The Stream, September 2: Malnutrition Could Rise As Africa Rainfall Changes

Climate Change
Changing rainfall patterns and increasing temperatures could force a 40 percent increase in malnutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2050, according to a new report by the Nairobi-based Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, AlertNet reported. Almost 90 percent of small-scale farmers in the region rely on rainfall to grow crops to produce half of the region’s food, the report said.

Water scarcity is growing for communities on Pacific island nations, hindering residents’ ability to save money for education and other services, Inter Press Service reported. The countries are looking to better rainwater harvesting technology and water infrastructure to guard against future supply shortages.

Energy
Approximately 38 percent of the world’s shale gas reserves are located in regions that are water stressed, according to a report from the Washington D.C.-based World Resources Institute, Bloomberg Businessweek reported. Extracting the gas through hydraulic fracturing requires large quantities of water, which will likely pose problems for places like China, where 61 percent of the country’s shale gas reserves are in dry areas.

Hydropower plants designed to generate energy by pumping water uphill and then releasing it are facing economic challenges in Europe, where forms of renewable energy like wind and solar power are making day-time electricity prices cheaper, Reuters reported. A number of pumped water plants have been cancelled, but others, like Switzerland’s Nant de Drance plant, are too far along to halt.

Pollution
Dead fish weighing almost 50 metric tons were found in Mexico’s Lake Cajititlan over the weekend, the latest in a series of fish kills in the lake this summer, the Guardian reported. Environment officials are concerned that the fish kills are the result of widespread pollution from wastewater treatment plants, farms, and industrial plants.

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