The Ob River Is Delivering Natural Gas From Norway to Japan, Via the Arctic  Ocean

A tanker carrying liquified natural gas is attempting to become the first ship of its type to sail across the Arctic Ocean. The trip will take the tanker from Norway, where it set sail in November 2012, to Japan, via Russia.  The ship is called the Ob River.

Built in 2007 with a strengthened hull, the Ob River can carry up to 150,000 cubic meters of gas. The tanker was loaded with LNG at Hammerfest in the north of Norway on 7 November and set sail across the Barents Sea. It has been accompanied by a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker for much of its voyage.

The route taken by the ship, which has a crew of 40, is about 40% shorter than the usual voyage to Japan.

There is an expectation that because of changing climactic conditions, sea traffic across the northern sea route will increase rapidly. 2012 has been a record year both for the length of the sailing season and also for the amount of cargo that has been shipped.

As ice recedes, new routes are opening through the northern seas.  Some 19,000 ships went though the Suez canal last year and only about 40 through the northern sea route.  But things are changing.

 

More details from the BBC.

 

 World Bank and Islamic Development Bank To Provide Gaza Funds for Water System Improvements

The conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Palestinians has left almost 200 people dead.   Water conditions in Gaza are terrible and rapidly getting worse as the single aquifer in the Strip is being over-pumped and rapidly depleted. The area is choked now with untreated sewage, which threatens health and welfare as well as the meager water resources the area possesses.

In response to this situation, the World Bank in conjunction with the Islamic Development Bank with provide a total of some $17.5 million in financing for improvements.  The funds will help construct water tanks to collect and blend water from different sources to improve the quality and efficiency of Gaza water and wastewater and to connect major well fields supplying Gaza’s middle and southern areas.  Water distribution networks will also be upgraded.

The population of Gaza is 1.6 million and its water infrastructure is one of the world’s worst.

Reference.

See also Waterless in Gaza.

 

Drought and Rising Temperatures Are Shrinking The Great Lakes and Leaving Shore Cities High and Dry

In this Nov. 16, 2012 photo, the white streaks on a steel break wall show the normal water level on Portage Lake at Onekama, MI, which is connected by a channel to Lake Michigan. Levels across much of the Great Lakes are abnormally low, causing problems for small harbor towns that rely on boating and water tourism. The Great Lakes are dropping because of drought and climbing temperatures, a trend that accelerated with this year’s almost snowless winter and scorching summer.

The Great Lakes, the world’s biggest freshwater system, are shrinking because of drought and rising temperatures, a trend that accelerated with this year’s almost snowless winter and scorching summer. Water levels have fallen to near-record lows on Lakes Michigan and Huron, while Erie, Ontario and Superior are below their historical averages. The decline is causing heavy economic losses, with cargo freighters forced to lighten their loads, marinas too shallow for pleasure boats and weeds sprouting on exposed bottomlands, chasing away swimmers and sunbathers.

Lake Michigan’s level at the end of October, 2012 was more than 2 feet below its long-term average. The Corps of Engineers says that  without heavy snowfall this winter, the lake may decline to its lowest point since record-keeping began in 1918.

Funding for dredging channels to enhance navigation, which at one time would have come from Congress, is now not available.  Some towns have been able to raise local money for such projects, but they cannot afford to do this on a regular basis.

Tourism, of course, has fallen precipitously, and tourism is essential for many of the small towns in the region.

Through the entire region falling water levels are taking a toll, illustrating how extensively the health of the Great Lakes affects the economy of a region that is home to more than 30 million people extending from Minnesota to New York.

Gazette Fair Use Statement

More Information from the Herald Standard

 

Gray Whales Habitat in Baja, Mexico Is Alive Though Threatened

Laguna San Ignacio in Baja, Mexico is a tranquil lagoon where mother gray whales travel each year from thousands of miles away in Alaska to give birth to their babies without human disturbance.  It is, in fact, the last gray whale sanctuary on earth.

The environmental group, NRDC, the Natural Resources Defense Council, has gone to great lengths to protect it.  In 2000, NRDC stopped Mitsubishi from building a saltworks plant that would have turned the shores of the lagoon into an industrial wasteland. But still today, the lagoon is perennially threatened by schemes for industrialization and development that would destroy the whales’  home.

