water conservation
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California is figuring out the whole drought thing for the rest of us
Turns out there's an upside to the ongoing drought in the U.S.
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Think we can end California’s drought by eating differently? Think again
Real solutions to California's water woes will depend on politics and market regulation, not facile assaults on thirsty crops and struggling farmers.
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Should you care about how much water it takes to make your favorite foods?
Grist’s science editor Amelia Urry appeared on MSNBC’s Greenhouse to talk about how our water usage has more to do with food than what comes out of our faucets.
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Watch how much water goes into your food
When it comes to conserving water, we have a lot on our plate.
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Activist group sends Obama a message by carving it into a cornfield
Hot tip from an ex-resident of D.C. to all you activists out there: If you want to get the president’s attention, standing outside the White House with some signs and bullhorns is not going to do it. Everyone does that. You have to get creative. Like these guys, who cut their message into a field […]
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Water cyclists: An epic ride to raise awareness of a scarce resource
A year and a half ago, two Dutchmen set out by bike to spread the word about the global water crisis. Fourteen thousand miles later, they say the real work still lies ahead -- but first, they'd like to kick it with beers and a couple of nice girls.
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Green giants: Seattle gets even greener, starting with its biggest buildings
Brian Geller, executive director of the Seattle 2030 DistrictPhoto: Greg HanscomSeattle, a.k.a. the Emerald City, looms Oz-like in the imaginations of eco-minded architects and designers. Its reputation for being uber green drew architect Brian Geller to the city from New York a few years ago. Now, he looks at the skyline rising above Elliott Bay […]
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Why this drought will be way, way worse than the last one
A New York Times article about the current drought in the South compares it to a record-setting dry spell 60 years ago:
Climatologists say the great drought of 2011 is starting to look a lot like the one that hit the nation in the early to mid-1950s. That, too, dried a broad part of the southern tier of states into leather and remains a record breaker.
But this time, things are different in the drought belt. With states and towns short on cash and unemployment still high, the stress on the land and the people who rely on it for a living is being amplified by political and economic forces, state and local officials say. As a result, this drought is likely to have the cultural impact of the great 1930s drought, which hammered an already weakened nation.
But it's not just the economy that's worse now than it was in the 1950s. Water usage is also way, way up. This drought rivals the record-setting 1950s drought -- it's already breaking records in some states -- but it comes at a time when the population is double what it was in 1950, and total water use is more than twice as high.
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In the worst drought in Texas history, 13.5 billion gallons of water used for fracking
Texas is experiencing the driest eight-month period in its recorded history. But in 2010, natural gas companies used 13.5 billion gallons of fresh water for hydraulic fracturing, and that could more than double by 2020. Where's all this water coming from? Oh, it was just lying around, in these aquifers! You guys weren't using it to drink or irrigate or anything, right? Guys?