The Stream, January 26: Nigeria Drinking Water, Sanitation Shortages Deadlier Than Terrorist Group

The Global Rundown

A lack of safe water and sanitation is deadlier in Nigeria than terrorist group Boko Haram, a nonprofit group found, and a deadly mosquito-spread encephalitis is increasingly common in northern India due to changing rainfall and temperatures. The United Kingdom’s Environmental Audit Committee recommended a moratorium on fracking, while a spill of diesel fuel shut down a West Virginia town’s drinking water for days. Texas groundwater supplies have hardly recovered from a severe 2011 drought, and floods in Jakarta caused disruption over the weekend. The amount of green bonds issued last year rose to a record high.

“Everybody is worried about Boko Haram but the average Nigerian continues to see water as a private good not a public good that has to be provided by the government.”–Idayat Hassan, director of the Abuja-based Centre for Democracy and Development. The nonprofit WaterAid recently revealed that water and sanitation shortages in Nigeria killed 73,000 people in the country last year, compared to 4,000 killed by terrorist group Boko Haram. (Bloomberg)

By The Numbers

$39 billion Amount issued globally in “green” bonds last year to finance environmental projects, a record high. Bloomberg

744 cases Number of people infected with a deadly form of Japanese encephalitis in India’s Assam state in 2014, five times the number infected in 2010. Scientists say changing rainfall and temperature patterns are fueling the disease. Reuters

15,000 liters Amount of diesel fuel that spilled from an overturned tanker into a West Virginia river, shutting down drinking water for 12,000 people. Charleston Gazette

Science, Studies, And Reports

Texas lost more than three times the amount of water held in Lake Mead from its underground aquifers during the 2011 drought, and the state has so far only recovered 10 percent of that water, according to satellite research by the University of Texas at Austin. El Paso Times

The United Kingdom should impose a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in order to safeguard emission targets, water quality, air, and public health, according to the country’s Environmental Audit Committee. Bloomberg

On The Radar

Flooding from heavy rainstorms in Jakarta inundated homes, closed schools, and brought some public transit to a stop over the weekend. The Jakarta Post

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