NRDC is currently working with local and international partners to permanently protect 500,000 acres around the lagoon to ensure that it will be kept pristine for the gray whales.  Recently, the Mexican government  granted special protection to an additional 199,000 acres of land surrounding the lagoon.

The gray whale is one of the world’s greatest migrators.   They travel in  groups called pods.  Some swim 12,000 miles round-trip from their summer home in Alaskan waters to the warmer waters off the Mexican coast. The whales winter and breed in the shallow southern waters and balmier climate. Other gray whales live in the seas near Korea.

Gray whales were once the target of extensive hunting, and by early in the 20th century they were in serious danger of extinction, but today they  are protected by international law, and their numbers have grown. In 1994, the gray whale was removed from the United States endangered species list.

Read more.

More from the NRDC Website.

 

Water Exercise Is Excellent, But There Are Pitfalls

Popular internet doctor Dr. Joseph Mercola believes that  in some ways a water workout may be better than one on land.  He explains that the heart rate during aerobic exercise is slower in water than on land because the pressure of the water helps your blood circulate more effectively with fewer heartbeats.  He explains:

According to the American Council on Exercise, your heart rate will be reduced by as much as 17 beats per minute compared to land exercise, so be sure to keep this in mind if you measure your heart rate to watch your intensity.

When you’re in the water, your heart rate will be lower than on land, even if you’re exercising very strenuously, so you need to listen to your body, not rely on heart rate, to gauge when you’ve had enough.

Dr. Mercola cautions, however, that water exercise has its pitfalls.  Chlorine is a major concern.

Swimming pools typically contain chlorine, he points out,  and along with it, disinfection byproducts (DBPs), which are formed when bromide, naturally existent in the source water, and/or organic materials like hair, skin, sweat, dirt and urine react with the large amounts of chlorine used to sanitize the pool water.

He writes:

DBPs are over 10,000 times more toxic than the chlorine itself and have been linked to DNA damage and cancer. In one study, more than 100 DBPs were identified in pool water, and when researchers measured evidence of genotoxic (DNA damage that may lead to cancer) and respiratory effects on swimmers who swam in a chlorinated pool for 40 minutes, they found:³

• Increased micronuclei in blood lymphocytes, which are associated with cancer risk
• Urine mutagenicity, a biomarker of exposure to genotoxic agents
• An increase in serum CC16, which suggests an increase in lung epithelium permeability

This is a serious issue if you swim in chlorinated pools on a regular basis, as your body absorbs higher levels of DBPs by swimming in a chlorinated pool once than you would by drinking tap water for one week! In fact, in one study on trihalomethanes (THMs), one of the most common DBPs, found the cancer risk from skin exposure while swimming comprised over 94 percent of the total cancer risk resulting from being exposed to THMs!⁴ The authors even went so far as to conclude that swimming in a chlorinated pool presents “an unacceptable cancer risk.”

As an aside, DBPs are also the likely culprits for the increased incidence of sinusitis and sore throats among swimming instructors,⁵ as well as the negative impact of chlorinated pools on the respiratory health of children and adolescents. In fact, one study found that in children with allergic sensitivities, swimming in chlorinated pools significantly increased the likelihood of asthma and respiratory allergies.⁶

This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to give up swimming. Swimming in an ocean is an excellent alternative, as is swimming in a lake or other natural body of water. You can also find a way to keep your pool clean from bacteria, algae, and other organisms without the use of dangerous chemicals.

One of the best solutions is NOT to chlorinate your pool and just use a maintenance “shock” treatment every five or six days, which will kill the algae buildup. The shock treatment volatilizes in about 24-48 hours and gives you a several-day window in which you can safely use your pool. You can also reduce the amount of organic material you bring into the pool, and thereby the amount of DBPs created, by showering prior to entering and teaching your children not to urinate in the water.

 Read Dr. Mercola’s full article.

Another Expert Says That People Are Being Urged To Drink Too Much Water

The Gazette has long taken the position that the “8 glasses per day” advice usually given by the medical community is pure nonsense.  A researcher at La Trobe University agrees.

Spero Tsindos of La Trobe University, writing in the June 2012 issue of Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, asserts that our bodies need about two liters of fluids per day, not two liters of water specifically.  The Gazette has frequently pointed out the water in the foods we eat is water, so people have vastly different needs for actual water since diets vary considerably.

