Clipmarks | Marcariel's 'water' clips

Phoenix Lander Finds Right Conditions for Life on Mars

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 19:18:28 GMT

clipped by: Marcariel
clipper's remarks: I'm so glad the space program did not die. If we use this planet up, we have to have an alternate don't we ... unless the human race wants to perish from their own stupidity.

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

The Phoenix lander's first taste test of soil near Mars' north pole reveals a briny environment similar to what can be found in backyards on Earth, scientists said Thursday.

The finding raises hope that the Martian arctic plains could have conditions favorable for primitive life.

Phoenix so far has not detected organic carbon, considered an essential building block of life. Last week, the lander found evidence of ice below the soil.

Scientists generally agree that liquid water, a stable energy source and organic, or carbon-containing, compounds are required for a habitable zone.

Preliminary results showed the soil had a pH between 8 and 9, researchers said. A pH less than 7 means the solution is acidic, while a pH over 7 means it is salty. Phoenix also detected the presence of magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride in the mixture.

"It's typical of the soil here on Earth minus the organics,"

This soil clearly has interacted with water in the past

Tags: mars, phoenix lander, soil, water, organic, carbon

Water Could Be the Future Source of War

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 20:41:56 GMT

clipped by: Marcariel
clipper's remarks: There are already water shortages here in the U.S. ... in states you would not suspect, like Colorado (with mountains covered in snow).

If these predictions of the future of water are true, then there will be many countries and regions in our world that will be willing to fight to get the water they need, or over the rights to water sources.

Drilling water wells has become a booming business here in the States. The drillers can hardly keep up with the demands for new wells because the loss of irrigation water means the end of agriculture, and the end to fresh, cheaper water (alternative to public utility water).

We haven't listened to the global warming danger signals (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080325/ap_on_sc/antarctica_collapse;_ylt=AhkdhRa7pomM.kFSa9VB2sIPLBIF), so I doubt there will be any rush to fix this growing problems either!

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

The world faces a future of "water wars", unless action is taken to prevent international water shortages and sanitation issues escalating into conflicts

a coalition of 27 international charities marked World Water Day

demanding action to give fresh water to 1.1 billion people with poor supplies. "If we do not act, the reality is that water supplies may become the subject of international conflict in the years ahead

Tackling the water and sanitation crisis is essential if the 'Millennium Development Goal Call to Action' is to be a success, otherwise progress on health, education and environmental sustainability will be undermined. Each year 443 million school days are lost globally to diarrhoea and 1.8 million children die unnecessarily from these diseases.

over 1 billion people suffer from water shortages and 30 countries get more than a third of their water from outside their borders. With climate change, those figures are likely to grow, increasing the possibility of disputes

Tags: water, wars, drinking, shortages, sanitation, deaths

How Healthy Is Bottled Water

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 03:10:43 GMT

clipped by: Marcariel
clipper's remarks: Some amazing and scary facts about bottled water and the plastics it is packaged in in the USA. The cost , the article states, is more than gasoline in the U.S.

Clip Source: healthcommentary.org

According to Beverage Marketing Corporation, every man, woman and child in the United States ingests 192 gallons of liquid a year. That translates to about 3.7 gallons per week or two liters a day. Of that amount, approximated 14 percent are alcoholic beverages. Of the rest, carbonated sodas, at 28 percent, have the lead but are dropping slightly in popularity. They are giving way, in part, to water, which now represents 11 percent of U.S. liquid consumption, about the same amount as milk consumption, and about the same amount as coffee and tea combined.

The marketing appeals for bottled water – purer, safer, healthier – are fundamentally inaccurate. The reality is that public tap water is remarkably safe

25 percent of bottled water comes right from the tap.

it cost $6.82 a gallon, more than 3,000 times the cost of regular water

one-third did not meet state or bottled water industry standards for bacteria or contaminants

we spend

$10 billion per year in the United States on bottled water

Tags: water, bottled water, plastic bottles, bacteria, heath, tap water

H2O = Life

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 00:19:17 GMT

clipped by: Marcariel
clipper's remarks: This looks like a really wonderful exhibit from the American Museum of Natural History. We are 98% water and can't live without it. Fascinating subject.

I spent a whole day in that museum one Summer vacation years ago, and still didn't get to see everything. I would love to go back and see this exhibit.

Clip Source: www.amnh.org

Water is the most familiar substance in our lives, and perhaps the most mysterious. It is so plentiful that we call Earth the blue planet

Clip Source: www.amnh.org

WATER AS LIQUID

We all know what water is—a clear, odorless, tasteless liquid. And we all know what water does—falls from the skies, quenches thirst, cleans surfaces, makes plants grow.

Ties that Bind

A water molecule clings to other water molecules because of its chemical structure. This "stickiness"—which comes from a force called hydrogen bonding—accounts for many of water's most amazing traits.

Conveyor Belt

Water has a remarkable ability to absorb and hold heat. As a result, ocean currents play a large role in Earth's climate. The huge ocean current called the Gulf Stream—pale yellow in this image—sweeps from Florida to the central Atlantic and carries, every day, twice the heat that all the coal mined on Earth in a year could generate.

Slip Sliding Away

Ice is slick enough for skating, yet, surprisingly, scientists are still trying to figure out why.

Tags: water, h2o, solid, liquid, gas, ocean currents, exhibit, museum

An Extraterrestrial Poisoned the Water

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 03:39:27 GMT

clipped by: Marcariel
clipper's remarks: I know that when fluoride began to be added to the water in the U.S. everyone was told that there would be no more cavities. I had never known that too much fluoride could poison you.

