Entries by Codi Kozacek

Study: Freshwater Food Webs Hit Hard by Drought

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A new report out of the United Kingdom’s academic world concludes that droughts can cause sharp declines in the number of species in a stream. Additionally, there is the potential for partial collapse of aquatic food webs.

The Stream, September 14: Has Thailand Done Enough to Prepare For Floods?

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Floods A recent spate of flooding in Thailand has raised concerns that the country is still not adequately protected against heavy rains and overflowing rivers, Reuters reported. Floods last year killed more than 800 people and shut down major industries. The largest weather field research project in European history aims to improve flash flood monitoring […]

The Stream, September 12: French Utility Experiments With Income-based Water Rates

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French utility Suez Environnement will charge residents in Dunkirk, France different rates for water based on their income and level of usage, Bloomberg News reported. The French government is also pursuing legislation to make essential utilities like water, natural gas and power more affordable for low-income families. Downpours and floods have forced evacuations and impeded […]

New Orleans Survived Isaac, and So Did I

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The city’s new flood protection system was tested by the hurricane — and it passed. Photo courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory This satellite image caught Hurricane Isaac — a tropical storm at the time — churning over the Gulf of Mexico just after midnight on August 28. Hurricane Isaac produced a 2-to-3-meter (6-to-10-foot) storm surge […]

The Stream, September 7: Pesticides Exact Big Toll on Health and Environment

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Heavy downpours triggered floods and caused roofs to collapse in Pakistan, killing at least 50 people, Xinhua reported. The report suggests that heavy rainfall late in the monsoon season has become more common in Pakistan over the past few years. Agriculture The growing production of chemical pesticides in developing countries poses significant threats to human […]

The Stream, September 5: Cubbie Station Sale Raises Concerns for Australia’s Water

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The possible sale of Australia’s Cubbie Station to Chinese investors has sparked concerns about water buyback targets for the Murray-Darling River Basin, according to The Australian. Cubbie station, the country’s largest cotton producer, has water entitlements of about 140 billion liters (36.9 billion gallons) per year. Food Prices and Security Three United Nations food agencies […]

The Stream, August 31: Hurricane Isaac Causes Shipping Headaches on Mississippi

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Hurricane Isaac Hurricane Isaac, which hit land Tuesday evening near New Orleans, has brought barge traffic on the Mississippi River to a crawl, Bloomberg News reported. The backup is expected to further slow exports of grain from the United States. For almost 24 hours on Tuesday, strong winds and storm surge from the hurricane reversed […]

The Stream, August 29: Arctic Ice Reaches Record Low

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With a few weeks still left in the annual melt season, Arctic sea ice cover has already diminished to the lowest area on record, covering 4.10 million square kilometers (1.58 million square miles), AlertNet reported. Hurricane Isaac, which made landfall near New Orleans yesterday night, could dredge up as much as 1 million barrels of […]

Weak Monsoon Raises Specter of Drought in India

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Monsoon rainfall is 14 percent below average in India, which depends on rainwater to feed more than 50 percent of its agricultural land. Image courtesy of Voyage On Wheels via Flickr Creative Commons After a slow start, monsoon rains have picked up in India, but are still 14 percent below the long-term average. Deficient rains […]

Preparing for Isaac Means Hoarding Water

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Circle of Blue reporter Codi Yeager-Kozacek, a native Michigander now living in southern Alabama, is having her first taste of a hurricane. Image courtesy of The Weather Channel Click the image to track Isaac with an interactive tool from The Weather Channel Growing up in Northern Michigan, piles of snow, icy roads, and short-term power […]

The Stream, August 24: Brutal Attack Over Land and Water in Kenya

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In the worst attack since post-election violence in Kenya four years ago, 52 people—primarily women and children—were killed in an ethnic clash over land and water, AFP reported. Thousands more Chinese citizens living near the Three Gorges Dam may be forced to move as landslides sparked by changing reservoir levels become a serious problem, according […]

The Stream, August 22: Droughts Hit Europe

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Polluted drinking water may have sickened more than 1,000 people in an Egyptian town, though official government estimates say only 56 people were affected, the Egypt Independent reported. The incident sparked protests. The United Nations Green Climate Fund Board will meet August 23 for the first time to lay the groundwork for how the $US […]