Schimbările climatice creează tot mai multe probleme în cele mai diverse locuri de pe glob. Inundaţiile masive cauzate de lacurile glaciare formate sau extinse ca urmare a schimbărilor climatice ameninţă milioane de persoane la nivel mondial, potrivit unui studiu publicat în revista ştiinţifică Nature Communications. Patru ţări sunt cele mai expuse riscului: India, Pakistan, China şi Peru, notează cercetătorii care au realizat această primă evaluare globală a zonelor ameninţate de acest fenomen. Volumul lacurilor formate atunci când gheţarii se topesc din cauza încălzirii globale a crescut cu 50% în 30 de ani, potrivit unui studiu anterior din 2020, bazat pe date satelitare. Aceste lacuri sunt extrem de instabile deoarece sunt cel mai adesea îndiguite de gheaţă sau de sedimente compuse din roci poroase şi resturi. Când apa acumulată trece prin aceste bariere naturale, pot apărea inundaţii masive în aval, provocând moartea a mii de persoane. "Nu zonele cu cel mai mare număr de lacuri glaciare sau cele cu cea mai rapidă creştere sunt neapărat cele mai expuse riscului. Pericolul provine mai degrabă de la numărul de persoane care trăiesc în apropierea acestor lacuri şi din capacitatea lor de a face faţă unor inundaţii sau nu", a explicat autorul principal al studiului, Caroline Taylor, doctorand la Universitatea din Newcastle, Anglia. Astfel, mii de persoane au murit în inundaţii cauzate de revărsarea lacurilor glaciare în zonele montane înalte din Asia, însă doar un număr redus în Pacificul de Nord-Vest, chiar dacă această regiune are de două ori mai multe lacuri glaciare. Potrivit studiului, aproximativ 90 de milioane de persoane din 30 de ţări trăiesc în 1.089 de bazine lacustre glaciare, iar 15 milioane dintre acestea locuiesc la un kilometru distanţă de o zonă ce poate fi inundată. Numai în zona montană înaltă din Asia, peste nouă milioane de persoane se află pe traseul direct al unor potenţiale inundaţii cauzate de lacurile glaciare, inclusiv cinci milioane în nordul Indiei şi Pakistan. În Pakistan, care numără peste 7.000 de gheţari în lanţurile muntoase din Himalaya, s-au produs în vara anului trecut inundaţii devastatoare, care au afectat peste 33 de milioane de persoane. Cercetări recente au arătat ca jumătate din cei 215.000 de gheţari de pe Pământ şi un sfert din masa lor se vor topi până la sfârşitul secolului, chiar dacă încălzirea globală poate fi limitată la 1,5 grade Celsius, obiectivul ambiţios al Acordului de la Paris. În ultimul secol, o treime din creşterea nivelului mării la nivel global a provenit din topirea gheţarilor.
https://reflectiicotidiene.blogspot.com Fiecare dintre noi are aproximativ 60.000 de gânduri pe zi. Iar toate aceste gânduri ale noastre produc consecinţe, pentru că fiecare gând este de fapt o energie pe care o lansăm în Univers şi nu doar în direcţia dorită, ci în toate direcţiile. Energia emisă de gândurile noastre îşi caută apoi, în drumul ei, o altă energie cu care să vibreze la unison, după principiul „ceea ce se aseamănă se adună”.
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joi, 9 februarie 2023
luni, 1 iunie 2015
Water hoarding begins in Brazil as one of the world's largest cities runs out of water
(NaturalNews) The historic drought gripping South America's largest nation is deepening, leading to rationing and forcing residents in one of the world's biggest cities to hoard water.
As reported by Reuters, besides hoarding, Brazilians in Sao Paulo are drilling homemade wells and implementing additional emergency measures ahead of forced rationing that could lead to water being shut off at taps for as long as five days a week.
In Sao Paulo, a major metropolitan city of 20 million, the main water reservoir has fallen to just 6 percent of its capacity, and the peak of the rainy season has recently passed.
The drought is more heavily concentrated around Sao Paulo, but other cities in Brazil's southeast, which is heavily populated, are also facing shortages and could eventually experience some rationing as well. Rio de Janeiro, a favorite tourist spot, is one of the cities that is facing less dire drought conditions.
As Reuters further reported:
Uncertainty over the drought and its consequences on jobs, public health and overall quality of life have further darkened Brazilians' mood at a time when the economy is struggling and President Dilma Rousseff's popularity is at an all-time low.
Rainy season has disappointed
The height of Brazil's rainy season falls in January, and this year rainfall was substantially less than normal. Because of that, officials in Sao Paulo have warned that they may have little choice but to cut off water supplies to customers for perhaps five days per week -- an extreme measure that could last until next year's rainy season, which begins in October, if not later.
The current drought in Brazil is the worst in nearly a century, officials have said.
State officials have yet to decide whether to implement strict rationing, partly because they are still hoping for heavy rains in this month and into the next. In recent days, rainstorms have actually led to a rise in some local lakes.
That said, independent projections hint that Sao Paulo's primary reservoir, Cantareira, may run dry as soon as April, if there are no major cuts in consumption. And because of that potentiality, many Sao Paulo residents have begun hoarding water now, while they can still get it.
Reuters further reported:
Large hospitals in Sao Paulo are installing in-house water treatment and recycling centers, among other measures, to make sure they can still carry out surgeries and other essential tasks if regular supply stops.
In the meantime, local companies are in a competition to secure deliveries from water tanker trucks, already a common sight on the congested streets of Sao Paulo, as they struggle to keep the water flowing in the dry city.
"It's like seeing 10 liters in your gas tank and knowing you won't make it to the next station," Stefan Rohr, the environmental director for industry group Ciesp, in Campinas, a large city of more than 3 million people just north of Sao Paulo, told Reuters.
