Share of households experiencing water shortages has doubled over the past decade. Key findings Water supply ranks third among the most important problems that South Africans want their government to address. Only unemployment and crime/security are deemed more important. o A decade ago, water supply was ninth on the list of citizen concerns. o Rural…
The world is entering a period in which abnormal water supplies are becoming the norm, with river flows, groundwater and glaciers all showing signs of sustained disruption, the UN weather agency warned on Thursday. “This is not a single bad year, but a persistent decade-long signal,” said Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization…
Conservation scientist Lee White reflects on four decades spent creating Gabon’s national parks, tackling illegal logging and confronting the failures of global carbon markets. Climate change will trigger wars over water across much of Africa unless the continent protects the Congo Basin, warns former Gabonese environment minister Professor Lee White. White describes the Congo Basin…
When the creek beside Taudibura Garo’s school in Papua New Guinea floods, the water doesn’t stop at the gate. It rises through the pit toilets – making the school unsafe – sending the 16-year-old and her classmates home without being able to finish. She is one of an estimated 171 million students worldwide whose schooling…
Bulk water utility Rand Water on Thursday disclosed that it had become the latest institution to fall prey to cyberattackers. However, it said the impact on its operations has been minimal. Rand Water’s primary activity is the provision of bulk water supply services – potable bulk water and sanitation services — in Gauteng and neighbouring…
Water stored in dams and reservoirs for humans to use often evaporates, especially in hot regions like southern Africa. Rising temperatures speed evaporation up, leaving less water for people, farming and industry. Daniel Kwasi Kpeglo has just completed a PhD in physics. He explains his laboratory research into a new design – a thin nanomaterial…
Finance and water emerge as defining issues at COP17. PHOTO/UNCCD. By PATRICK MAYOYO ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia Negotiators, ministers, scientists and civil society leaders have entered a decisive phase of global talks aimed at tackling desertification, land degradation and drought, as the 17th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Convention to…
As the 17th session of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification enters its final week in Ulaanbaatar, ministers and global leaders will focus on finance, water, land, and food systems. The second and decisive week of the 17th session of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, UNCCD COP17, began on Monday, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia,…
Jenna Ortega is opening up about the pressures she faced growing up in Hollywood, revealing that as a child actor she sometimes went entire days without asking for food or water because she feared being “in the way.” The “Wednesday” star and former Disney Channel actor told Esquire in an interview posted Tuesday that she…
In the wake of cyberattacks on American water systems and cutbacks to federal assistance programs, some water companies are turning to volunteers, smaller cybersecurity companies and an AI program from Vanderbilt University for help. A new initiative announced Friday would create a first-of-its-kind hub for water facilities to share information on cyberthreats and build specialized…
