Entries by Sarah Haughn

West African waters becoming hub for human trafficking, drug smuggling

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BUBAQUE, Guinea-Bissau – As the fishing industry off the coast of West Africa yields little profit for fishermen, some are turning to drug smuggling and human trafficking to compensate for their losses. With fuel prices high and roads too poor to transport fish into West Africa’s interior, the industry is becoming both less practical and […]

Senate Endorses Great Lakes Compact, Amid Growing Concern for Region’s Health

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CHICAGO – After a decade of deliberation, the bill created to protect the Great Lakes Basin from interests that would divert the resource to water-starved regions of the country, is finally finding its way through Congress. According to the Chicago Tribune, Senate endorsed the Great Lakes Compact this past Friday. Cameron Davis, president of the […]

Renowned artist, Greg Mort, encourages water stewardship

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PORT CLYDE, Maine – Internationally acclaimed artist, Greg Mort, held his ‘Art for Stewardship’ open studio this weekend at Fieldstone Castle in Maine, where the focus was water. Mort is celebrated for using artistic genius to catalyze responsible use of natural resources, such as water. He has completed paintings in collaboration with Al Gore, the […]

China considers engineering rain for Olympic parade

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BEIJING – With the Olympics almost underway, Chinese officials are worried that inclement weather could precipitate calamity. And they may use science to conjure benevolent skies. In order to prevent rain, Reuters reports, organizers are considering using technology like cloud seeding to encourage precipitation in the city’s outskirts and also to alter raindrop size. Read […]

Senators Bicker Over Standards in Ballast Water Bill

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – While the Senate has moved to pass the Great Lakes Compact, it has stalled on legislation that would address the invasion of harmful non-indigenous species into the basin. The AP reports that Senator Daniel Inouye, chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, is pushing to get clean-up standards established for the […]

Global warming presents potential bottleneck for proposed Nestle plant

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SACRAMENTO – If Nestle Waters North America fails to consider the effects of global warming before opening a new bottled water plant in northern California, Attorney General Jerry Brown intends to sue the company. The plant’s design allows it to pump enough water in a single year to fill more than 3 million 8-ounce water […]

Opinion: Turning the tide in the water crisis

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In conversation with public responses to their proposed water bond, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senator Dianne Feinstein explain the logic behind the legislation. They present reasons for why they feel that approving the bond is both urgently necessary and beneficial in the long run. From the Los Angeles Times: We believe this is a […]

Writing competition challenges students to think about the future of India’s water

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MUMBAI – Eco-petition, an annual student writing competition sponsored by international products company Henkel India Ltd., has announced that this year’s theme is water. A press release on Indiatelevision.com reports the contest, named “”Hold your Blue Gold – My Innovative Strategy to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Water,” will gather papers from secondary school students across […]

Sculpture exhibit, Aquifer, to showcase water

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Water will be the theme for the Washington Sculptors Group’s upcoming exhibit, Aquifer. According to the exhibit’s curators, Aquifer will display work from a variety of artists who “articulate water’s beauty and spiritual qualities, augment understanding of its science, and intensify our society’s political awareness.” Housed at the Edison Gallery in Washington […]

Drought-stricken district in Inner Mongolia receives Swedish no-flush toilets

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DONGSHENG, Inner Mongolia – In a rapidly growing, water-starved region of Inner Mongolia, a project backed by Sweden’s Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) offers residents waterless toilets. Using no-flush, composting toilets cut household water consumption by one-third, reports the Swedish English daily The Local citing a report in the nation’s Svenska Dagbladet. Since 2002, SEI has […]

Proposed rule will prevent wells from illegally draining Colorado River

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Owners of wells in Arizona, California, and Nevada drain an estimated 5 billion gallons annually from the Colorado River. But, in a time when water for the desert is in high demand, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has proposed a rule that would require citizens who have drilled too closely to the river to have […]