Tag: water

Mass fish deaths haunt river on Polish-German border

BRIESKOW-FINKENHEERD, Germany, July 8, 2023 (AFP) – Fisherman Henry Schneider stopped work for several months after a toxic algae bloom hit the Oder river last August, decimating his catch. Schneider, 43, whose family has made its living from the river for over a century, finally took up his activities again in May. But fears of a repeat are growing, as global warming adds to the toxic mix of pollution putting the delicate ecosystem under pressure. […]

We may be underestimating the climate risk to crops: researchers

PARIS, July 4, 2023 (AFP) – The risks of harvest failures in multiple global breadbaskets have been underestimated, according to a study Tuesday that researchers said should be a “wake up call” about the threat climate change poses to our food systems. Food production is both a key source of planet-warming emissions and highly exposed to the effects of climate change, with climate and crop models used to figure out just what the impacts could […]

Record UK drinking water demand sparks water use restrictions

LONDON, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – Millions of people across parts of southern Britain will be banned from using garden hoses as a hot spell sparks record demand for drinking water, authorities said on Friday. A temporary ban for people living in the southern Kent and Sussex areas will come into force on June 26 as forecasters predict the summer will see little rainfall. South East Water said demand in June had broken records despite […]

In Sudan’s capital, risking death in search of water

KHARTOUM, Sudan, May 26, 2023 (AFP) — Fighting in Sudan has left hundreds of thousands of Khartoum residents without running water, with some forced to risk their lives and seek it out during brief lulls in violence. After nearly six weeks of street battles between forces loyal to rival generals and with temperatures regularly topping 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), many inhabitants of the capital’s northern suburbs are in desperate need of drinking water. […]

US states reach agreement to save dwindling Colorado River

  By Huw GRIFFITH Agence France-Presse LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Western US states said Monday they have reached an agreement to cut the amount of water they take from the dwindling Colorado River, which is threatened by a quarter of a century of drought and worsening climate conditions. The plan comes after years of bitter wrangling, with states refusing to give ground even as the water course has reached crisis point, threatening drinking […]

Water woes shake up Spain’s election campaign

By Valentin BONTEMPS Agence France-Presse DOÑANA NATIONAL PARK, Spain, May 17, 2023 (AFP) – Concern over the future of Spain’s Donana natural park, which is threatened by overfarming, has made water management a key issue ahead of local elections at the end of May. Spain’s water resources are becoming exhausted while its irrigation needs keep rising, “an unsustainable situation”, said Felipe Fuentelsaz of WWF Spain. The Donana National Park in the southern Andalusia region, home […]

Water rationed in Catalonia as drought bites deeper

  L’ Espluga de Francolí, Spain | AFP | by Rosa SULLEIRO For months, residents of L’Espluga de Francoli have been saving water in bottles and foregoing showers to cope with long hours of daily water rationing as northeastern Spain suffers one of its worst droughts in decades. While this small Catalan town has suffered supply problems for years due to the depleted state of its water table, the current drought has made things worse. […]

France’s Macron dismisses unrest, promises drought action plan

by Marina Laouchez and Valerie Leroux Agence France-Presse SAVINES-LE-LAC, France (AFP) — President Emmanuel Macron announced new water-saving measures for France on Thursday as he sought to brush aside weeks of political turmoil over a deeply unpopular pensions reform. Dozens of protesters calling for him to resign gathered in the Alpine village of Savines-le-Lac ahead of his announcement, as he faces the biggest challenge of his second term in office. Two people were arrested before […]

‘Floating toilets’ help Cambodia’s lake-dwelling poor

by Suy SE Agence France-Presse SIEM REAP, Cambodia (AFP) — Pointing to the murky waters of the Tonle Sap, Si Vorn fights back tears as she recalls her four-year-old daughter dying from diarrhea after playing in the polluted lake. Her family of 12 is among 100,000 people living in floating houses on Cambodia’s vast inland waterway, and while their village has 70 houses and a primary school, it has no sanitation system. Now a local […]

‘Desperate for water’: drought hits Mexican industrial powerhouse

by Sofia Miselem Agence France-Presse MONTERREY, Mexico (AFP) — Maria Celia Navarro smiles wistfully as she remembers the now-unthinkable luxury of taking a shower in her home before a water shortage struck one of Mexico’s wealthiest cities. Nestled in mountains a few hours’ drive from the US border, industrial powerhouse Monterrey boasts living standards that many Mexicans could only dream of. Residents of the northern city, whose metropolitan area is home to around five million […]

Hundreds of thousands evacuated in China after heaviest rains in decades

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — The heaviest rainfall in decades has triggered floods and landslides in southern China, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people, state media reported. The downpours have dangerously swelled waterways in the low-lying Pearl River basin in recent days, threatening manufacturing, shipping and logistics operations at a time when supply chains are already stressed because of China’s strict Covid-19 controls. The average rainfall in Guangdong, Fujian and Guangxi provinces […]

Unprecedented water curbs kick in for drought-hit Los Angeles

  by Laurent BANGUET Unprecedented restrictions on water usage went into effect Wednesday in the Los Angeles area, which like most of California is in the grip of severe drought for the third consecutive year. More than six million customers are affected by the new measures, which limit watering gardens to one day a week and only during the coolest hours, under penalty of a fine and reduced water flow. The goal is to reduce […]