The Stream, December 5: Oil Spill Devastates Israeli Nature Reserve

The Global Rundown

A breached oil pipeline along the Israel-Jordan border has been called “one of Israel’s worst environmental disasters.” The Philippines are investing in a new sewage treatment plant, and India is investing in a groundwater mapping effort. In Brazil, the promise of rain may allow some power plants to shut down, while more research is pointing towards deforestation’s role in drought. Texas could save lots of water by implementing an EPA Power Plan. Finally, we could combat climate change without decreasing fossil fuel use – but it would cost us.

“The full scope of the incident is still not clear to us, but it is certainly a matter of millions of liters of crude oil, which is dangerous both to animals and to the nature reserve itself.” – Guy Samet, Israeli Environment Ministry representative, on a massive oil spill flowing into an Israeli nature reserve. (RT)

By The Numbers

$US 17.6 trillion Cost of stopping climate change solely through the use of “carbon capture technologies”, wherein carbon dioxide is captured at the source and buried. Bloomberg News

106 billion liters/year Amount of water the State of Texas could save by implementing the EPA’s proposed rules to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing the use of coal would cut the amount of water used in the Texas power sector by 21 percent, according to an analysis released Wednesday by CNA Corporation, a nonprofit research group. The Texas Tribune

$US 331 million What India is planning to spend on mapping groundwater depletion. Aquifer data is being collected at six sites around the country. India’s population is heavily reliant on groundwater, but an amount more than twice the volume of the United States’ Lake Mead has been lost. Bloomberg News

Science, Studies, And Reports

A recent study by a Brazilian climate scientist is adding to the consensus on the link between deforestation and water availability. Many researchers agree that deforestation inhibits the movement of water vapor through the air – phenomena known as ‘sky rivers’ – which account for more than two thirds of the rain in southeastern Brazil. The Associated Press

On The Radar

Construction began Thursday on a new sewage treatment plant serving Manila. The plant will be the Philippines’ largest, and will have the capacity to treat 100 million liters of sewage per day. Bloomberg News

Forecasts of increased rain in Brazil are raising hopes that some of its thermal power plants can be shut down by March. Drought has slashed the nation’s hydroelectric power supply, necessitating expensive energy via power plants. Bloomberg News