40 million affected
There are a number of heavily water-intensive industries, like beverage makers, steel manufacturers and cellulose producers, that made water acquisition contingency plans long ago. They plan to either truck in water or use underground wells, ensuring, perhaps, that there is no major economic crisis to accompany the drought.
Smaller operations and businesses, however, such as restaurants, car washes, beauty salons and light industries, could close or otherwise restrict activities in a major way.
"The economic impact will be job losses," Rohr said.
Officials with Sabesp, Sao Paulo's state-controlled water utility, told Reuters they weren't sure when or even if rationing would be implemented. State Gov. Geraldo Alckmin, whose popularity has also plummeted as a result of the water crisis, declined to be interviewed by Reuters.
However, a member of the Brazilian president's Cabinet told the newswire service earlier in February on condition of anonymity that there will likely be some degree of water rationing in three of Brazil's largest metro areas: Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte, home to about 40 million people.
Sursa naturalnews
As reported by Reuters, besides hoarding, Brazilians in Sao Paulo are drilling homemade wells and implementing additional emergency measures ahead of forced rationing that could lead to water being shut off at taps for as long as five days a week.
In Sao Paulo, a major metropolitan city of 20 million, the main water reservoir has fallen to just 6 percent of its capacity, and the peak of the rainy season has recently passed.
The drought is more heavily concentrated around Sao Paulo, but other cities in Brazil's southeast, which is heavily populated, are also facing shortages and could eventually experience some rationing as well. Rio de Janeiro, a favorite tourist spot, is one of the cities that is facing less dire drought conditions.
As Reuters further reported:
Uncertainty over the drought and its consequences on jobs, public health and overall quality of life have further darkened Brazilians' mood at a time when the economy is struggling and President Dilma Rousseff's popularity is at an all-time low.
Rainy season has disappointed
The height of Brazil's rainy season falls in January, and this year rainfall was substantially less than normal. Because of that, officials in Sao Paulo have warned that they may have little choice but to cut off water supplies to customers for perhaps five days per week -- an extreme measure that could last until next year's rainy season, which begins in October, if not later.
The current drought in Brazil is the worst in nearly a century, officials have said.
State officials have yet to decide whether to implement strict rationing, partly because they are still hoping for heavy rains in this month and into the next. In recent days, rainstorms have actually led to a rise in some local lakes.
That said, independent projections hint that Sao Paulo's primary reservoir, Cantareira, may run dry as soon as April, if there are no major cuts in consumption. And because of that potentiality, many Sao Paulo residents have begun hoarding water now, while they can still get it.
Reuters further reported:
Large hospitals in Sao Paulo are installing in-house water treatment and recycling centers, among other measures, to make sure they can still carry out surgeries and other essential tasks if regular supply stops.
In the meantime, local companies are in a competition to secure deliveries from water tanker trucks, already a common sight on the congested streets of Sao Paulo, as they struggle to keep the water flowing in the dry city.
"It's like seeing 10 liters in your gas tank and knowing you won't make it to the next station," Stefan Rohr, the environmental director for industry group Ciesp, in Campinas, a large city of more than 3 million people just north of Sao Paulo, told Reuters.
40 million affected
There are a number of heavily water-intensive industries, like beverage makers, steel manufacturers and cellulose producers, that made water acquisition contingency plans long ago. They plan to either truck in water or use underground wells, ensuring, perhaps, that there is no major economic crisis to accompany the drought.
Smaller operations and businesses, however, such as restaurants, car washes, beauty salons and light industries, could close or otherwise restrict activities in a major way.
"The economic impact will be job losses," Rohr said.
Officials with Sabesp, Sao Paulo's state-controlled water utility, told Reuters they weren't sure when or even if rationing would be implemented. State Gov. Geraldo Alckmin, whose popularity has also plummeted as a result of the water crisis, declined to be interviewed by Reuters.
However, a member of the Brazilian president's Cabinet told the newswire service earlier in February on condition of anonymity that there will likely be some degree of water rationing in three of Brazil's largest metro areas: Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte, home to about 40 million people.
Sursa naturalnews
joi, 14 mai 2015
Cea mai aspră secetă din ultimii 1.200 de ani epuizează apa din cel mai mare rezervor al Americii
Seceta din statul California atinge noi praguri-record. Lacul Mead, cel mai mare rezervor din Statele Unite, a atins cel mai scăzut nivel de până acum. Alimentând California, Nevada și Arizona, el poate conține uimitoarea cantitate de 35 de kilometri cubi de apă. Dar acest nivel nu a mai fost văzut de foarte mulți ani.
„Ne aflăm la un nivel de 38%. Lacul Mead nu a mai fost atât de scăzut de când acesta era umplut, în anii 1930”, a spus purtătorul de cuvânt al Biroului de Reclamații al Statelor Unite din Las Vegas.
Dacă el va scădea și mai mult – ceva foarte probabil, dat fiind faptul că vara se apropie și că zăpada de pe creste nu pare să îl poată reumple – raționalizarea oficială a apei va începe pentru statele Arizona și Nevada. Și electricitatea generată de barajul Hoover, căruia lacul îi datorează existența, ar putea avea de suferit. Restricțiile de apă au fost impuse, deja, în California, dar unii hidrologi spun că raționalizarea trebuie să înceapă cât mai curând, pentru a evita un posibil dezastru.
O secetă trebuie să dureze cel puțin două decenii pentru a putea fi considerată ca fiind o „megasecetă”. Criza din California încă nu a ajuns acolo – durează de 15 ani – dar a fost deja clasificată ca fiind cea mai severă secetă din ultimii 1.200 de ani. Sursa science
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