The Stream, September 21: Flood Evacuations

About 1.2 million people have been told to evacuate in western and central Japan due to an approaching typhoon, Xinhua reported. Rising water levels in rivers near Nagoya are creating flood concerns.

Meanwhile, about 71,000 people in China’s Shaanxi Province have fled their homes to avoid the province’s worst flood in 50 years, according to Xinhua.

Floods have also returned in Pakistan a year after the country suffered the worst flooding in its history. The Atlantic shares a handful of recent images showing how residents are once again coping with flood waters on a massive scale.

What if the world’s population is growing faster than we think? The Guardian takes a closer look at global population forecasts and the environmental consequences of a more crowded Earth.

Current carbon dioxide emissions may saturate the atmosphere by 2020, meaning that every extra tonne of CO2 emitted would have to be removed to stay within safer climate limits, Reuters reported, citing research that will be published in the journal Climatic Change. The series of articles provide scenarios that will inform the next report by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2013 and 2014.

Small farms using sustainable agriculture practices that conserve water and soil may be the solution to future food security, The Christian Science Monitor reported. Current forecasts predict that a 70 percent increase in food production by 2050 will be needed to feed the world’s population.

Energy expert Daniel Yergin discusses with NPR the implications of hydraulic fracturing. Yergin sits on the U.S. Department of Energy Committee tasked with investigating the environmental impacts of the process.

The Stream is a daily digest spotting global water trends. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.

Codi Kozacek

A news correspondent for Circle of Blue based out of Hawaii. She writes The Stream, Circle of Blue’s daily digest of international water news trends. Her interests include food security, ecology and the Great Lakes.
Contact Codi Kozacek