Mr Tsindos believes that encouraging people to drink more water is driven by vested interests rather than a need for better health.

“Thirty years ago you didn’t see a plastic water bottle anywhere, now they appear as fashion accessories, he writes. “As tokens of instant gratification and symbolism, the very bottle itself is seen as cool and hip.”

He also discusses the role of water in our constant quest for weight loss. “Drinking large amounts of water does not alone cause weight loss. A low-calorie diet is also required. Research has also revealed that water in food eaten has a greater benefit in weight reduction than avoiding foods altogether. We should be telling people that beverages like tea and coffee contribute to a person’s fluid needs and despite their caffeine content, do not lead to dehydration.”

Tsindos says that  people  need to maintain fluid balance and should drink water, but also consider fluid in unprocessed fruits and vegetables and juices of equal importance.

More Information.

Nano Technology Company  Claims Invention of a Self-Filling Water Bottle

An enterprising nanotechnology company believes that it has created a marvelous self-filling water bottle by imitating the natural process of hydration used by the Namib Desert beetle.

NBD Nanotechnologies has imitated the beetle’s uncanny ability to extract water from dry desert air.  The beetle lives in one of the world’s most arid regions (about 1/2 inch of rainfall per year) and has developed a unique survival technique by drinking water that it collects from tiny droplets that its bumpy back collects from the atmosphere.

 Here’s how one writer describes the process:

To drink water, the Namib beetle (genus Stenocara) stands on a small ridge of sand. Facing into the breeze, with its body angled at forty-five degrees, the beetle catches fog droplets on its hardened wings. Its head faces upwind, and its stiff, bumpy outer wings are spread against the damp breeze. Minute water droplets from the fog gather on its wings; there the droplets stick to hydrophilic bumps, which are surrounded by waxy, hydrophobic troughs. Droplets accumulate and coalesce until their combined weight overcomes the water’s electrostatic attraction to the bumps as well as any opposing force of the wind; in a thirty-kilometer-an-hour breeze, such a droplet would stick to the wing until it grows to roughly five millimeter in diameter; at that point it would roll down the beetle’s back to its mouth parts.

The water droplets in fog are, on average, just one one-thousandth of an inch across, and the largest ones are only twice that size. The droplets are so small, in fact, that they often don’t fall downward; instead they get carried sideways or even upward by currents of wind.The trick to drinking fog is getting the droplets to aggregate, so that wind and electrostatic forces no longer overwhelm gravity. When a wind-blown fog droplet lands on a hydrophilic (water-loving) surface, such as clean glass or stone, the drop flattens out because of the electrostatic attraction between the molecules of water and those of the surface. The cross section of the flat drop is too small for the wind to pick it back up. And, because water molecules so strongly attract each other, the flat drop also presents a highly hydrophilic surface to which other droplets can attach.

To mimic nature,  NBD Nanotechnologies layered a surface with hydrophilic and hydrophobic coatings, used a fan to pass air over the surface, and managed to get water to condense. This eventually led to the design of a conceptual self-filling water bottle.

The best part, according to the developer, is that it uses virtually no energy and can be run entirely by solar cells and a rechargeable battery.

The company points out that there are  more than three quadrillion gallons of water in the air, which is essentially a massive untapped resource.

More.

 

 

 

Water in China: Some Facts

The United Nations says China is one of 13 countries with extreme water shortages.

The problem is partly demographic.  While China has 20% of the world’s population, it holds six percent of the world’s water resources. but is also exacerbated by rapid and short-sighted development. Rapid and short-sighted development have made this built-in shortage of water worse.

Strong economic growth has turned the country into the world’s second largest economy but at the expense of the environment.

The Yangtze River, once the lifeblood of the country, now flows a foreboding blood red, possibly due to industrial pollution.

Chronic droughts plague important agricultural regions like Shandong province, which produces most of China’s grain.

Within a few years, China’s water demand will reach 818 billion cubic meters, experts say, and yet there’s only 616 billion cubic meters available.

Beijing has about 100 cubic meters of water available per person, well below the U.N. standard of 1,000 cubic meters per person, a threshold used to measure chronic water shortage.

To put things in perspective, China has 25 bathtubs of water per person. The U.S. has the equivalent of 125 bathtubs.

