faithful’s eruptions.
5 December 2012
Measuring groundwater recharge could protect rural farmers’ livelihoods
In the Gangeshwar watershed in Rajasthan, India, farmers are at the mercy of their water supply. They use electrical pumps to capture well water for irrigating fields of wheat, rice, cotton and other crops. But wells often run dry, threatening crops and livelihoods. Melissa Rohde, now a graduate student in civil & environmental engineering at Stanford, in Palo Alto, California is working to find a simple, cost-effective way to measure …
25 May 2012
Dead Sea rising: how the lowest place on Earth is getting (slightly) higher
Declining water levels are causing the floor of the Dead Sea to rise, according to a new study. With less water to weigh it down, the sea’s bed is now rising at a rate of about 5 mm (0.2 in) per year, said Ran Nof, a PhD candidate at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
7 December 2011
Growing with the flow: Stream currents shape microbial communities
To avoid getting flushed down streams, microbes form clingy communities called biofilms along aquatic thoroughfares. The resulting slippery sheets lining the streambed are in charge of many stream’s ecosystem processes. New data suggests how the microbes actually stick to and grow along channels – they let the water current shape them.
6 December 2011
Got arsenic? Social disparities in drinking water quality
Running around between sessions at the American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting, I’ve found myself relying heavily on the drinking fountains scattered throughout the convention center. I repeatedly refill my bottle and go on my way, taking for granted my ability to slurp down safe, clean water. Although many people in the United States don’t often think water quality is a major issue, access to safe drinking water is an emerging problem in this country, says Isa Ray, associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
8 November 2011
Thames River contamination tied to World War II gardens
A World War II “Dig for Victory!” campaign, while the United Kingdom was effectively cut off from Canadian food supplies, played a key role in today’s nitrogen contamination of the Thames basin. That’s according to researchers who dug into century-old, leather-bound volumes of water quality measurements dating back to the mid-1800s.
31 May 2011
After canals go in, fish diversity goes up… many millenia from now
Facing a growing population and increasing demands for fresh water, India is hoping that an engineering fix will help solve its water-scarcity problems. The country’s National Water Development Agency has begun work on the first of a system of 30 canals that would link 46 rivers, in a process known as inter-basin water transfer.