April 4, 2016
by Building The World
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Spring downpours may evoke the expression: “raining cats and dogs.” In days of thatched roofs, domestic animals burrowed into the substrate, jumping forth during vernal storms. Green roofs (and walls) are making a comeback. Insulating, sound absorbing, green roofs soak … Continue reading
March 22, 2016
by Building The World
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We can live three weeks without food, but only three days without water. Our world faces a water crisis. Alarmingly, every 90 seconds a child dies of a water-related disease. Both developing and developed global areas suffer water problems; Flint, … Continue reading
February 22, 2016
by Building The World
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Sports are associated with water. Many sports are performed on, in or through water; other sports like running races build up a powerful thirst, often slaked at water stations. Because of their natural link, can sports help to raise awareness … Continue reading
January 23, 2016
by Building The World
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Flint, Michigan has made world news for a sad reason. In a temporary cost-cutting measure, authorities switched the city’s watersupply from Lake Huron (via Detroit) to the Flint River, known to contain corrosive minerals. Absent filters or other safeguards, river … Continue reading
December 29, 2015
by Building The World
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Depletion of underground aquifers accelerates global sea rise. According to a study published in Nature by a team of researchers including Yoshihido Wada of NASA Goddard Institute at Columbia University and Marc Bierkens of Utrecht University, groundwater use is rapidly … Continue reading
December 1, 2015
by Building The World
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Urban centers with populations over 10 million, megacities are the greatest consumers of resources, especially water. When London reached limits to growth, the New River allowed the city to expand. At a time when the Tiber threatened health and safety, … Continue reading
November 18, 2015
by Building The World
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Water is life, some would state. Water resources determined success of some of the world’s greatest cities: Baghdad, London, Rome, Singapore. Environmental consequences of climate change can be observed in water resources: floods devastate; drought strangles. Earth, the water planet, … Continue reading
June 3, 2015
by Building The World
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World water is in crisis. For example, 70% of Tanzanian households lack clean drinking water: now Askwar Hilonga, of the Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology, is about to change that. Growing up in rural Tanzania, the chemical engineer recalls … Continue reading
May 22, 2015
by Building The World
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California is setting precedent. Facing drought of unprecedented severity, a group of farmers in the threatened Sacramento and San Joaquin River delta have offered to reduce their water usage by 25%, or leave 25% of their fields unplanted, in exchange … Continue reading
April 22, 2015
by Building The World
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Today is Earth Day. California’s drought is severe, and so is social criticism. Using the power of Twitter and other social media, vigilant citizens report water misuse and abuse. Ancient Rome was no different: Juvenal satirized water thieves, including … Continue reading