This sounds like a serious problem that this town and the site in Mexico has. Sounds like they are suffering from "too much of a good thing".

Check out this site to learn of other things you can have too much of ... http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977207835

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

Well water of the tiny Canadian town of Gypsumville, Manitoba (population 65) has been poisoned by an extraterrestrial.

The invader: A meteorite which struck down almost a quarter-billion years ago, creating the 25-mile-wide (40-kilometer) Lake Martin impact crater.

The ancient impact shattered the granitic ground so that extraordinary amounts of fluoride now taint the well water.

higher than recommended amounts of fluoride can cause mottled teeth, while even higher concentrations can lead to neurological problems and softened bones.

This is could be the first time a meteor impact has been tied to a modern health threat

in Gypsumville, the mechanism is the meteor-shattered granite, which makes more of the fluorite mineral surfaces exposed to the groundwater.

Clip Source: dsc.discovery.com

now that they understand the geological cause of the problem, they can work out a solution

Tags: water, meteor, fluoride, canada, mexico, mineral

Water Footprint Calculator

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 01:20:45 GMT

clipped by: Marcariel
clipper's remarks: What a great thing. It's a real eye opener to see how much water you use based on the goods you consume. I never thought about water used in producing things I buy or eat. Wow.

Clip Source: www.waterfootprint.org

Individual water footprint - The extended calculator

Your individual water footprint is equal to the water required to produce the goods and services consumed by you. Please take your time and feel free to use the extended water footprint calculator developed by the researchers at UNESCO-IHE to assess your own unique water footprint. The calculations are based on the water requirements per unit of product as in your country of residence.

Food consumption

Cereal products (wheat, rice, maize, etc.)

Domestic water use

Indoors

How many showers do you take each day?

Outdoors

How many times per week do you wash a car?

Industrial goods consumption

What is your gross yearly income? (Only that part of income which is consumed by you).

Tags: water, products, consumed, footprint, calculator

Brain Eating Amoeba Kills 6

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 15:01:11 GMT

clipped by: Marcariel
clipper's remarks: Just when you think it's safe to go back into the water ... the brain-eaters are coming! Sounds like some crazy sci-fi story ... but this one is for real!!

Goes with the old saying ... "Everything that's fun is either dangerous, fattening, or illegal!"

Clip Source: abcnews.go.com

6 Die From Brain-Eating Amoeba in Warm Lake Waters; Health Officials Tracking Cases

It sounds like science fiction but it's true: A killer amoeba living in lakes enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain where it feeds until you die.

Even though encounters with the microscopic bug are extraordinarily rare, it's killed six boys and young men this year.

predicting more cases in the future.

"This is a heat-loving amoeba. As water temperatures go up, it does better," Beach said. "In future decades, as temperatures rise, we'd expect to see more cases."

the amoeba called Naegleria fowleri (nuh-GLEER-ee-uh FOWL'-erh-eye) killed 23 people in the United States, from 1995 to 2004. This year health officials noticed a spike with six cases three in Florida, two in Texas and one in Arizona. The CDC knows of only several hundred cases worldwide since its discovery in Australia in the 1960s.

lives almost everywhere in lakes, hot springs, even dirty swimming pools

Tags: brain-eating, amoeba, warm water, sediments

China's Growth may cause Central Asian Ecological Distaster

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 16:15:48 GMT

clipped by: Marcariel
clipper's remarks: Water, water everywhere ... and not a drop to use without death and disaster for an entire region of Asia.

Clip Source: www.eurasianet.org

Conjuring memories of the sharp reduction in the Aral Sea, one of the world’s worst man-made environmental disasters, Eleusizov described a nightmare scenario of Balkhash’s division into several smaller lakes and the spread of desertification throughout the surrounding area. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Worse still, he said, the Aral disaster has demonstrated that airborne salt, potentially produced by an evaporating Lake Balkhash, could be carried as far as glaciers in the Tien Shan Mountains. These glaciers, Eleusizov stressed, provide water for southern Kazakhstan, including Almaty, as well as portions of Xinjiang. Thus, a lack of foresight in handling the use if the Ili River could have profound ramifications, he added.

But this border area – as well as other, drier parts of the Xinjiang region – is at the heart of a lopsided battle for one of Central Asia’s most overlooked resources: water.

Tags: asia, china, water, ecology, resources, glaciers, aral sea, desertification

Towns in India want Coca-Cola plant closed

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 16:05:28 GMT

clipped by: Marcariel
clipper's remarks: Another giant corporation polluting. What's new here? The bottom line is the driving factor, not the people or the community involved.

Clip Source: us.oneworld.net

Indian State Promises to Turn Up Heat on Coca-Cola

New Delhi (August 20, 2007): In a significant government move against the Coca-Cola company, the chief minister of Kerala, Mr. V. S. Achutanandan, has promised full legal support to the community campaigning for the permanent closure of the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Plachimada in the south Indian state of Kerala.

Coca-Cola's bottling plant in Plachimada, one of its largest in India, has been shut down since March 2004 because of the strong community opposition as a result of severe water shortages in the area and pollution of the groundwater and soil.

The campaign and the case is also being watched closely internationally because the Supreme Court's decision can set a precedence for communities being able to assert their rights over large industrial projects.

Many of Coca-Cola's bottling plants in India are the target of community campaigns, accusing the company of exacerbating water shortages through water depletion and pollution.

Tags: coca cola, water, india, pollution