The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
The Japanese capital Tokyo receives 1,400 mm of rain in a year. But concrete prevents it from percolating into the ground. Urban flooding and acute water scarcity affected the people almost every second year. The solution to both problems lay in rainwater harvesting. Sumida City was the first ward of …
When I was speaker of the Lok Sabha, I called a special session to discuss serious issues confronting the country. I don't think water was discussed in this special session. We never thought of it. We talked about corruption and criminalisation. Experts and politicians will have to come together at …
Scarcity of water makes the life of women in rural India particularly problematic. They have to walk several kilometres to fetch a bucket of water. Utthan, a voluntary agency in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, is mobilising women to tackle drinking water shortages and land salinity in Ahmedabad and Bhavnagar districts. It has …
Three countries in Southeast Asia -- Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines-- have made efforts to provide drinking water by capturing rain. In Thailand, the absence of foreign assistance for large-scale water projects forced the government to look at smaller options, with great success. The Population and Community Development Association, an …
One third of Mount Kilimanjaro's ice fields have completely melted in the last two decades and the rest of the mountain's ice could disappear by 2015, says Lonnie Thompson, a professor at the us -based Ohio State University, who made an aerial survey of the mountain's peak. He attributed the …
most brands of bottled water brands in Pakistan are either contaminated or unfit for human consumption, says the findings of government-run Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (pcrwr). The analysis of 17 water quality parameters reveal that all brands show drastic variations between labelled and analytical values. "Out of …
Anybody can tell you they are essential for a decent way of life: safe drinking water and sanitation. Since the 1980s governments have made drinking water available to more and more people across the worldyetmillions survive without it even today. Sanitationon the other handis not a priority on the governments'
twenty states in India are endemic to fluorosis, a disease caused by excess intake of fluoride in drinking water that can result in various health hazards such as discoloured teeth and deformed bones. Several nations including Argentina, China and Japan are under the grip of this disease. It has spread …
San Mateo, a landfill site located in Antipolo city, the Philippines, is posing a health hazard to the local residents. The residents fear that the toxic nature of the dump could cause serious health effects. San Mateo receives some 6,000 tonnes of solid waste everyday, generated by Manila's 12 million …
The water you drink could be a concoction of sex hormones, sunscreen agents, antiseptics, painkillers, and antiinflammatory and antibiotic drugs, among other things. This comes out from studies conducted in Germany, Canada and the us. Drugs and personal care products excreted or washed off our bodies are finding their way …
clean drinking water is a fundamental right of all citizens, ruled the Supreme Court recently. The apex court said that Article 21 of the Constitution guaranteeing right to life also includes the right to clean drinking water and the state is duty-bound to provide it. The apex court has asked …
Kolleru Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake in the districts of East and West Godavari of Andhra Pradesh. The major population centres in the Kolleru Lake region are the 148 villages of which 50 bed villages and 98 belt villages. All bed and belt villages in lake region have …
researchers have linked nitrate in drinking water with recurrent acute respiratory disorder in children. Research conducted by S K Gupta and colleagues at the Satellite Hospital, Bampark, Jaipur has found a relation between high intake of nitrates and symptoms of lung infection ( Environmental Health Perspectives , Vol 108, No …
cases of crippling bone deformities are emerging from four villages on the outskirts of Lahore. These villages are now known as the "fluoride belt'. Says Sajid Maqbool, project director of the Children Hospital in Lahore: "So far, 100-120 cases
More than half the population of Bangladesh is facing a threat of arsenic poisoning from drinking contaminated water. Health experts are terming it as "the largest mass poisoning in world history.' According to Allan Smith, epidemiology professor at the Berkeley-based University of California, around 125 million Bangladeshis are exposed to …
Three executives and 19 workers of two companies were charged with dumping tons of toxic waste into a river in southern Taiwan. Prosecutors said that the executives could be sentenced to life imprisonment if convicted of attempted murder. They were caught pouring a cancer-causing solvent, dimethyl benzene, into a tributary …
while Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether ( mtbe) - a harmful blending stock used as a mix with unleaded petrol to increase oxygen content in petrol for cleaner burning - has been dumped in the us where it has caused serious problems of groundwater contamination, the Union ministry of environment and …
The contamination of groundwater by arsenic in Bangladesh is the largest poisoning of a population in history, with millions of people exposed. This paper describes the history of the discovery of arsenic in drinking-water in Bangladesh and recommends intervention strategies. Tube-wells were installed to provide
researchers in the us have developed a pen-shaped battery-operated device that can quickly and safely disinfect contaminated drinking water. This device can prove to be highly useful for travelers, soldiers and victims of natural disaster. The operation of this device is very simple: just remove the pen's cap, remove a …
the polluted lakes of Udaipur, some of which have dried up to 60 per cent, may finally get a fresh lease of life. Acting on a petition filed by the Jheel Sanrakshan Samiti ( jss ), an Udaipur-based non-governmental organisation ( ngo ), the Rajasthan High Court has ordered the …
