Climate Change Raises New Concerns About Large Areas Of World That Could Run Out Of Water
News on the environment looks at the increasing risk of running out of water, a real possibility in 17 countries that use almost all their water, and new evidence that using fans really is OK during extreme heat waves despite warnings to the contrary. Other environmental news comes from California, Georgia and New York.
The New York Times:
A Quarter Of Humanity Faces Looming Water Crises, Study Says
Countries that are home to one-fourth of Earth’s population face an increasingly urgent risk: The prospect of running out of water. From India to Iran to Botswana, 17 countries around the world are currently under extremely high water stress, meaning they are using almost all the water they have, the World Resources Institute said in a report published Tuesday. (Sengupta and Cai, 8/6)
Stat:
Fans May Be Safe To Use During Heat Waves, Study Suggests
As heat waves occur more frequently around the world, many cities are coping with the heat by establishing cooling centers, urging residents to find air-conditioned public buildings, and handing out free bottles of water — but they caution people to avoid using fans when temperatures exceed the high 90s. However, a preliminary study published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that using fans to cool off may be safer than previously thought — even when temperatures exceed 100 degrees. (Joseph and Hailu, 8/5)
California Healthline:
Modern Wildfires Pose New Health Risks For Firefighters
As California’s wildfire season gets underway in earnest this month — with crews working to contain a 14,000-acre blaze in rugged Modoc County on the Oregon border — new research underscores the risks that modern wildfires pose to firefighters’ long-term health. Studies long have linked firefighters’ on-the-job exposure to chemicals and toxins in urban blazes with an increased risk of cancer. More recently, as urban-style development reaches into once remote stretches of California’s mountains and forests, wildfires are decimating not only vast swaths of forest but also whole communities of homes and businesses. (Feder Ostrov, 8/5)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
EPA To Hold Hearings Aug. 6 About How Georgia Manages Coal Ash
Georgia is positioned to become the second state in the nation to assume oversight of how it disposes of its coal ash through a statewide permit program. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says a state management program, first approved in Oklahoma, puts decision-making in the hands of those who best understand local issues surrounding coal ash. But local environmentalists are concerned that state oversight could make it harder for citizens to hold utilities accountable and challenge plans that could have long-term consequences on human health and the environment. (Rhone, 8/5)
The Associated Press:
32 Years After Poisoning, Cleanup Launched At Arsenic Site
The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing a Superfund cleanup of a neighborhood in New York contaminated with arsenic from a 19th-century mine. The contamination first came to the agency's attention in 1987 when two residents were hospitalized with arsenic poisoning from their well water in Kent, 50 miles north of New York City. (8/6)