China now has around 300 million people with no access to potable water, resulting in some 66,000 deaths per year, according to the World Bank. It estimates the cost of water pollution to China at $22 billion, roughly 1.1 percent of the country’s GDP.

The Chinese government recognizes the problem and is seeking to cut water consumption by 30%.

China’s rapacious water consumption is in part boosted by an illogical scenario: water, while scarce, is unusually cheap. Water in China, in fact, is really three to five times cheaper than it should be. China is trying to reduce consumption by raising water prices, and this has been taking place slowly since 2009.

As with other areas, however, where public consumption becomes the focus of water saving efforts, in China the largest users and the largest polluters of water are industry and agriculture. They use about 85% of the water in China.

As with other countries, a simple step could save immense amounts of water: fixing leaky pipes. There are literally hundreds of millions of miles of pipe laid around the world that are leaking and wasting water. These are some simple fixes that we could do right away.

 Reference.

 

 

 

 

Reduced Water Flow from the Missouri Threatens to Close Barge Traffic on the Mississippi

A 200-mile section of the Mississippi River may have to shut down due to reduced flow of water from reduced flow from a reservoir into the the Missouri River, which feeds into the Mississippi.  The Army Corps of Engineers announced plans to reduce flow from the reservoir.

The corps annually decreases water releases to ensure adequate reservoir levels and to prevent ice buildup and flooding. This year, already-low river levels caused by drought could shrink to the point that barges carrying grain, coal and other products won’t be able to navigate the Mississippi. The Missouri flows into the Mississippi near St. Louis.

Because of the drought, most vessels on the Mississippi are now limited to a 9-foot draft — their depth in the water.  Going to a 6-foot draft effectively closes the river.

 

 

 

The temporary closure of the Mississippi from St. Louis to Cairo, Ill., could result from an Army Corps of Engineers plan to reduce water flow from a reservoir into the Missouri River starting today, shipping companies and industry groups warn.

Monique Farmer, a corps spokeswoman, says water releases from the reservoir at Gavins Point Dam on the Nebraska-South Dakota border will drop gradually starting November 22 from 36,000 cubic feet per second to 12,000 by Dec. 11. “We need to begin conserving water in our system,” Farmer says. It’s like turning down a faucet: Less water moves into the Missouri, which feeds the Mississippi, so Mississippi levels also drop.

The slowdown in water release threatens to delay shipment of billions of dollars worth of commodities during December and January. It is expected that the low water situation in the Mississippi will eventually result in higher consumer prices.

 More from USA Today.

 

 

Severe Thigh Injury Sustained by Woman Rushing to Buy Water Filter

What is believed to be the first serious injury of the holiday shopping season was sustained by shopper Martha Nicholson as she rushed to buy a countertop water filter earlier today at a Dallas-area water treatment store.

The store, Pure Water Products of Denton, Texas,  following the national trend of beginning the after-Thanksgiving “Black Friday” sales event early, opened its doors to after-Thanksgiving shoppers at 8:00 AM on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.  “Since we are closed on Black Friday,” store manager Katey Shannon explained, “we decided to provide our customers the opportunity to do their post-Thanksgiving shopping on Wednesday.”

Although the store has the  policy of “same low price every day” pricing and it never has sales, shoppers were lined up in its parking lot well before the 8:00 AM opening.  Mrs. Nicholson, a Garland, Texas resident who had come to Denton especially for the early shopping opportunity, was believed to be fourth or fifth in line when the store opened its doors.  As she raced for the countertop water filter counter, Mrs. Nicholson somehow lost her footing,  fell in the store aisle, and skidded several feet on her right thigh.  It is not known at this time if broken bones resulted or if the injury is only a bad sprain.

Miss Shannon blamed excessive speed for the accident and added that the store’s spacious, unobstructed aisles  might encourage shoppers to move more quickly than is prudent.  “We have clearly visible, friendly signs throughout the store,” Shannon said, “that remind shoppers: DO NOT RUN.  THIS MEANS YOU!”

Commenting on Mrs. Nicholson’s accident, Shannon said, “Look, I’m sorry she hurt her hip, but we warned her not to gallop through the store.”

 

Mrs. Nicholson is still in a Denton hospital and could not be reached for comment.

Miss Shannon said that Pure Water Products recommends “Safe Shopping,” which means avoiding the dangers of crowded stores by buying online.