Climate change and the doom-industrial complex
04/04/13 15:05
Last spring, I was asked by the editors of PLoS Biology on the occasion of the Rio+20 meeting to edit an essay by a collection of researchers based mostly in New Mexico who focus on a branch of ecological science called macroecology. This specialty looks for the physical basis (that is, from physics, not physiological) of many biological processes. A common pattern linked to physical processes such as the conservation of energy is Bergmann’s rule, which states that everything else being equal species in cold regions such as the Arctic should be larger than their near relatives in warmer regions.
Read More...
Read More...
Comments
Managing Water: Is it just simple tradeoffs?
03/04/13 14:25
As a scientist, I think managing water is a lot more than simply balancing needs — businesses vs cities vs ecosystems vs poverty. This goes to much of my concern with discussing the so-called water “nexus” issues, which represent an emerging language among policymakers and especially the private sector around how to balance food, energy, and water availability. The German government hosted a big, formal international meeting in Bonn in November 2011 about these tradeoffs, centered on this publication by Holger Hoff, which itself was really centered on a single piece of art.
Read More...
Read More...
Learning across boundaries: More about AGWA
02/04/13 14:00
Many water-related publications and blogs have noted that this is the International Year of Water Cooperation. For such a fluid molecule, cooperation seems to be an enormous challenge, with conflict seemingly more likely to be an outcome than friendship and sharing. However, even in the Colorado River there have been some positive signs of late. I wanted to share a group I helped form and that I help run. We just received a major external recognition, so I feel very proud of group’s work to date.
Read More...
Read More...
Climate-water technical capacity: some political recognition?
23/03/13 18:09
In Celebration of World Water Day and their 1st anniversary, the US Water Partnership (USWP), founded by Sec of State Hillary Clinton to mobilize water expertise from public, private, research, and NGO circles, announced the addition of two new Signature Initiatives. One of these is focused on developing technical capacity on climate adaptation and resilient water management.
Read More...
Read More...
How much water is on earth? Is that amount changing?
23/03/12 10:11
While seemingly basic questions, they are actually a bit complex and there is much research occurring around them right now:
Read More...
Read More...
Revenge of the Nerds: Climate Change and Water at the World Water Forum
21/03/12 14:05
Three years ago, I attended my first World Water Forum in Istanbul. These meetings occur every three years, with each Forum in a different country. For me, Istanbul marked the beginning of several key alliances and initiatives. It was the Forum that happened before the Copenhagen COP in particular, and climate change discussions were already at a fever pitch by March and contained a strongly optimistic view of what might happen that year on mitigation policy. This was also the first period when we saw the extended water community begin to discuss adaptation in a more serious, sustained way.
Read More...
Read More...
Big Dams and Climate Change: A Debate
21/03/12 14:04
I did not personally attend this session though I was in Marseille at the same time, but a colleague sent a link this morning to a debate at the World Water Forum last week on big dams and their role in maintaining or creating climate resilience:
http://www.worldwaterforum6.org/en/gallery/videos/forum-sessions-and-conferences/friday-16-march/?id=308
(scroll to the bottom of the screen to the third of the three YouTube vidoes to watch the debate, which itself is divided into eight or nine segments)
Read More...
http://www.worldwaterforum6.org/en/gallery/videos/forum-sessions-and-conferences/friday-16-march/?id=308
(scroll to the bottom of the screen to the third of the three YouTube vidoes to watch the debate, which itself is divided into eight or nine segments)
Read More...
New stationarities: avoiding problems in the solutions
06/03/12 13:27
Most of the things that are wrong with water are easy to identify: the massive quantities of largely untreated sewage, industrial pollution that has been the legacy of the industrial revolution worldwide, chemical fertilizer and pest management runoff that is the legacy of the agricultural revolution in the most productive countries, building “bad dams” that are designed and/or operated in ways that significantly an negatively alter the ecosystems and livelihoods of rivers, invasive species, and the overconsumption and diversion of water resources, killing rivers for great lengths or draining lakes and marshes into cities, fields, and factories.
You could call these “first-order problems” with managing water. Read More...
You could call these “first-order problems” with managing water. Read More...
Water footprint: a tool for climate adaptation?
28/02/12 15:42
Today, a major new article on water footprinting by Hoekstra and Mekonnen published in PNAS as an open-source PDF. Hoekstra is the most famous proponent of water footprint analyses, and he’s responsible for publicizing one of the most influential ideas in the past decade or two about water.
Read More...
Read More...
Peter Gleick, double standards, and faith in science: Lessons for communicating climate issues?
26/02/12 09:49
The leadership of progressive thinking about water and climate has taken a major hit in the past ten days with the public shaming of Peter Gleick. Many of you are probably familiar with Gleick, founder and head of the Pacific Institute, but if not, Gleick is the closest that the water community has ever had to a “face.” Gleick never pretended to represent all of the water community — he didn’t champion WASH issues, for instance, and his discussions of water issues in the developing world and climate change adaptation around water have often been somewhat simplistic. But he has been an incredibly effective champion of issues for the energy-water nexus (the connections between energy generation of all kinds and water consumption, and the high energy costs of moving water, both virtual and real water). He has also been extraordinary in communicating to corporations about water issues, even corporations whose work is not obviously and directly connected to water. More generally, the Pacific Institute has served as a very effective communications hub for global water issues.
Read More...
Read More...
New publication: Water rights in a changing world
03/11/11 07:29
The landscape of rights of access and management of water resources is changing rapidly, both for hydrological and political reasons. The UN has recently weighed into this debate, and this blog and many other sources have documented the shifts that are occurring in terms of water timing, quality, and quantity. The intersection of this debate is extremely sensitive — and basically agua incognita. A new publication from Hydrology.nl explores these issues in a compelling way. Read More...
A federal freshwater adaptation law in the US? Pat Mulroy - Part 3: Consensus & Economics
03/11/11 07:20
Part 3 — Consensus and Economics (and the first piece of US freshwater adaptation legislation to come before the US Congress!)
In the third and final part of Pat Mulroy’s interview, she discusses how policy, economics, and climate change come together — both in the Colorado river basin and around freshwater management across the US. Climate impacts in hydrology and ecology are altering the economic landscape across the region, and policymakers and the public are faced with difficult and often expensive choices.
Perhaps most remarkable, Pat Mulroy discusses the first domestic piece of climate adaptation legislation at the national level in the US, which has been proposed in the US House of Representatives by Lois Cardin of California and in the Senate by Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, Barbara Boxer of California, and Harry Reid of Nevada (where Pat’s office is located).
For more information on this first piece of climate adaptation legislation and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, select Read More. Read More...
In the third and final part of Pat Mulroy’s interview, she discusses how policy, economics, and climate change come together — both in the Colorado river basin and around freshwater management across the US. Climate impacts in hydrology and ecology are altering the economic landscape across the region, and policymakers and the public are faced with difficult and often expensive choices.
Perhaps most remarkable, Pat Mulroy discusses the first domestic piece of climate adaptation legislation at the national level in the US, which has been proposed in the US House of Representatives by Lois Cardin of California and in the Senate by Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, Barbara Boxer of California, and Harry Reid of Nevada (where Pat’s office is located).
For more information on this first piece of climate adaptation legislation and the Southern Nevada Water Authority, select Read More. Read More...
