The western United States (including parts of the Great Plains) is going through an historic period of drought–a level of extended drought that the region has not seen in potentially hundreds of years. “All told, nearly 85% of the West is suffering through drought conditions right now, according to the US Drought Monitor. Almost half the region is now in an extreme or exceptional drought,…
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Featured article: Gafoor, A., Ali, N., Kumar, S., Begum, S., & Rahman, Z. (2020). Applicability and new trends of different electrode materials and its combinations in electro coagulation process: A brief review. Materials Today: Proceedings. Available online 7 June 2020. The content of textile wastewater “broadly depends on the composition of scum in fibers and the chemicals used in various stages.” A large quantity of…
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Lack of freshwater for human consumption and agricultural use is a growing and very serious problem globally–including in rich countries like the United States. As an example, rivers in many countries are experiencing significantly reduced flows due to warmer temperatures, longer and more frequent droughts, less snow and less winter precipitation, and the need to serve more and more people. Quick bibliography: Recent research about…
See moreQuick bibliography: 5 reviews/recent articles on solar-powered water harvesting and purification. Classic review: Sampathkumar, K., Arjunan, T.V., Pritchandi, P., & Senthilkumar, P. (2010). Active solar distillation—A detailed review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 14 (6), 1503-1526 . [PDF] [Cited by] “All over the world, access to potable water to the people are narrowing down day by day. Most of the human diseases are due to…
See moreLand and water degradation, food and water supply shortages, drug-resistant infections from overuse of antibiotics, overuse of pesticides and disease, sea level rise affecting coastal areas, microplastics/single-use plastic pollution on land and in the oceans, rapidly melting ice at the Poles, heatwaves, droughts, extreme rainfall, powerful hurricanes, and more –> people and animals migrating, people and animals dying. It’s real, it’s happening now, and it’s…
See moreNews: Here is some potentially very positive news … It’s estimated that nearly 800 million people globally today lack access to safe drinking water–that’s not positive; it’s a huge, dangerous problem. Existing technologies “for purifying contaminated water and desalinating seawater” often are very expensive and use large amounts of energy–beyond the ability of many communities to put into place. Solar stills are an existing lower-tech…
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