It takes about 728 gallons (2,757 liters) of water to produce the food an average British person eats every day. This comes from a new study conducted by European Commission entitled, “The water footprint of different diets within European sub-national geographical entities.” Food generally comprises the largest part of a person’s water footprint, and meat […]
As millions of ‘data miners’ the world over rush to extract wealth from cyber currencies, the wealth comes at a potentially high price – the water it takes to generate each invisible unit. A recent back-of-an-envelope calculation – a single transaction burns as much electricity as a household consumes in a week – suggests bitcoin’s escalating demand […]
Warming temperatures and increasing amounts of pollutants that blue-green algae feed on have produced algae blooms that have affected communities like Salem, Oregon and Toledo, Ohio. Now, both states require regular toxins testing in their drinking water sources. More states will likely follow suit, because, as the climate warms, Harmful Algae Blooms (HABS) are becoming […]
A recent study entitled the “Intensification of the water footprint of hydraulic fracturing” has caused a stir among observers of the petroleum-product extraction technique due to its implications in water-stressed areas. A Duke University team led by Avner Vengosh, a well-known scientist studying the hydraulic fracturing (fracking), recorded huge surges in water use in the […]
Miami and south Florida are ground zero for serious sea-level rise due to climate change. But if rising levels of of salty seawater and heavier rain events infiltrate the Biscayne Aquifer — Miami’s essential drinking water source — then the survival of entire city is at risk. Rising seas are a well know threat to […]
Faced with completely draining their water supply dry, officials and residents of El Paso, Texas worked together to change their ways and ensure a steady supply for the future. Now, according to the city’s water utility manager, Ed Archuleta, “We’re basically drought-proof.” How did they do it? A combination of actions that included massive water customer […]
Pakistan’s push to make as much profit as possible through export industries often doesn’t take negative externalities like water footprints into account when calculating profits. One such export industry – meat production – has a particularly high water footprint, which means, in effect, Pakistan is exporting a lot of its water as well as meat. […]
A new infographic from High Tide Technologies helps us understand how we use water in virtual ways (take our Water Footprint Calculator to see all the ways you use water). Learning about all the ways we use water throughout the day can help us use less. This is crucial knowledge because in the US we […]
In a new study, scientists used computer modeling to estimate the flow of mountain glacial melt in six river basins in the Pacific Northwest. They estimated glacier mass loss and meltwater volume from 1960 to the present, and predicted future changes through 2099. Scientists found that river basins fed by runoff from lower elevation glaciers […]
