Entries by Nadya Ivanova

The Stream, March 2: Shale Uncovered

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In the next chapter of its gas drilling series, The New York Times digs even deeper into the murky side of the U.S. shale gas boom. Even when companies treat their drilling wastewater, environmental and health risks remain, in the form of salts or sludge that are highly concentrated with radioactive material and other contaminants. […]

The Stream, March 1: What’s Choking China’s Growth?

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Pollution and growing demand for resources threaten to halt China’s economic growth, according to the country’s environment minister. The unusually blunt warning comes just a few days before the start of China’s annual parliament session, which will unveil the country’s development plan for the next five years. What else is choking China’s growth — follow […]

The Stream, February 28: California’s Water

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California’s water is on the brink of a catastrophe, according to a new study by the Public Policy Institute of California. The state is running out of cheap, new water sources, struggling to rein in pollution from agricultural runoff, and piggybacking on a fragmented system of hundreds of local and regional agencies in charge of […]

The Stream, February 25: Toxic Clean-up

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South Africa has pledged $168 million to clean the toxic water that threatens to spill out from derelict gold mines under Johannesburg, Reuters reports. It plans to immediately start building pumping, treatment and monitoring stations that would begin operations by March 2012, or just a few months before the acid water is expected to reach […]

The Stream, February 24: The Scale of Shale

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Will Europe replicate the shale gas boom in the United States? It’s far too early to know, experts say, but exploratory drilling is already under way in Britain, Germany and Poland. Others, like France, are holding off exploration until further environmental studies. South Korea proposed a “climate vulnerability” index to judge which developing countries are […]

The Stream, February 23: The Strategic Power of Water

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Some 50 million environmental refugees will flood the global north by 2020, as they escape from food shortages and other climate-induced disasters, according to experts at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Southern Europe might see a strong wave of migrants from Africa and the Middle East, where food […]

The Stream, February 22: Cholera and Climate

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Investing 2 percent, or roughly $1.3 trillion, of the global gross domestic product in 10 sectors, including agriculture, energy, construction and fishing, could shift the world to a greener future while simultaneously expanding the global economy at its current rate, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme says. The measures will reduce greenhouse […]

The Stream, February 21: Toxic Waste

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How is water affected by illegal waste exports from the United Kingdom to the developing world? The U.K. Environment Agency is pursuing in court 30 cases of illegal exports of electrical and household waste — as well as tyres — to West Africa and South East Asia, which have dire consequences for public health and […]

The Stream, February 18: Africa’s Food Industry

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Rising food prices have already pushed 44 million people in developing countries into poverty since last June, and are likely to hit Africa hard in the short term, the World Bank said earlier this week. But some experts argue that growing world consumption will also spark agribusiness investment, especially in Africa, according to The Christian […]

The Stream, February 17: Water + Climate

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Climate change made the floods that inundated England and Wales in 2000 between two and three times more likely to happen, according to a new study that promises to break ground in climate science, the Guardian reports. The findings suggest that experts can now not only trace the role of climate change in causing weather […]

The Stream, February 16: Asia’s Greenest Cities

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Singapore is the green champion among Asia’s cities, according to the Asian Green City Index. Singapore scored highest in wastewater treatment, mainly thanks to its NEWater project, which turns dirty water into a clean resource for drinking and industry through micro-filtration, reverse osmosis and ultra-violet technology. Hong Kong, Osaka, Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo and Yokohama trail […]

The Stream, February 15: Budget Cuts

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Greenwire gives details on the highs and lows of President Barack Obama’s EPA budget proposal. Under the plan, EPA would take a 12.6 percent funding cut, or $1 billion less, than fiscal year 2011, including a slash in money for local and state water projects. Deep cuts are also planned for the Great Lakes Restoration […]